LONGMONT — Never mind a chicken in every pot. Longmont may just get a bus pass in every hand.

Boulder County has applied for a two-year grant that would give every Longmont resident a free bus pass. Well, sort of free; the county would put up $63,188 a year and the city would need to front the same amount if it takes part.

But if state and federal grant funding comes through this fall, that would fill in the remaining $550,000 — and, the county argues, give Longmont a chance to restore local bus routes by building up its ridership.

“If you can get on the bus without having to find $2.25 in your pocket, you’re more likely to use it,” said George Gerstle, the county’s transportation director. “Right now, with what we have in Longmont, you have be to really desperate to take the local bus.”

The city has argued before that its falling ridership is tied to rising local rates by the Regional Transportation District.

In 2001, when Longmont fares were 75 cents, the city’s ridership was about 1,100 people a month. As of the end of 2012,one-way fares were $2.25 and ridership had fallen below 600.

That, in turn, kicked off a vicious cycle — lower ridership led RTD to cut routes, which was followed by still lower ridership.

“This is an opportunity to break that spiral,” Gerstle said at a Monday evening joint meeting of Boulder County commissioners and the Longmont City Council.

Councilwoman Katie Witt said she liked the idea, but that if the city decided to play, it would need to remind residents that free wasn’t forever.

“We get everyone in Longmont used to riding the bus for free and then we have to have the discussion about ‘Oh, now you have to pay for your bus pass,'” she said. “But we really are out of options.”

Councilman Brian Bagley called it a waste. Longmont already pays into RTD, he said; it should be getting decent service without having to pay more — even assuming that the program boosted ridership enough to get RTD’s attention.

“Ninety thousand people, $60,000, it’s less than a dollar per person,” Mayor Dennis Coombs said. “It’s not a huge investment.”

“It’s a bad business decision,” Bagley said. “We pay taxes and then pay again.”

Commissioner Elise Jones said a similar community bus program had worked well in Lyons.

“The idea is to see if it will work in Longmont,” she said.

The City Council has not yet decided whether to participate. The grant results are expected to be announced in August or September.

Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.