Grand Lake has a new bus stop.

As of June 8, the Rocky Express — or simply “The Rox” — runs three times daily between Granby and Grand Lake.

Local officials from Grand Lake to Winter Park gathered Monday at the corner of Pitkin Street and Park Avenue for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new bus terminal. The terminal is within sight of the newly established Grand Spirit Makerspace and a short walk from Sagebrush BBQ & Grill.

Also known as the Gold Line, the new route is “built to expand,” according to Ed Raegner, Grand County commissioner for District 1, with the potential for additional stops. This first phase serves stops from Granby to Grand Lake including:

• 5th St. and Agate (transfer location for Granby commuter riders)
• Granby Train Depot
• Granby Trails in front of Sun Outdoors
• Soda Springs Ranch off U.S. Highway 34
• West Portal and Grand Ave., in front of Mountain Market
• Grand Lake Town Park

The bus route and schedule are available at TheLiftWP.com. The Lift Rider app is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Because of Grand Lake’s proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park, shuttle service to Kawuneeche Visitor Center will be offered this summer, according to Charles McCarthy, transit manager for Winter Park.

The Gold Line could eventually extend into Rocky Mountain National Park, said Town Manager Steve Kudron, who noted that Grand Lake had been conditionally awarded a multimillion-dollar vision grant.

“The grant we received is an eight-year grant that provides 80% of the operating costs for this line,” Kudron said. “The town’s component, without additional grants, is about $68,000 this year. The county was able to provide 90% of that, so the town’s budget amount this year was $7,000. We are able to manage the eight-year running costs through our budget discussions.”

The town plans to examine costs and transit impacts to create funding sources that will sustain the bus route for the long term.

“One of the goals is to create multimodal corridors that go directly into the park,” Kudron explained. “We are working in partnership with the national park to determine the best way to increase interpretive hikes and give people a scheduled time to take time in the park and catch the bus on the way back.”

The Gold Line will eventually connect with Mountain Rail, which is scheduled to begin service from the Front Range to Granby in November. Working in tandem with Bustang service to Denver, the connection is expected to increase ridership and make Grand County a regional transit hub for visitors to the Rockies.

While ridership is expected to fluctuate with the seasons, McCarthy said seasonal dips would not threaten the route.