Jackson's New Bus Fares Are the Small Part of START's Winter Fix

Starting Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, riding the START Town Shuttle around Jackson will cost $2. The same $2 one-way fare applies to START On-Demand and to the Stilson-to-Teton Village bus, which used to be free. That's according to Buckrail's Oct. 5 report on the new fares. Commuter routes from Star Valley and Teton Valley go to $10 each way.

Expected fare revenue is the smallest piece of the plan the Town Council and County Commission adopted to cover START's budget shortfall this winter. Riders who know how the plan's dollars break down can decide whether to buy a pass, how to treat a Village fare that is still moving, and what to watch for when the winter schedule comes out.

Where the $1.5 Million Hole Came From

START runs partly on federal Section 5311 operating money, which reaches Wyoming transit agencies through WYDOT. A July 6 memo to the Town Council and County Commissioners laid out what happened this year. START received about $4.9 million for federal fiscal year 2026 and asked for $5.9 million for 2027. It was awarded close to $3.4 million. On May 27, WYDOT told most of its subrecipients to expect "a general decrease in baseline funding compared to previous years." WYDOT said the reason was that federal pandemic relief funds and historic state carryover balances had run out. On June 3, WYDOT reported $14 million in requests against $8.5 million available.

The memo also says the shortfall is not a one-year problem. At the Wyoming Transit Association conference in Casper in mid-June, local transit agencies were told to expect the same reduced funding for the next three years.

How the Plan Splits the Gap

The Town and County adopted their FY27 plan at a joint meeting on Sept. 14, as Buckrail reported the next day. Here's how the dollars break down:

The $750,000 is split three ways: 48% from Teton County, 32% from the Town and 20% from partners. When Buckrail reported the plan, the partners' $150,000 share had not been committed.

In dollar terms, the service reductions are more than five times larger than the expected fare revenue. The July memo listed the kinds of cuts on the table. They included reducing Town Shuttle service in the midday, evenings and on Sundays, trimming midday and evening Teton Village winter express service, cutting some commuter trips, and narrowing On-Demand coverage at peak hours. The Sept. 14 vote approved a dollar amount for reductions. START's winter timetable will show how that amount is spread across those routes and hours. For anyone who rides a midday shuttle or a Sunday bus, the timetable matters more than the $2.

Fares also cover only part of the cost for a reason. Officials looked at general-fund support, service cuts, fare increases and a mix of all three. START staff and its board recommended the mixed approach, and officials agreed that fares alone could not close the gap. START's July memo gives a sense of scale. It counts more than 160,000 On-Demand riders, more than 500,000 seasonal resort-service riders and 50,000 commuter riders. Spread across that many riders, a $2 fare brings in modest money. It does change how people ride.

What a Regular Rider Pays After Nov. 27

Under the new structure, a single in-town ride is almost never the cheapest way to pay. Buckrail lists these options:

• One-way: $2 on the Town Shuttle, On-Demand, Teton Village routes and Stilson to the Village
• Jackson/Teton Village 10-ticket pack: $16, which works out to $1.60 a ride
• Local one-month pass: $50, unlimited On-Demand, Town Shuttle and Teton Village routes
• Local six-month pass: $150, same coverage
• Commuter 10-ticket pack: $60, which works out to $6 a ride
• Universal pass: $120 for one month, $499 for six months or $899 for a year, covering every START service including the Star Valley and Teton Valley routes

Here's where each option starts paying off:

1. The monthly local pass costs the same as 25 one-way fares, or about 31 rides from a 10-ticket pack. A daily round trip on the Town Shuttle passes either number well before the end of the month.
2. The six-month local pass works out to $25 a month, half the price of the monthly pass. It costs the same as about 12 single fares a month, or about 16 rides a month from 10-ticket packs. For anyone riding through the whole winter, it is the cheapest option on the list.
3. The one-month universal pass costs as much as 12 one-way commuter fares, or six round trips between Star Valley or Teton Valley and Jackson. Bought as 10-ticket packs at $6 a ride, the break-even is 20 rides. The six-month and annual universal passes come to roughly $83 and $75 a month.

Under this structure, a frequent rider pays a small flat amount and an occasional rider pays $2 a trip. The 10-ticket pack is for riders in between, who ride often enough to save but not often enough to make a pass pay off.

Buckrail reports that passes are sold at START headquarters and at Town Hall. If you plan to buy a pass, it's worth doing before Nov. 27.

Four Published Figures for the Village Fare

On the Teton Village routes, the published numbers don't match. In order:

1. Current fare: $3 one-way between Jackson and Teton Village, per Buckrail's Sept. 15 report.
2. August proposal: The fare plan heard by the START Board on Aug. 20 would have cut the Village fare from $3 to $2 one-way, according to the Town of Jackson's public notice.
3. Aug. 31 direction: After that hearing, the joint Town Council and County Commission told START staff to raise the Village fare to $4 one-way and $8 for a one-day pass. That revised proposal went to a public hearing on Oct. 1.
4. Oct. 5 report: Buckrail's article on the fares taking effect Nov. 27 lists Teton Village routes at $2 one-way and $4 round trip.

These figures disagree. A Village rider could pay $2 or $4 per one-way trip, and over a winter of trips to the mountain that difference adds up. The other fares match across both sources. The Town Shuttle, On-Demand, Stilson-to-Village and commuter fares are the same in the Town's notice and in Buckrail's report. If you ride to the Village, ask START headquarters or Town Hall which Village fare applies when you buy a pass or ticket book. The local monthly and six-month passes include Teton Village routes in both versions, so a pass holder pays the same either way.

Who Rides for Less

The Town's September notice lists these discounts alongside its proposed fare tables:

• Half off all prices for riders age 60 and older and age 12 and younger
• Free rides for children age 8 and under traveling with an adult
• Free rides within Teton County, Wyoming, for Teton County students
• START ADA paratransit fares set equal to fixed-route fares

Because these were published as part of the proposal, check them along with the Village fare when you visit START or Town Hall.

Where This Leaves Downtown Parking

For a resident heading to Town Square, the $2 shuttle fare now competes with the car. Jackson's own parking counts suggest that the shortage downtown is mostly a shortage of surface-lot spaces. Transit staff counted downtown parking on a Thursday and a Saturday in early August, as the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported Oct. 12. They found the Home Ranch, Deloney Avenue and Miller Park lots routinely more than 90 to 95% full, with some locations reaching 100% by 11 a.m. The lot next to the Center for the Arts, the Deloney lot and the Miller Park lot were almost entirely full by 9 a.m.

Over the same summer, the town's parking garage at Millward Street and Simpson Avenue routinely had 120 to 150 open spaces. "A hundred and twenty spaces were available 95% of the time," Charlotte Frei, the town and county's transportation manager, told the council, according to the News&Guide. The Home Ranch lot at North Cache Street and Gill Avenue has had a three-hour limit since earlier this year, and staff suggested enforcing it more strictly. Those counts come from the summer peak. Winter demand may look different, but the gap between the surface lots and the garage was large and showed up throughout the season.

There may be more fare decisions ahead. At the Sept. 14 meeting, the boards directed staff to work with the business community and the Teton Village Association on long-term support. They also asked staff to develop a proposal for a joint transportation advisory board and a regional transportation agency, and to work with Wyoming lawmakers on changes that would support public transit. "It's time to put a group of coalition partners together to talk a little more about a more sustainable funding model," Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce CEO Rick Howe said during public comment, Buckrail reported. With reduced federal funding expected for three years, the FY27 plan is unlikely to be the last time START's budget comes up for a vote.

In Jackson, the trip to the Village and the drive to Town Square are part of how a home works day to day. If you're weighing how location and transit fit into a move within the valley, the team at Budge Kelley Realty Group is glad to talk through how different parts of Jackson connect.