MAX Bus Rapid Transit is a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

system serving

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

. The service, operated by Transfort, consists of one route serving 12 stations on the Mason Corridor Transitway between South Transit Center and Downtown Fort Collins, with stops near the

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

campus. The MAX route includes sections of new dedicated bus guideway, as well as shared city streets; in some cases, the bus has priority signal access. It opened on May 10, 2014, at a cost of $87 million, as the first bus rapid transit system in the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Service was free for the first three months, with fare collection starting August 25. Fares must be pre-paid online or by using a

ticket machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

at any stop. Tickets and passes may also be purchased at each of Transfort's transit stations. As of August 27, 2017, MAX and several supporting routes also operate on Sunday. In its first five years, the route provided 6.2 million rides and was lauded as a top-notch service for a city its size. The

Institute for Transportation and Development Policy The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is a non-governmental non-profit organization that focuses on developing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, promoting biking, walking, and non-motorized transport, and improving priva ...

(ITDP), under its

BRT Standard The BRT Standard is an evaluation tool for bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors around the world, based on international best practices. The Standard establishes a common definition for BRT and identifies BRT best practices, as well as functioning a ...

, has given MAX a preliminary classification as a "Basic BRT" corridor.

Stations

*South Transit Center *Harmony *Troutman *Horsetooth *Swallow *Drake *Spring Creek *Prospect *University (

) *Laurel *Mulberry *Olive *Mountain *Downtown Transit Center

Service

MAX operates daily year-round, frequency depending on time of day, generally every 10–15 minutes Monday through Saturday and every 30 minutes on Sunday. Each full-size (60' articulating) MAX bus can carry four bicycles inside—two standing and two hanging. Smaller MAX buses have a triple bike rack on the front, with room for one bike inside.

References

{{USBRT 2014 establishments in Colorado 2014 in transport Bus rapid transit in the United States Bus transportation in Colorado Transportation in Fort Collins, Colorado