Mountain Climber proposes intercity connector service

Mountain Climber Director Elizabeth Wood recently proposed a commuter bus plan that would provide transportation between Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. While it garnered needed support from Whitefish in the form of a $60,000 commitment, Flathead County commissioners chose to pass on the idea this year, but Wood will present the plan again next year.

The Flathead County Public Transportation’s Mountain Climber currently operates as an on-demand ride service, like Uber or Lyft. People can schedule rides via the app, Mountain Climber by Via, or they can phone dispatch. Riders are picked up at their door and taken wherever they need to go within their municipality.

Wood said the on-demand system allows the Mountain Climber to serve everyone equally. Rides were free from March 2020 until a $1 per ride fee was reinstated last summer.

The Mountain Climber provided a commuter bus prior to 2020 that operated with one vehicle making two or three trips in the morning and one in the evening. Wood said the times weren’t convenient and ride times were often too long.

“Our plans for this commuter would be to have two drivers operating in the morning and two drivers in the late afternoon,” Wood said. “I think that having those two buses operating at the same time is definitely going to make it a more user-friendly schedule.”

Should the commuter be put in place, it would have designated pick-up spots and scheduled pick-up times, while all other rides will operate on demand.

Potentially, one commuter bus would go from Kalispell, through Evergreen, to the airport, and Columbia Falls and take the same route back. The other would go from Kalispell to Whitefish to Columbia Falls and back.

Previously, service to the airport was not a priority for the Mountain Climber due, in part, to limited resources.

“We’ve tried to be really intentional in servicing the people who live here, first and foremost,” she said. “Doing the airport run didn’t align with that.”

Fortuitously, state funds for the project are considered intercity funds, meant to connect city to city. 

“But in order to get those funds, part of the requirement is that we connect to other modes of transportation,” Woods said of the addition of airport service. “That’s how we’re going to get our (state) funds.”

Funds from the state, county and three municipalities will cover the $560,000 estimated cost of the commuter expansion.

WOOD IS preparing to bring the commuter plan to the commissioners again next May. If it gets the go-ahead, the service would launch in November 2025, at the earliest.

She said the process of presenting to the commissioners next May begins with the staff. Dispatchers take phone calls from the public and the top question they get is if they can travel between the cities.

The next two most popular questions are if the Mountain Climber can take people to the airport or to Glacier National Park. 

“I would say the intercity connection, getting between the three cities is one of the top phone calls we have to say no to,” she said.

The second part of the process is getting public feedback. She said the annual public meetings in Kalispell and Whitefish last December were well attended and there was support for the commuter service from the attendees.

The county’s Transportation Advisory Committee meets every other month to determine the county’s transportation priorities. The public is welcome to attend, voice opinions and ask questions. 

Wood said it is crucial to hear from the public and get “their thoughts on whether they feel this is a good idea and if it would be used or not.”

In addition to public input, it is important to Wood that she is intentional about making changes to transit services.

“There are unintended consequences of expanding the service area without enough thought, because the Mountain Climber’s limited resources can be stretched too thin, creating less availability, ultimately,” she said. “It's a shared on-demand ride service so it’s time based, rather than seat availability.  We have a lot of seats … but it’s time that we don’t have.”

Wood said the support received from Whitefish was “amazing” and that  buy-in from each of the three municipalities is crucial when trying to get the county to approve the expanded services. 

Meanwhile, Wood is keeping the issue in front of the county commissioners.

“I report to the commissioners every other month and give them an update and a report on how we’re doing at Mountain Climber,” she said. “Over the next eight months, I'll be bringing it up in one way or another.

“I did let them know I will be back next year,” she added. “I’ve got the ball rolling.”