Can Bustang’s surge in ridership lead to continued funding?

CDOT is exploring other revenue streams, such as asking the federal government for more money or seeking out private grants.

Investing in transit is a “chicken and egg,” formula, DesRocher said. Lawmakers are more likely to award money to services that can prove their necessity and proving necessity requires riders to choose the bus over driving.

“It’s kind of like saying we’re not going to build a bridge until we see how many people are swimming across the river,” DesRocher said. 

“We’re now kind of coming up onto a place where we need to find a more sustainable funding source to ensure that we can maintain the levels of service we've built up and the ridership base we've built up by having those services.”

Despite the program’s success, further funding for more services is not guaranteed because the state faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit. Bustang also receives some grant funding from the United States Department of Transportation for rural routes, as well as supporting seniors and passengers with disabilities. 

With the 2022 grant, Bustang bought 25 new buses at $1 million a piece and increased service frequency on its main routes, from Denver to Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and I70 mountain towns including Idaho Springs, Frisco, Vail and Avon.

Because they cover longer distances than city buses, the Bustang fleet includes restrooms, charging ports and WiFi on board. Fares vary from line to line but the rate comes out to 35 cents per mile, with a one-way trip from Denver to Fort Collins costing $10 and riders paying $20 from Denver to Vail.

Buses serving the Front Range and mountain corridor come about every hour, while some in more rural areas come only once a day.

When its service began, Bustang carried 103,000 riders with routes going from Fort Collins and Colorado Springs to Denver Union Station, and Denver Union Station to Glenwood Springs. Today, after adding routes in eastern Colorado and towns near the border with Utah, Nebraska and New Mexico, ridership has grown to 351,000 customers per year. 

But it’s the commuter routes, such as the North line connecting Denver to Fort Collins, that have grown the most. For example, the North line is Bustang’s second-most used line, carrying about 250 riders daily.

Jeremy Glanzer takes the line every day.

“For me, the ride taking longer is a tradeoff I’ll happily make for not having to worry about driving and just being able to relax on my commute,” said Glanzer. 

While Bustang uses the express lane on parts of I-25, that can still back up with traffic and, with stops in Longmont and Berthoud along the way, Glanzer’s trip often takes an hour and 15 minutes. 

But he still chooses Bustang for the three in-office days he works at his marketing job each week. He negotiated for his employer to pay for his bus pass.

“It just feels like a nice morning routine to see the same people and drivers and start the day a little calmer than I would if I was sitting in traffic and being honked at and dealing with aggression from other drivers,” Glanzer said. 

He hops on at the Denver Union Station stop at 7:30 a.m. and takes the Centerra Loveland bus home at 4:35 p.m. He’s only missed it once, about eight months ago, when he said it left two minutes early from Union Station.

DesRocher said CDOT does not yet have a dollar amount they are requesting from the state in the 2026 legislative session. If funding doesn’t come through, CDOT will “examine its budget,” he said, and make cuts somewhere else to keep Bustang’s services level. 

“It more than likely would be a combination of smaller service reductions and re-programming budget from other areas within CDOT so service cuts aren't as severe,” DeRocher said.