Summit County Citizens Voice

The Summit Stage free transit system serves thousands of riders each day/

John Jones moving on to head transit system in Virginia

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — Summit Stage director John Jones said today he’s resigning from his job effective Feb. 8. Jones will become the new director of the transit system in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“When you sit up thinking about doing something new after the alarm goes off, you know it’s time for a change,” Jones said, adding that he’s looking forward to the new challenges ahead.

Jones has led the Summit Stage the past eight years through some serious ups and downs, including the peak of the resort and real estate boom years and the subsequent deep slump that cut into county tax revenues, including the free transit system’s budget, with the drop in revenues coming at a time of rising costs.

Those pressures on the Summit Stage budget resulted in some schedule juggling and associated staff cuts, leading to heated dispute with the unionized drivers. Not everyone was happy with Jones’ tenure, but that’s part of the nature of that type of job.

County officials said they have no immediate plans to replace Jones.

“We’ll look internally and see if want to make any structural changes,” said assistant county manager Thad Noll, explaining that the change in leadership could present an opportunity to rethink management of the transit system.

The Summit Stage continues to face budget challenges, Noll said, with costs increasing. But the overall budget picture is looking a bit brighter with sources of sales tax revenue coming online, he added, singling out the Lowe’s store in Silverthorne as a significant sales tax generator.

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