Project Partners
The Gondola Project is currently in the project development phase, and has 4 equal funding partners including The Town of Telluride, The Mountain Village Entity (Town of Mountain Village and TMVOA), San Miguel County, and Telski. SMART is serving as the project manager.
Gondola Background
- Built in 1996 and connects the Town of Telluride and Mountain Village
- Owned and operated by the Town of Mountain Village, but the current operating agreement expires at the end of 2027
- Local governments and Telluride Ski and Golf (Telski) began evaluating a long-term gondola plan in 2015
- In the Spring of 2022, the Gondola Leadership Committee – composed of local governments, Telski, and the San Miguel County and San Miguel Authority for Regional Transit (SMART) – unanimously decided to pursue a new gondola system as the Locally Preferred Alternative
- In Summer 2022, the Gondola Leadership Committee unanimously decided that the new gondola should be cooperatively funded through a regional mechanism administered by the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART)
Originally built to improve air quality in the region by keeping cars off the road, the Telluride Mountain Village Gondola has been providing a clean transportation option to approximately 3 million riders annually since 1996.
The gondola system provides fast, reliable, and free public transportation between the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village for residents, visitors, commuters, recreationalists, and festival-goers. It is the first and only free public transportation system of its kind in the United States.
Gondola facts and figures
- 3 million+ trips per year
- 20,000+ riders per day during peak seasons – one of Colorado’s busiest transit lines
- 1st and only FREE transit system of its kind in the US
- 141,000+ hours in operation since 1996 – no other system in the US has moved as many riders or ran as many hours
Nearly 4 million projected riders by 2037 but current system is at capacity - 70% of riders are non-resident visitors which significantly reduces the number of cars and the vehicle miles traveled within both towns
- 30% of trips are work or school-related for local residents
- 9 of 10 locals ride the gondola at least once a month (Dec. 2023 poll)
- The economy is driven almost exclusively by tourism – the free gondola itself is a critical attraction for both overnight and day visitors
- Allows Telluride and Mountain Village to share markets and leverage the strengths of its neighbor – avoiding the mountain/core town separation that plagues many other resorts
Need for Updated Gondola System to improve accessibility and increase capacity.
- System is at the maximum number of cabins (57) on the mainline between Mountain Village and Telluride
- Wait times are increasing during peak periods and projected to grow
- System is almost 30 years old – many parts are no longer manufactured and need to be special-ordered which leads to increased system downtime
- Parking constraints and projected increases in traffic
- Current operating agreement expires at the end of 2027. Proposed ballot initiative is the plan for future gondola ops.
Existing System Funding and Costs
- Annual costs: $5.6M for operations and maintenance; $50k - $2M in capital and major repairs – as the system continues to age the annual expenses are going and projected to increase
- Town of Mountain Village is contractually obligated to provide the majority of the gondola’s funding through a 3% Town of Mountain Village Owners Association Real Estate Transfer Assessment (RETA) through 2027
- Additional funding comes from operating and capital grants (+$10M total), 1% of lift sales by Telski ($250k per year), Town of Telluride extended hours contributions and event operations funding
Planning Meetings
Below is a list of upcoming meetings and links to summaries and recordings of past meetings (most recent first, archive of previous meetings.):
- September 23, 2024: Gondola Leadership Committee Meeting
- Insert Link Meeting Agenda/recording (TBD)
- September 16, 2024: Gondola Advisory Committee Meeting (Gsub)
- Insert LINK of Meeting Agenda/recording (TBD)
Provide Feedback
Send questions or comments to smart.info@smarttelluride.com or directly to the SMART Board representatives. Past project information can be found in the Gondola Planning Archive.
SMART Board approves placing question on the 2024 November ballot:
On September 5th, the SMART Board voted to place a question on the 2024 November Ballot asking voters to support the expansion of regional public transit service, including long term operations funding for the Gondola to ensure operations and maintenance of the Gondola as public transit service after 2027, and to help fund future bus service expansions and existing bus system capital needs.
Frequently asked questions about this referred ballot issue can be found here.