Large metropolitan areas are not the only areas to benefit from public transportation. A new report from the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) demonstrates the connection between local public transportation investment and financial benefits in various parts of Colorado.

The report, Economic Benefits of Transit Systems: Colorado Case Studies, presents the connection between local public transportation investment and financial benefits to the Fort Collins area, served by Transfort, and the Roaring Fork Valley, served by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) in Aspen.

“Transfort has set forth a vision to be the first choice for transportation in our greater community,” said General Manager Kurt Ravenschlag. “One great way to attract people to transit is to show them the environmental and economic benefits that the system provides.”

“We’ve always believed that RFTA’s services provide a tremendous economic benefit to the region we serve, but it’s great having that validated in SWEEP’s independent report,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Blankenship.

“While large metropolitan areas are often perceived as the regions where transit investment produces the most tangible economic benefits, the case studies presented in this report demonstrate that smaller communities also can experience significant economic benefits based on their own investments in local transit systems,” said Mike Salisbury, SWEEP transportation program analyst and author of the report.

The report covers both direct benefits of public transit, such as reduced travel times and transportation costs, increased mobility, and increased efficiency in the transportation system, and indirect benefits including reduced road congestion.

In Fort Collins, the report showed that Transfort reduced the number of vehicle miles traveled in the region by 2.5 million in 2011—saving 123,800 gallons of gasoline that would have cost $427,000. Drivers also saved $139,000 because of reductions in wear and tear and the need for vehicle repair and maintenance.

Transfort also helps reduce road congestion, eliminating an estimated additional 39,000 hours that commuters would have spent delayed by traffic in 2011.

In the RFTA service area, total economic benefits far outstripped total local financial support in 2011: $52.1 million-$63.4 million compared with $13.5 million. The report specifically mentioned the high cost of land in Aspen, leading to high parking costs, and the fact that many employees who use public transit in the region have very long commutes. (The report states that 68 percent of RFTA’s riders use the system to travel to and from their workplaces.)

The text of the report is available here.