### U.S. Department ofTransportation Office cfthe Secretary cfTransportation 

## SEP 19 

# 2014
TheHonorable Diane Mitsch Bush Colorado House ofRepresentatives 200 East Colfax A venue, Room 271 Denver, CO 80203 DearMs. Bush: Assistant Secretary

.,-i,**{"-~** -) t.)

...) 1200 New Jer.:;ey Avenue. SE Washington, DC 20590



### Thankyou for your letter, addressed to Secretary Foxx} supporting the proposal submitted by YampaValley Regional Airport for a grantunderthe U.S. Department ofTransportation's Small Community Air Service DevelopmentProgram. Secretary Foxx asked that Irespondto you on his behalf. The Small Community Air Service Deve!.opmentProgram was established to help smaller communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares and insufficient service. Underthe statute$ the Department may make amaximum of40 grant awards .each year, although no more than four may beto communities in the same State. To provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the types ofair service developmentprojects that can befunded. OnJune 30; the Departmentissued an order setting adeadline ofJuly 31 for applications. As these grantrequests are pending before the Department, I cannot comment on the merits ofany particularproposal. I assure you, however, thatthe Departmentwill give full andfair considerationto all proposals that have beenproperly filed. As is our standard practice, I am placing acopy ofyour letter and this response in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0113 as acontact outside the record ofthis matter. I appreciate your interest in this program. Sincerely yours,

Assistant Secretary for Aviation and InternationalAffairsState Representative DIANE MITSCH BUSH Colorado State Capitol HD26 Eagle & Routt 200 EastColfaxAvenue, Room 271 Denver, Colorado 80203 Office: 303-866-2923 Email: diane.mitschbush.house@state.co.us 

## COLORADO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

### State Capitol

July 31, 2014 Mr. Anthony Foxx, Secretary ofTransportation United States Department ofTransportation 1200 New JerseyAvenue, Southeast Washington D.C. 20590 

### Denver 80203 Committee Member: Agriculture, Livestock,

Natural Resources Transportation & Energy

Committee



### Reference: DOT-OST-2014-0113 Small Community Air Service Development Program 2014 Dear Mr. Secretary, I am writing this letterto express my very strong support for the Small CommunityAir Service Development (SCASD) Grant application of the Yampa Valley Regional Airport, which serves Hayden and Steamboat Springs and much of northwestern Colorado. I am alarmed by the poor air service this airport and region receives outside of the winter ski season. As the Grant application notes, only one airline offers air service from April to December and flight frequendes are limited and airfares are extremely high, well above national averages, well above those at Denver and often well above those at other Colorado airports as well. TheAirport's Grant application is for a modest $300,000, matched by $300,000 in local funding. The purpose ofthe Grant is to recruit a second airline to provide service outside ofwinter, and thus provide some schedule options and airfare competition in northwest Colorado during that period. TheAirport and Routt County and their community partners, including the City ofSteamboat Springs, Steamboat Ski 

### &Resort Corporation, the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association and the LMD, have awell thought out plan for recruiting a second carrier, but some community financial support of that carrier will be needed to bring in new competition. This seems to me to be a perfect use for the SCASD Grant program, as it is intended to aid smaller cities with higher fares and limited competition. I urge you to give this Grant application your fullest consideration and I wish to be advised of the ultimate disposition of this Grant application. Sincerely, Colorado State Representative House District 26 Diane Mitsch Bush