Towns part ways, each offer own shuttle-bus system

In terms of the shared bus shuttle system, when Black Hawk and Central City decided to each pick up their jacks and quit playing together, each town successfully found a new game within its own borders.

After a six-week scramble, Central City successfully launched its own shuttle buses on Dec. 28, with no interruption of service when the joint-operating agreement between the two gambling towns ended the same day.

If you haven’t trekked up the hill since then, look around Central City for the shiny new black and green buses running on a 30-minute schedule stopping at all your favorite gaming haunts.

Black Hawk, meanwhile, will keep the old red and gold buses chugging along at the same stops you know and love.

“Central City is very pleased to be able to continue to provide a no-cost transportation service for all our visitors,” said mayor Ron Engels. “It’s a convenience for everyone who stops in, and it’s a real plus for the environment as well.”

Engels encourages riders to stop into any of Central City’s casinos to say, “Thanks” to the casino management because without the casinos chipping in for the buses, the service likely would have ended.

“I personally would like to thank casino management, and especially city staff who worked what seemed like a miracle – bring up a transportation system in less than six weeks is an amazing feat,” he said.

Central City will be tracking ridership over the next several months to measure the popularity and success of the service.

“As I’ve mentioned before, we can’t tell much about spending habits once someone gets off the bus, but knowing how many riders get on and off, and where, does provide us with some valuable information.”

Bus boom. The bus biz in Black Hawk and Central is booming. In addition to the new shuttles in Central City, Ramblin Express recently opened a sixth casino shuttle park-and-ride depot at Colorado Mills mall at 14500 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood.

Visitors, as well as casino employees now have another travel option for the often-congested Clear Creek Canyon into the gaming towns.

There are 16 departures daily beginning at 5 a.m. with open-ended optional return tickets until 2 a.m. Casino employee fares are $8 round-trip when purchased five at a time. Gaming patrons can purchase a $20 ticket, and get most of that back with qualified casino play at participating casinos.

For a limited time, a half-price $10 round-trip ticket is being offered to Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino, which is covering the other half of the fare, and offering passengers the chance to earn $10 cash back with 100 points earned on their players card.

For more information, go to casinoshuttle.com.

Wined and dined. More than 300 festive folks attended the Central City Holiday Business Bash Dec. 18, which offered fortune telling, pictures with Santa, a martini bar and a dessert station.

There were free prizes and giveaways at Fortune Valley, Century Casino, EZ Street, Doc Holidays and Johnny Zs (which gave away a car that day).

- Penny Parker is a columnist for The Denver Post. She’s always on the prowl for tidbits and tips from Colorado’s gaming communities. Call her at 303-619-5209 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.