Fort Carson’s new shuttle service gains immediate traction

Fort Carson, Colo., launched an on-demand shuttle last month to improve mobility around the base and has already provided more than 11,800 free rides.

“Our priority is supporting the soldiers, civilians, and families who live and work on this installation, and the Carson Connector is doing exactly that,” said Col. Erik Oksenvaag, Fort Carson garrison commander. “Seeing our community members leverage this service to get to work, grab a meal, or head to the gym — coupled with their overwhelmingly positive feedback — proves that this initiative is delivering a tangible quality-of-life benefit across Fort Carson.”

The Carson Connector launched June 1. Soldiers, family members and Army civilians can download an app to request a ride in a branded, 15-passenger van to hundreds of locations across post. It’s offered through an Intergovernmental Support Agreement with the nearby city of Fountain.

The shuttle also serves two off-post destinations: a shopping and dining area and Pikes Peak State College.

The total number of people who have boarded the shuttle is more than 14,500 because when a soldier is picked up, others may also join the ride, said Michael Simler, Fountain’s manager for the Carson Connector.

The average wait time for pickup is about seven minutes, he said.

The idea for this type of shuttle stemmed from challenges Fort Carson faced over the past few years with soldiers having access to dining facilities. The shuttle’s launch came just as the post opened a privately operated dining facility, Stack House Bistro.

Soldiers who live in the barracks can use their meal-card entitlements at the bistro, just as they would an Army-run dining facility, and the bistro is the top-requested destination for the new shuttle, according to the base.

The next most requested destinations are the on-post Exchange and the new soldier reception barracks.

“This transit service is also a quality-of-life enhancer that’s intended to get soldiers to the dining facility on time as well as get to their training on time,” said Bart Bedsole, spokesman for Fountain.

Averaging about 400 rides a day, the Carson Connector’s use is more than 800% above the loop-style shuttle service that preceded it, according to Fort Carson.

Nearly 1,700 people have downloaded the app needed to request a ride, and about 87% of the downloads were active-duty soldiers, the base said.

The Carson Connector was designed after a transportation service at Fort Hood in Texas. The Cavazos Connector was born in 2024 out of a similar need to get soldiers to dining facilities and other locations around post.

It’s now driven more than half a million riders, the base said. It averages more than 530 riders per day.