Contact: Chris Lubbers, Summit County Transit Director, 970-668-4161

SUMMIT COUNTY – Summit County residents are invited to attend a virtual open house on the future of local public transit at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 9. Summit Stage staff will present the key elements of a draft short-range transit plan, developed with the help of public input from a recent community survey. Open house attendees will be able to join a discussion on the plan and provide feedback to help finalize it.

The Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) is a five-year roadmap for transit in Summit County. It includes a review and analysis of existing services and conditions and a consideration of future service revisions that would address trends in population growth and travel patterns.

The study seeks to address how the Summit Stage should conduct transit operations in the near future. It will include considerations on how to best accommodate the needs of the local workforce, a large percentage of which commutes into the community from adjacent counties. Recommendations could result in an overall restructuring of the Summit Stage transit system architecture.

“The SRTP comes at an interesting time in history, both locally and globally," Summit County Transit Director Chris Lubbers said. "A recent bus operator shortage, concurrent with a growth in visitation, has created operational strains for Summit Stage. Meanwhile, the global COVID-19 pandemic has placed external burdens on the system, including reduced revenues and capacity restrictions. And the high cost of housing in Summit County has driven many of our workers to live in neighboring communities. We hope that residents will take a few minutes to join us as we discuss these important topics.”

Summit Stage is Summit County’s free public transportation system, operated by Summit County government. Summit Stage is funded through a voter-approved 0.75 percent countywide sales tax and provides nearly 2 million passenger trips each year.

The Zoom link to the Public Open House is https://fehrandpeers.zoom.us/j/95457492552. 

Meeting ID: 954 5749 2552 

Passcode: 762183

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Meeting ID: 954 5749 2552

More information on Summit County transit is available on the Summit Stage website: www.SummitStage.com.

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