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Southern Ute Community Action Programs, Inc. (SUCAP) has been awarded $200,000 to restore bus transportation service connecting Durango and Grand Junction. The route will serve passengers in Durango, Cortez, Dolores, Telluride, Ridgway, Montrose, Delta and Grand Junction.
The award was announced Wednesday, Oct. 31. Bus service will operate as part of Road Runner Transit, a SUCAP program division, operating under the name Road Runner Stage Lines.
The Durango-Grand Junction is a segment of the longer Salt Lake City-Albuquerque route that was discontinued by Greyhound in September 2011. The Colorado Department of Transportation solicited applications for transit services, including what are called Inter-City Bus services (ICB) in early 2011. After consultations with stakeholders along the route, SUCAP's board of directors approved submission of an application in May 2012, for Federal Transit Administration funds managed by CDOT's Division of Transit and Rail. The application was successful.
Bus service is planned to begin in early May 2013. There will be one round trip per day, seven days per week, originating in Durango about 6 a.m., arriving in Grand Junction by noon in time to connect with Greyhound and Amtrak services east and west. It would depart Grand Junction about 1:15 p.m., returning to Durango about 7:15 p.m.
Buses will be equipped with wheelchair lifts, rest rooms, and storage compartments for luggage and freight. The intent is to provide the same level of service provided by Greyhound prior to September 2011, but limited to the Durango-Grand Junction segment of the original route.
SUCAP is a large, independent non-profit organization based in Ignacio, founded in 1966 by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and other stakeholders in the Ignacio community. SUCAP employs 160 people and has a 2012 operating budget of $6.2 million.
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