On Jan. 4, the City of Loveland Transit (COLT) opened its new Loveland Transit Center at 350 W. 37th St. Bus service from the new location began on the same day as the opening of the new center.
Route changes and new stops have been added to Routes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. No changes have been made to Route 4. The new Route 7 connects COLT to the Poudre Express, a regional bus line connecting Greeley, Windsor, Loveland and Fort Collins, Colo., for the first time. Lovelanders will now have access to Windsor, Greeley and Fort Collins at stop 711. Route 7 will extend from Centerra Parkway to Highway 392, heading up north to Windsor. On Route 7, at Highway 287 and Westgate Drive, COLT riders will connect to Greeley’s GET Transit through the Poudre Express. At stop 711, riders will now be able to travel to downtown Greeley.
The Loveland Transit Center provides a Park-N-Ride that includes 74 parking spaces. Of the 74 spaces, there are eight electric vehicle charging stalls and three ADA access points on site. The charging stalls will be available for use this spring.
“This is an incredible win for COLT, but most importantly, the city of Loveland. We waited so long for this day and we’re finally able to share it with our riders,” said City of Loveland Transit Manager Candice Folkers. “However, our work isn’t done yet – we will be applying for grants to fund phase 2 of the Loveland Transit Center that provides funding for a physical building on site to house our customer service staff and indoor bathrooms. We take this day as a win but our work continues until our site is fully completed.”
The move to the new transit center marks the first time the city of Loveland has owned its transit center. For the past six years, COLT has leased parking lot spaces from the Food Bank of Larimer County’s as its north transfer point. The Food Bank was intended to be a temporary location until the city found land to build a transit center of its own. Although the COLT north transfer point has moved, a bus stop will still be near the site on Route 1.
COLT bus routes operate Monday through Friday from 6:38 a.m. to 7:48 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:38 a.m. to 5:48 p.m. COLT does not operate bus services on Sunday or major holidays.
