District seeking $10.4 million for electric buses, stoplights and bus stops; summer road work to swell growing pains in Big Sky
By Jack Reaney STAFF WRITER
The Big Sky Transportation District has launched a survey to inform its public transit investments over the coming decade, which will focus on increasing bus ridership.
The short survey collects feedback from Skyline Bus riders—and from those who avoid Skyline—to help the district improve the service. Data will help officials plan infrastructure upgrades between Four Corners, Gallatin Gateway and Big Sky, and inform the district’s collaboration with Lone Mountain Land Company to build a transit hub in Town Center. Four respondents will win a $50 Amazon gift card, according to the survey, and the form will close on April 1.
The survey was created by a consultant hired by the district during the fall to analyze Big Sky’s bus system and overall transportation needs. Dan Cawley is a transportation designer and engineer with Fehr and Peers, a consulting firm with experience in resort and urban communities including Salt Lake City, where Cawley is based. His goal for Big Sky is a more reliable and viable bus system.
He said the survey already has 1,800 responses, and the results are not entirely surprising: residents want more frequent service across more hours of the day.
“We can do a relatively good job if we’re just looking at data and the [transportation district] board and key stakeholders. But we want to make sure the system is addressing the needs of the community… The survey results reflect what people want to see happen,” Cawley told EBS in a phone interview.
He said Big Sky is suffering from the same challenges of similar communities around the West: “They’re being loved a little too much,” he said, swarmed by visitation and new travel habits after the pandemic.
In late February—with guidance from Cawley and project funding from LMLC—the Big Sky Transportation District applied for $10.43 million in federal RAISE grant funding for Skyline fleet and facility improvements: five new electric transit buses; a new bus station in Gallatin Gateway on Mill Street beside U.S. Highway 191, plus a stoplight; and a stoplight and bus stop at Montana Highway 64 (Lone Mountain Trail) and Huntley Drive in Big Sky. Both bus stops would include pedestrian tunnels under each highway.
RAISE stands for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity. The grant would be awarded in June 2023, according to Bayard Dominick, LMLC’s vice president of planning and development, and work could begin as early as summer 2024. The following was stated in the district’s federal grant application:
“Funding the Big Sky Transportation District Fleet and Facilities Improvements will advance transportation options at a critical time for a community experiencing unprecedented growth and economic pressure… When paired with broader conversations regarding equity and access to opportunity, improved transit service is increasingly crucial to the economic vitality and overall livability of Big Sky and Gallatin County.”
The Gallatin Gateway and Huntley Drive bus stops were proposed as “high-quality, high-comfort” and the application stated that an electric bus fleet would increase accessibility—new buses would feature low floors—while enabling emission-free public transit service in Big Sky, replacing an “unreliable” fleet of diesel vehicles.
The district’s contract with Karst Stage would not be impacted by the addition of electric buses, Dominick told EBS in an email. Karst would operate electric buses in addition to the remaining fleet.
Skyline is still waiting on new coach-style buses which were funded in 2019 by a TIGER grant, and the district expects will arrive by fall 2023.
“That will definitely help our infrastructure,” said district Board Chair Ennion Williams.
‘World-class mobility hub’
Williams said that with all the employees and buses coming into Big Sky and being disbursed to various employment locations, “[LMLC is] really looking at what [land] they’ve got left to develop, and how they’re going to build transportation into the rest of the development of Town Center.” Williams also works for Outlaw Partners, the publisher of Explore Big Sky.
Dominick wrote, “In addition to the two transportation improvements contemplated in the RAISE Grant application on Hwy 64 and in Gallatin Gateway, LMLC has been working with Big Sky Transportation District to plan a mobility hub in the heart of town center across from BASE. This would be the hub for all local service in and around Big Sky.”
Dominick added that the group will explore additional transit stops and a park-and-ride in Four Corners.
“We believe that the easier and more convenient public transportation can be, the more folks will be willing to utilize public transportation, [mitigating] further traffic congestion in Big Sky and on Highway 191,” Dominick wrote. “The ultimate goal to support the implementation and expansion of a world class [p]ublic [t]ransportation system that will transform the way people move around in Big Sky over the next 10 years into the future.”
For now, Williams said large employers like LMLC have taken on a lot of bus service, running shuttles to locations including Powder Light because Skyline can’t accommodate the number of employees.
“With the service that we’re currently able to provide, the bus system is pretty full,” Williams said. “We’ve seen the success of Big Sky Connect, and the desire for that style of service has definitely [gotten] a good response.”
Big Sky Connect served 10,327 passengers through 7,618 rides in its first two months of service, which began on Jan. 2.
Big Sky Sustainability Network Organization’s recently unveiled Climate Action Plan focuses on four priorities, and one of them is to reduce carbon emissions through more efficient transportation.
Amy Fonte, Big Sky Resort sustainability specialist, recently joined the transportation district’s board. Fonte joined Big Sky SNO to present the CAP’s transportation goals at the most recent Big Sky Resort Area District Board Meeting.
Williams said that with Fonte’s help, he envisions the district collaborating with Big Sky SNO on the Climate Action Plan in the near future.
‘A fairly painful summer’
Also part of the TIGER grant that paid for the district’s coach-style buses, road construction will affect Highway 64 this summer as road crews build turn-lanes, a pedestrian tunnel and a stoplight.
Danielle Scharf, Bozeman region manager for civil engineering firm Sanderson Stewart, spoke about the project during a Big Sky Community Week presentation in October.
“It is going to be a fairly painful summer in terms of traffic control and having all of those areas under construction at the same time, but the good news is that it will be mostly done in one year,” Scharf said during the presentation.
The Montana Department of Transportation will hold a virtual open house to discuss the project’s impact on April 19, with online registration required.
“I mean, [buses are] gonna be held up in traffic just like everyone else is,” Williams said. “That happens with our routes now, in afternoons and evenings… we’re gonna have to plan on those delays with the bus system just like everyone else. Not a lot we can do to get around it.”
When asked about the feasibility of a bus lane as a long-term solution to get around traffic, Williams said he does not foresee that being possible, given the lack of real estate to widen Highway 64. No such plans are included in the TIGER grant or RAISE application.
