History of the Summit Stage

The Summit Stage began providing ski bus service in 1977. Supported by a coalition of Ski the Summit, representatives of the ski areas, and individual Town and County governments, service was provided only during ski season. With the increasing demand for intercity and year-round transit service, the County assumed operation of the Stage in 1989.

In 1990 the Summit Stage received a big break thanks to Town and County representatives lobbying successfully for House Bill 1081. This granted “authority of counties outside the Regional Transportation District to impose a sales tax for the purpose of funding a mass transportation system.” Grants from the Federal Transportation Administration and CDOT were instrumental in purchasing the Stage fleet and completing the Frisco Transfer Station. In 2001 an additional tax was passed that enables the Stage to run late night hours.

In 1992 rider ship was 432,000. Today the stage serves 1.75 million riders annually, and continues to grow month after month.