Rural Buses a ‘Lifeline’ in Colorado

Bus ridership on local and intercity buses in rural areas rose sharply even as urban transit ridership took a hit between 2019 and 2024.

1 minute read

January 22, 2025, 6:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Blue public transit bus on street with mountains in background in Aspen, Colorado.

Felix Mizioznikov / Adobe Stock

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is making an effort to support the rural bus routes that are seeing significant growth in ridership, signaling a need for public transit in more dispersed areas.

As Bruce Finley explains in The Denver Post, “In December, CDOT officials launched a Bustang Outrider route linking Sterling in northeastern Colorado with Denver International Airport. A state transit connections study in progress will identify additional intercity bus routes, including possible new daily service between Gunnison and Montrose in southwestern Colorado; Limon and Denver; Weld County and Denver; and Salida and Colorado Springs.”

Total ridership on the agency’s Bustang routes grew from 238,000 to 390,000 between 2019 and 2024, despite a steep decrease in ridership on urban routes. According to Cara Marcus, knowledge and resource manager for the National Rural Transit Assistance Program, public transit is a “lifeline” for rural residents. “In Colorado, bus ridership in rural areas hit 17 million in 2022, up from 16.7 million in 2017, Federal Transit Administration data shows.”

Saturday, January 18, 2025 in The Denver Post

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