While Steamboat Resort has extended the ski season by a week for just the second time in three decades, Steamboat Springs Transit won’t extend the winter bus schedule to match the resort.

The new closing date for the resort is April 16, but the city’s bus routes will still revert to their summer bus schedule starting April 10, City Manager Gary Suiter told City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

“SST service ends as originally planned at the end of the original ski season,” Suiter said. “We will be reverting to summer season schedule with one week of the ski season left.”

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Steamboat Transportation Manager Jonathan Flint said the city struggles with extending the service because many of the bus drivers Steamboat relies on during the winter are seasonal and were told their last day would be April 9.

Flint said many of workers are already figuring out their next employment, and some may be starting other jobs on April 10, making them unavailable for extended service.

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The resort last extended the season in 2007, but only for a day. In 1993 there was a one-week extension to the season.

Flint said he remembered in previous ski season extensions that there wasn’t the same level of ridership on city buses as there was during the peak of the season, as with warmer weather people were more willing to walk or bike.

The schedule change will lead to reduced service to the base area for that last week of the ski season, Suiter said. Still, if drivers and buses are available during that final week, Flint said they would try to supplement the summer routes wherever possible, especially around the times that lifts start up and shut down when rider volume is typically the highest.

To reach Dylan Anderson, call 970-871-4247 or email danderson@SteamboatPilot.com.