Regional officials discuss the future of free transit program
Home Safe, the popular transportation service that had long offered free late-night rides home to locals and visitors on weekends, was swiftly discontinued following the tragic accident on Jan. 15 that killed local man Patrick Morris.
Now, the future of a transit service that gave roughly 26,000 people rides home since 2003 is in limbo. The operator, Telluride Express, has stated that it isn’t interested in continuing Home Safe due to the liability issues. Regional officials aren’t sure of the best route to take to get it back up and running.
But while no plan has been mapped out, the will to return Home Safe to the regional transit picture is strong.
That was the message that came out of a work session Tuesday during the Telluride Town Council meeting. The work session was designed to begin ploting the return of Home Safe, which has been carting people from downtown Telluride to their homes in Mountain Village and parts of San Miguel County late on weekends since 2003.
The program was funded by the Town of Telluride, Mountain Village and San Miguel County, but was administered by a contract held between the Telluride Rotary Club and Telluride Express. Telluride Express operated the program with a 28-person “people mover” and a large van. Home Safe offered rides home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 12:45 or 2:15 a.m. from the San Miguel County Courthouse (though drivers would occasionally offer three rides a night if the demand was high).
The service was halted following a fatal accident Jan. 15. According to authorities, 52-year-old Morris was killed after he lay down in front of a Home Safe van for unknown reasons and was run over. The driver did not see him.
Everyone at the meeting agreed that Home Safe provided an extremely valuable service — it kept drunk drivers off the road, got people safely home after the gondola closed and offered a late-night ride for many workers. While the accident was tragic, they said, it should not spell the end of Home Safe.
“What I have heard is that is has been extremely important to the community,” said Mayor Stu Fraser. “I would hope that [the accident] would not cause us to walk away from the importance of this program.”
Council member Chris Myers said the end of Home Safe has created a void in the community.
“We as a town government … we need to respond. There are going to be consequences with the absence of this program,” he said.
“I am in full support of Home Safe,” said San Miguel County Commissioner Elaine Fischer. “I hope you will join me in making sure it can continue to operate.” (County officials joined in on the work session.)
Where uncertainty crept into the conversation was in the how of bringing it back.
Sue Rovito, general manager of Telluride Express, told those assembled that she is not interested in continuing the service.
Telluride Express has been for some time having issues with the behavior of some intoxicated riders — which can become abusive, she said. It has also run into a recurring problem of too many people showing up for the 2:15 a.m. ride home.
“The drivers, out of the goodness of their own hearts, sometimes go back and give another ride,” she said. She added that they should charge for a third ride, but riders would be upset. “That’s where we get stuck.”
The liability issues of running Home Safe are just too large, she added. And it doesn’t make much sense financially for the company.
“It really doesn’t work anymore,” Rovito said. “If there’s some way you can tie it all together locally, that would truly be the best I feel.”
She added that her company has been sending three taxi vehicles out during the weekends. Mountain Limo is also offering taxi services.
Many participants were in favor of the town or regional governments grabbing the reins.
“I’d like to see us take this on,” said council member Brian Werner. “How can the town make this work?”
And County Commissioner Joan May said it makes sense to look at the Home Safe issue from a regional transit perspective.
Jason White, Telluride’s transit manager, estimated that it would cost at least $40,000 to run the service using the town’s transportation vehicles.
That begged the question: Where would that money come from? The three governments were paying $23,000 a year under the old system.
“It looks like if we are moving forward with this, the only alternative we have is to do it with our transit program,” said council member Thom Carnevale. “I think that we do need a transit system that does allow people who are inebriated to get home at night. I think $40,000 is a great deal of money. That’s the integral part of this thing. How it is going to be financed.”
In the end, the town decided to put together a committee that will explore the issue.
“I think we should and need to be concentrating on the need for late night public transportation,” said Jerry Greene. “Let’s see if we can make it a reliable public service.”
And Travis Julia, who owns the Vaudeville Bar in the Sheridan Opera House, said it’s definitely a worthy program.
“Absolutely there’s demand for more of it,” he said. “Unfortunately there was a tragedy here, but I definitely think that it needs to carry on.”
No comments:
Post a Comment