The Ride Glenwood on-demand service will see increased fees in the coming weeks.
When the service was launched in May 2025, all rides cost $1. Now, they’ll be up to $3.
City transportation engineer Lee Barger told Glenwood’s city council that fewer riders should mean shorter wait times for populations that really need the service. City staff also hope the fee hike will cut wait times and drive more revenue.
“So, maybe people will start thinking twice about it since it's gonna cost them $6 to get to and from, rather than $2,” Barger said. “It’ll also inform where trips are absolutely necessary.”
Glenwood’s city council has discussed and analyzed how to best run the service since it launched last year.
In a recent analysis, Via, the service provider, looked at several options, including keeping the current flat $1 rate, a zoned pricing model with fares ranging from $2 to $4, as well as flat fare increases of $2 and $3.
The company found that a fare increase was the best solution. Despite zone-based fares being projected to bring in more revenue — up to 91% more — and keep ridership relatively the same, city staff said this system would be hard to implement and is less equitable.
Barger said that a flat fee is easier to implement and is more fair.
“That really factored into why Via and staff decided that we should just go with a simple fare increase across the board,” he said. “Make it equal for everybody, and make it simple to understand.”
The flat fee increase is forecast to increase revenue up to 74%, while reducing non-essential trips by almost half.
City staff plan to continue gathering data after the increase goes into effect to see what areas of the city are seeing the most trips.
City councilors raised several concerns about the increased fare during last week's city council discussion.
Councilor Steve Smith said he’s apprehensive about asking Glenwood residents who don’t have access to a fixed bus route — like the neighborhoods in the southwest part of the city — to pay the new fee.
“I don’t want to ask to triple that for some neighborhoods who don't have a bus service,” he said. “How do we explain this to those folks?”
Smith said, regardless, he would like to see a fixed-bus service on that side of the Roaring Fork River one day.
The one dissenting vote on the fee increase was from councilor Ray Schmahl. Historically, he hasn’t voiced much support for the service. He’s concerned about how much it costs the city and is dubious about whether the revenue change will give the city better data on ridership and revenue changes.
“I don't see how going from $1 to $3 is going to give us that information,” he said. “So, I have trouble supporting the motion.”
The city has funding for the on-demand service through the rest of 2026 from a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority grant. They’ve also applied for funding in 2027 — which is their last year of eligibility.
City staff said RFTA would like to see if the ride service can be more self-sustaining as it enters its third year, rather than depend on grants.
“That’s why we're just trying to dial it up a little to see where it’s going to go,” Barger said.
The only areas of Glenwood Springs that will still see $1 fare are pick ups and drop offs at the West Glenwood and 27th Street Park and Rides.
City staff said that’s to encourage use of Ride Glenwood to connect to already existing, more popular RFTA stops.
