FREX bus service saved through 2010; The Front Range Express commuter bus service faced extreme budget cuts this year

Photos: Ben Mackall

Pictured above, one of the Front Range Express commuter buses transports Colorado Springs residents to Denver

Judith Foster, 61, sat in her wheelchair buckled in to the handicapped section of the Front Range Express commuter bus (FREX) from Colorado Springs to Denver. Foster was wearing thick bifocals and memorizing her calling script for her job at the Qwest Communications outbound call center located in downtown Denver. She said she has ridden the FREX daily since she became a paraplegic due to a spinal injury in 2006. 

“Without the FREX, I would have to quit my job. I need my job in order to survive, and I need the FREX to get there,” Foster said, crying as she spoke. 

In the back of the bus, CC student Brittney Onstott typed a class assignment on her computer while riding the FREX home to Denver for an eye appointment. 

“Being able to relax in my high-back cushioned seat and use the free wireless Internet to e-mail my assignment to my professor is a luxury,” Onstott said. “It’s convenient for me, good for the environment, and affordable for students like myself.” 

Operated by Mountain Metropolitan Transit, a City of Colorado Springs subsidiary, FREX is the only commuter service connecting the Pikes Peak Region with the Denver metropolitan area, two of the largest employment markets in the state.

FREX services approximately 600 one-way trips per day and is widely used by Colorado Springs and Denver residents. However, due to shortfalls in the Colorado Springs city budget and reduced funding from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, the Mountain Metropolitan Transit was planning to discontinue to the FREX service starting on February 12. According to City Councilwoman Jan Martin, the city of Colorado Springs cut their transit budget by $62,000 this year.

Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera stated during a phone interview that the city had larger priorities to fund, like police and fire safety.

“The FREX meets all of its primary objectives, like improving air quality, providing a viable transit system to Colorado Springs constituents, and reducing air congestion, but the city doesn’t have the funds to continue it” Mayor Rivera said.

The FREX service was saved, however, when the York County Transportation Authority in Pennsylvania bought nine of the 19 buses on February 8. The buses sold for $1.44 million- enough money to sustain the FREX service through 2010.

After the buses were sold, the Colorado Springs City Council still had to approve the continuation of the FREX service. On February 9, the City Council voted 6 to 2 to extend the life of the FREX bus. 

“This is the third time we opened a bid to sell the nine buses. We were disappointed because FREX had been very successful, but it costs $1.8 million to run each year. We couldn’t afford that as a city,” said Craig Blewitt, Interim Transit Services Division Manager.

Several businesspeople like Foster and CC students like Onstott who rely heavily on the FREX service are thrilled by the continuation of the FREX. 

Despite this continuation, the sale of the buses is a temporary fix for this coming year. After the money raised by the bus sales runs out, the city will have to find another way to raise funds in order to continue the service beyond 2010. 

“It’s nice to know that I can get to Denver still by riding the FREX,” said CC junior Suchi Smita. “So many CC students without cars would have had a lot of trouble if the bus was discontinued.”