Index: Community Development / Subcategory: Transportation

Public Transportation

Date updated: 03/19/2013

Chart Directory:

According to the 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, public transportation was used by 0.9% of Larimer County workers as a means of travel to work. This page measures the use of public transportation by ridership, determined by counting every person who rides on the bus each and every time they ride. In other words, ridership figures indicate the number of rides taken in a given time period, not how many people from the general population are using public transportation.

What this chart shows: Public Transit Ridership (per 1,000 Residents) in Fort Collins and Loveland, 2003-2012

Data Sources:

See data table

What the above data tell us:

Between 2003 and 2012, ridership on Transfort in Fort Collins increased 35.3%, compared to 112.4% in Loveland. Beginning in 2007, ridership on Transfort increased nearly 9% in one year and has been steadily increasing since 2009. The largest one-year increase occurred in 2008 (13.4%) when the price of gasoline exceeded $4.00/gallon (see data table).

FoxTrot was a regional transit service that provided connecting public transportation between Fort Collins and Loveland. In June 2010, FoxTrot was replaced by FLEX, a regional route operating between Fort Collins and Longmont. FLEX is a partnership between the Cities of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Longmont, as well as the Town of Berthoud and Larimer and Boulder Counties. In 2011, the first full year of operation, there were 168,609 passengers using FLEX. In 2012, ridership increased 9.5% to 184,649.

Funding for FLEX is uncertain at this time but the agencies involved are seeking alternative funding streams to keep the system in operation.

What this chart shows: Percentage of Transfort Riders by Type - 2012

Data Source: City of Fort Collins Transportation Department (data not available online)

See data table

What this chart shows: Transfort Ridership by Type, 2003-2012

Data Source: City of Fort Collins Transportation Department (data not available online)

See data table

What the above data tell us:

 From 2003 to 2012, ridership varied amongst the populations using Transfort. From 2004 to 2012, overall ridership increased 60%. During this period, the largest increase (134%) was seen in the number of disabled individuals riding public transit (see data table). The large increase in General Population riders (123%) is most likely due to the higher cost of gasoline beginning in 2008.

According to officials with Transfort, the reason for the decrease in Youth ridership (beginning in 2009) was a change in routing, due to safety concerns, which removed a stop from in front of Blevins Junior High School.

The large increase in ridership amongst the 'Disabled' population is likely due to changes made in the Dial-a-Ride program in 2007 to accommodate the minimum service requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Additionally, the City of Fort Collins made a concerted training effort for residents unfamiliar with public transportation during this time period.

What this chart shows: Paratransit (On-Demand) Ridership Rate per 1,000 Population in Fort Collins and Loveland, 2008-2012

Data Sources:

See data table

What the above data tell us:

 Paratransit service for the elderly and disabled is provided by a variety of agencies in Larimer County. This service is considered 'on-demand' in that riders call in advance to schedule door-to-door rides. Three of the agencies providing paratransit service in 2012 were governmental agencies (BATS, COLT, and Dial-a-Ride) and two were nonprofit organizations (SAINT and Via in Estes Park, formerly Special Transit).

SAINT is the second largest provider of paratransit services in Larimer County (20,000 rides per year to approximately 500 individuals) operated primarily by volunteers using their own vehicles.

Larimer Lift, the paratransit system that provided service primarily to Wellington and Laporte residents, began operations in 2007 after the Transfort system in Fort Collins stopped providing Dial-a-Ride service to that area. Because of the high per-person-served cost for Larimer Lift, service was discontinued at the end of 2011.

Information about the individual services is available by contacting the agencies directly.

Additional Information:

Related Information on COMPASS -

Other Resources -

Industry Standards or Targets:

N/A

Data Tables:

Public Transportation Ridership

COLT Fixed Route - Loveland

Transfort -
Fort Collins

Riders

Rate

Riders

Rate

2003

 53,598 934 1,504,683 11,833

2004

 59,934 1,012 1,418,102 10,980

2005

 74,856 1,239 1,481,472 11,400

2006

 99,874 1,608 1,479,717 11,235

2007

 103,743 1,617 1,641,509 12,235

2008

 125,064 1,928 1,884,194 13,870

2009

 145,805 2,228 1,904,229 13,849

2010

 138,284 2,108 2,034,195 14,573

2011

 125,773 1,868 2,156,775 15,388

2012

 124,250 1,984 2,271,732 16,016

See chart

Return to text

Transfort Ridership by Type of Rider (Fort Collins)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

CSU Students

 562,670 510,597 509,291 516,747 561,514

Youth

 324,091 350,622 361,494 330,858 351,562

Disabled

 153,119 116,864 137,556 153,925 184,014

Seniors

 49,104 64,245 61,235 65,526 69,596

General Population

 415,699 375,774 411,896 412,661 474,823

Cont.

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

CSU Students

 615,311 662,468 691,030 736,954 786,891

Youth

 377,771 306,797 304,779 304,229 270,151

Disabled

 207,500 220,378 248,480 253,143 273,255

Seniors

 81,057 79,241 83,865 85,329 102,701

General Population

 602,555 635,345 706,041 777,120 838,734

See pie chart

See line chart

Paratransit Ridership in Fort Collins and Loveland

Dial-a-Ride (Fort Collins)

Paratransit (Loveland)

Number

Rate

Number

Rate

2008

 44,000 323.9 10,954 168.9

2009

 41,719 303.4 9,890 151.1

2010

 40,385 289.3 8,183 124.7

2011

 37,851 270.1 7,582 112.6

2012

 37,747 266.1 7,767 114.6

See chart