Early MAX ridership figures encouraging

FORT COLLINS – The trip down Mason Street on MAX, Fort Collins’ new bus rapid transit line, begins like any other bus ride.

But this bus is unlike any the city ever has run. Tickets are purchased at special kiosks; cyclists hang their bikes on the side, and the vehicle itself runs up and down a dedicated guideway, unimpeded by the traffic most public buses must battle each day.

Transfort officials say it has opened public transportation to previously untapped demographics, such as the elderly. Transfort is Fort Collins’ public transportation agency.

Although MAX is still in its infancy – it has run…