Photo credit: Taylor Cramer/Post Independent
The town of Parachute is calling on Rifle to provide financial support for their transportation system.
In September, the town of Parachute shared a memo with Rifle City Manager Tommy Klein formally requesting that the city of Rifle include funds for the Parachute Area Transit System (PATS) in their 2024 budget.
Historically, a majority of PATS’ operating costs have been provided by Garfield County and the town of Parachute, with Garfield County contributing $300,000-$250,000 annually and Parachute contributing $75,000-$100,000 annually, according to the memo.
The reason given for Parachute’s funding request to Rifle is PATS’ efforts to keep up with rising costs. The transportation service is seeking a one-time contribution of $40,000 in 2024 from the city of Rifle. An additional contribution of $250,000 will also be requested from Garfield County for the same year, according to the memo.
“We kindly request the city’s support and future partnership in PATS, and respectfully request the city of Rifle include $40,000 in your 2024 budget preparation process to contribute towards PATS,” the memo reads.
The Parachute Area Transit System was established in 2020 and services stops throughout Parachute, Battlement Mesa and Rifle. Currently, Rifle stops make up for approximately 32% of rides given on PATS shuttles.
“The goal was to kind of fill a missing link and void in the western end of the Garfield County area for public transit,” Parachute Town Manager Travis Elliott said. “At the time, the folks that were working on the project and leaders in the county kind of looked at what it would take to extend RAFTA all the way to Parachute. And that, for various reasons, just wasn’t determined to be a feasible solution at the time. So PATS kind of emerged as that solution to fill that existing need.”
PATS ridership has increased significantly since 2020. The increase from 5,175 total riders in 2021 to 2023’s estimate of over 9,000 shows a jump of almost 74%. Even though fare revenue only accounts for roughly 3.4% of their budget, PATS has attempted to keep fare costs for riders to a minimum, even offering discounted rates offered to veterans and seniors.
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