Transfort Announces Additional Service Suspensions; Dial-a-ride Still Available

Transfort, the transit agency owned by the City of Fort Collins, has suspended additional service due to decreased ridership during the coronavirus outbreak.

The new service suspensions begin Saturday, April 18. The following routes will be suspended until further notice:

• FLEX regional service between Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, and Boulder.
• Route 6 (CSU Transit Center to Swallow Station via Mulberry Street and Taft Hill Road)
• Route 7 (CSU Transit Center to Rigden Farm via Shields Street and Drake Road)
• Route 9 (Loop from Downtown Transit Center (DTC) to Overland Trail via Vine and Laporte)
• Route 10 (Loop from DTC to CSU Transit Center via Laporte, Taft Hill and Mulberry)
• Route 11 (South Transit Center to Zeigler Road via Harmony, Taft Hill, and Horsetooth)
• Route 12 (Zeigler Road to South Transit Center via Horsetooth, Foothills Mall, and JFK)
• Route 19 (CSU Transit Center to South Transit Center via Shields)

These suspensions are in addition to the earlier suspensions of Routes 31, 32, 33, 92, the Horn, and the Gold. The Poudre Express route operated by Greeley Evans Transit from Greeley to Fort Collins was also suspended on March 26.

All other Transfort services (including the MAX) will continue to operate, but on reduced schedules. No Sunday service will be provided on any routes, which will allow for a full day for buses to be cleaned and maintained.

Hours of operation will also be shortened, from about 6:18 a.m. to about 7:30 p.m.

New schedules have been posted for each route at ridetransfort.com.

“Transfort has seen an 83 percent ridership decrease due to the coronavirus outbreak,” said Transfort Director Drew Brooks. “This ridership decrease, as well as consideration of the health of the community and Transfort staff, has resulted in the decision to temporarily suspend routes. The suspended routes will resume regularly scheduled service as soon as safely possible.”

Transfort recognizes that some community members rely on buses as their primary mode of transportation. The agency will continue to offer its Dial-A-Ride service through zTrip.

Additionally, all residents will be able to schedule a taxi trip to or from a bus stop along the route that is suspended, to or from another linked bus stop or transit center.

There will be no fare associated with these taxi trips at this time. This service will be available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days per week. Taxi trips must be scheduled the same day the trip will be taken and can be scheduled by calling 970-225-4831. Call center hours are Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Saturday through Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The taxi service will not be available on the FLEX route.

All Transfort services continue to be fare-free under an emergency order signed in March.

The public is asked to only use Transfort for essential trips and passengers are asked to attempt to keep at least six feet of distance between other customers and Transfort staff. Passengers are also asked to board from the rear doors of the bus unless they are using a mobility device.

Transfort has been disinfecting driver and passenger areas of its buses in addition to regular nightly cleaning. The South Transit Center, Downtown Transit Center, and CSU Transit Center buildings are currently closed, but passengers may board and exit buses at the transit centers.

For more information about Transfort, including route information, visit ridetransfort.com.

For more about the City’s response to COVID-19, visit fcgov.com/coronavirus.