Louis Zheng was one of two passengers on what could be one of the last public airport shuttle trips. The snowboarder and semiconductor engineer lives in California. He’s the picture of someone the three-year winter airport shuttle pilot program has tried to serve.
“It’s kind of useless to rent a car here,” he said from the front of the nearly-empty bus. To get from his hotel in town to Teton Village while avoiding the cost of a car rental and Teton Village parking, he “would just rather take the shuttle.”
In the driver’s seat, Angela Brunes said she enjoyed her first winter on the route. She only had about 12 passengers on an average day. Yet it was a delight to tour everyone through Teton views.
“I love this route,” she said, “I absolutely love it.”
But at the airport, it’s a different picture.
A family of four with two young kids drags as many ski bags out of a rental car, demonstrating the experience of most folks who take taxis, rentals or phone a friend for a ride.
“I think the shuttle would’ve been nice, but we got so much stuff that probably we’re going to rent a car anyway,” said the father of the family, which was too busy to give names.
The START board is recommending Jackson town councilors pause the program. START Director Mike Toronto said it simply hasn’t met benchmarks for what would make a successful route.
“It didn’t reach the riders per day, average riders per season. And it didn’t reach the cost per passenger, the farebox recovery goals,” he said.
Ridership has declined each year of the three-year pilot. This winter reached only about half of the daily rider goal of about 120. While START is looking to increase the amount it pays drivers, Toronto said the savings aren’t earmarked for other services.
“It doesn’t make sense to continue a service that costs so much per route. It’s not about putting the money elsewhere,” he said.
There are a few reasons people don’t take the shuttle, according to several airport-goers and airport employees not authorized to speak for the organization: Many want to get to skiing and hotel rooms at Teton Village and the shuttle only goes to town before requiring a transfer. Others aren’t in the habit because the shuttle doesn’t run in the summer, when roadtrips dominate.
There’s a bigger complaint from locals: No free place to park at the pick ups in town. That’s even the case for Toronto.
“I have five kids and there’s no way I’d do it,” Toronto said. “I’m an outlier. Most people here do not have five children, but it’d be hard if you have kids, especially if you have to park at the parking garage and walk there.
Shuttle backers – the Travel and Tourism Board and START – are trying to study these reasons more scientifically along with partners on the Jackson Hole Airport Board. A survey out now asks users what could be more convenient.
Former transportation planner Claudia Hirschey lives in East Jackson and, on nice winter days, rolls her suitcase a mile to one of the pickups. She said taxpayers now need to be asked “Is this what the community wants?”
She points out that almost all public transportation is, to some extent, subsidized. But the airport shuttle’s cost of nearly $45 per rider compared to the $10 it costs per adult to take is a significant mismatch.
She doesn’t like paying for an Uber to the airport, but she can afford it, she said.
“Why should someone subsidize that trip for me when it’s only a few times a year?” she asked.
Airport administrators have said they technically can’t pick up the tab because federal rules don’t count shuttles as “related to the operation of the airport.”
Jeremy Barnum, spokesperson for Jackson Hole Airport, said the airport has not seen the shuttle directly free up parking at the airport. Still, he considers the pilot program a success.
“The benefit was participating in the pilot with our partners and understanding what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
Back at the airport, Lexi Hunsaker hopped out of a friend’s truck. She likes the idea of the shuttle, she said, and there have been a couple times she’s almost left my car in town and caught it.
But the nursing school student took an exam this morning three hours away in Lander. Time was tight to catch her flight.
Now it’s up to Jackson town councilors to make the call. Another option would be to keep the shuttle and add a parking structure in town. Early conversations indicate the downtown Home Ranch lot might work.
The shuttle is up for discussion during budget talks in May and June.
This article has been updated to include comments from Jeremy Barnum. START and the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism board underwrite with KHOL. Our supporters do not influence our coverage. – Ed.
