{"id":2456689,"date":"2020-04-02T21:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T03:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-commissioners-keep-rfta-running\/"},"modified":"2020-04-02T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T03:44:00","slug":"pitkin-county-commissioners-keep-rfta-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pitkin-county-commissioners-keep-rfta-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitkin County commissioners: Keep RFTA running"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-1024x692.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-1024x692.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-768x519.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/coronarfta-atd-031320-1-2048x1385.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>RFTA lead mechanic Will Fabela, right, and Patricia Rosales Trigo disinfect a bus at the Aspen Maintenance Facility on Thursday, March 12, 2020.<\/strong><br \/><em>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County commissioners made it clear Thursday that they do not want to see public bus service suspended in the Roaring Fork Valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioners George Newman and Greg Poschman, who also sit on the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board, said Thursday they were ready a week ago to support a proposal to suspend service altogether because of low ridership and fears of spreading the coronavirus. The <a id=\"N0x1cc3440N0x1de8f80:N0x1cc3440N0x1c9a410\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/rfta-will-cut-aspen-area-bus-service-further-on-monday\/\">proposal failed because it required a supermajority<\/a> of board members, which didn\u2019t occur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, after a discussion Thursday with their three other colleagues on the board, it was clear the board\u2019s position was to keep at least bare-bones service going, which is consistent with recommendations by the team managing the valley\u2019s coronavirus response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m not supporting the suspension of service,\u201d Commissioner Patti Clapper said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She cited a survey of essential businesses indicating that at least 90 essential workers rely on RFTA to get to work, while also pointing out that other residents use the service to obtain those services, like groceries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Clapper also said that buses, which now ask people to board through back doors and stay away from the driver and front of the bus, allow people distance, as opposed to private cars that might be used in the absence of buses. Finally she pointed out that the board has spent years trying to get people to take the bus and that now isn\u2019t the time to stop service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioners Kelly McNicholas Kury and Steve Child agreed with Clapper, and Poschman said he would support some level of service though he allowed that it could be reduced further.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The RFTA board is scheduled to meet again Friday to discuss service levels again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">INITIAL COUNTY RELIEF TO RESIDENTS ABOUT $700K<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County officials expect that the first round of applications for county-provided assistance will likely cost between $665,000 and $700,000, county manager Jon Peacock said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Officials had received more than 1,200 applications for assistance as of Wednesday, and were ramping up staff to be able to soon process between 75 and 100 applications per day, he said. Volunteers \u2014 many from Aspen Skiing Co. \u2014 have completed about 350 interviews of applicants, while those who have received money have gotten an average of $944, Peacock said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Eighty-seven percent of the money is going toward rent or mortgages, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Peacock also warned commissioners to be ready to consider another emergency resolution for more money in the near future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioners <a id=\"N0x1cc3440N0x1de9160:N0x1cc3440N0x1c9aba8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local-money-flows-to-virus-relief-efforts\/\">have approved $850,000 so far<\/a> to go toward assistance for county residents, with another $150,000 held in a separate emergency fund. The city of Aspen has <a id=\"N0x1cc3440N0x1de91c0:N0x1cc3440N0x1c9ac38\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspens-electeds-to-set-aside-200k-in-emergency-funds-amidst-covid-19-crisis\/\">contributed $200,000<\/a> toward coronavirus relief efforts, while Snowmass Village has <a id=\"N0x1cc3440N0x1de9220:N0x1cc3440N0x1c9acc8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/smass-officials-commit-to-supporting-locals-during-covid-19-outbreak\/\">kicked in $100,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-commissioners-keep-rfta-running\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFTA lead mechanic Will Fabela, right, and Patricia Rosales Trigo disinfect a bus at the Aspen Maintenance Facility on Thursday, March 12, 2020.Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Pitkin County commissioners made it clear Thursday that they do not want to see public bus service suspended in the Roaring Fork Valley. Commissioners George Newman and Greg Poschman, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 06:33:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}