The bus stops here: Front Range Express to be discontinued

After five years of service to Colorado Springs residents, the Front Range Express (better known as the FREX) will be shutting down on Feb. 12 due to lack of funding.

The city's bus service has been the first and only form of mass transit that takes commuters to and from Colorado Springs, Monument and Denver. Since the program's formation in 2004 as a plan to help reduce emissions and congestion along I-25, the FREX has been very popular among residents along the Front Range who work in a city other than Colorado Springs.

Despite the system's popularity, decreases in sales tax revenues over the last few years led to the Mountain Metropolitan Transit charging increasing prices for bus tickets, resulting in lower ridership. When an attempt to sell some of the buses to keep the program afloat failed, so did the service.

People use the FREX for a number of reasons, including convenience, lack of a car and/or license, reduced stress on the car and/or driver, being "green," and ability to work more (all buses have free Wi-Fi, which riders can use during transit).

Low cost used to be a major benefit too, but with a one-way ticket to Denver now costing $11, it would be cheaper to drive a car, which would, on average, only set the driver back approximately $9.14.

The cancellation doesn't seem to be affecting many students, in part because most don't even know what the FREX is, let alone ride it. Some students, like Candice Moncayo, ride the FREX on occasion, but Moncayo said she is more concerned for the people who live here and work in Denver than for herself.

"It's very disappointing, especially for the people who have had to find jobs in Denver because there aren't any in the Springs and to relocate would be too expensive," she said.

Lonnie Schaible, an assistant professor for the School of Public Affairs who commutes two to three times a week from Castle Rock by FREX, is disappointed too. "It's a huge loss to the community and university, ecologically and economically," she said.

"People can easily justify driving their own car, but they'll regret it once the price of gas goes up again," warned Schaible. "It will be a hardship once the program is gone."

Whether the FREX will ever return is still undetermined. Most people agree that there needs to be some kind of mass transit system that connects Denver to the Springs, and even to other parts of the state, but to have such a system is, at least right now, quite costly.

City spokesperson John Leavitt isn't optimistic. "Until Colorado Springs residents are willing to increase taxes, [a mass transit system] probably isn't a reality," he said.