FREX bus service between Denver and Colorado Springs ends Aug.31. (Castle Rock: appointed, month-to-month)

[KaaBoom]

Looks like more public transit FAIL for the Colorado Front Range.

FREX bus service between Denver and Colorado Springs ends Aug. 31
POSTED: 06/19/2012 11:10:40 AM MDT
UPDATED: 06/19/2012 12:24:48 PM MDTBy The Denver Post

Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach has decided to shutter FREX bus service to Denver on Aug. 31.

The Colorado Springs city council had voted 6 to 3 to extend the contract for the commuter bus service on a month-to-month basis through the end of 2012, but Bach used his statutory authority to set an end date for the service and allow the contract to end Oct. 11.

FREX bus service between Denver and Colorado Springs ends Aug. 31 - The Denver Post

[Mike from back east]

Consensus is that this service serves a very small number of people and not worth public support.

People would be better off car-pooling or hiring their own private bus service. IIRC that is done back in the DC area where people ride buses from distance points into the city and very-close-in employment centers like the Pentagon (about 22,000 employees on-site) and the massive office farm of Crystal City, etc.

Those DC-area buses may have a subsidy, but I can't recall if they did or not, but there were hundreds of buses running every day and people loved them; some slept, some worked on their PCs, etc.

Car-pooling and van-pooling (whether subsidized or not) were big in the DC area, with special parking privileges on the Pentagon parking lots. I rode one of these for quite a while, not-subsidized, and the Friday afternoon jug of Carlo Rossi was a real treat....

[TechMike]

I am so disappointed. The firm I work for has an office in Colorado Springs. About twice a month I have to go down there for some computer work. The FREX is amazing. I much prefer it over driving down there.

This is a poor move on the mayor of Colorado Springs' part.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Consensus is that this service serves a very small number of people and not worth public support.

People would be better off car-pooling or hiring their own private bus service. IIRC that is done back in the DC area where people ride buses from distance points into the city and very-close-in employment centers like the Pentagon (about 22,000 employees on-site) and the massive office farm of Crystal City, etc.

Those DC-area buses may have a subsidy, but I can't recall if they did or not, but there were hundreds of buses running every day and people loved them; some slept, some worked on their PCs, etc.

Car-pooling and van-pooling (whether subsidized or not) were big in the DC area, with special parking privileges on the Pentagon parking lots. I rode one of these for quite a while, not-subsidized, and the Friday afternoon jug of Carlo Rossi was a real treat....

Sorry, I don't buy it. Almost five million people on the Front Range, and you are telling me there is there is not enough demand for intercity bus service? Colorado Springs just doesn't get it. Its like a black hole for public transit. Colorado Springs has the worst bus service of any city its size. I can find you examples of small towns with a fraction of the population of the Springs, that have better bus service (more frequent service, longer hours of operation). Colorado Springs has one of the very few airports in the country that is totally unserved by any public transit.

And Denver is following down the same path with RTD's bus service cuts. Except for the light rail system, which can serve only a small percentage of the population.

[ryanek9freak]

Obviously nobody cares, or else there'd be more push to keep it. They cant justify the cost for the few number of people that use it.

Mass transit is never going to work on the Front Range.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

Obviously nobody cares, or else there'd be more push to keep it. They cant justify the cost for the few number of people that use it.

Mass transit is never going to work on the Front Range.

Well, it's certainly not going to work, if most Coloradans have that attitude. Which is kind of strange, because public transit is working in just about every other urban corridor in the country I can think of. Its kind of sad if Utah can make it work on the Wasatch Front, but Colorado can't even connect the cities on the Front Range with bus service.

[wong21fr]

^That would take one of two things:

-RTD is extended to encompass Castle Rock, Monument, and Colorado Springs (fat chance).

-CDOT decides to push transit along south I-25. They are already proposing it for I-70 and north I-25, but the big difference is that cities along those corridors are supportive of it. Colorado Springs hasn't been very vocal about adding additional modes to connect to surrounding cities.

[cowboyxjon]

I don't care. Ridership wasn't high enough and it doesn't run on weekends.
Plus, my biggest reason for not using it is that once you get to the Springs, it's difficult to get around. It's easier and faster to drive my own vehicle.

[CosmicWizard]

KaBoom wrote:

Colorado Springs has the worst bus service of any city its size.

Apparently you've never ridden the bus in Virginia Beach!

[smdensbcs]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

Sorry, I don't buy it. Almost five million people on the Front Range, and you are telling me there is there is not enough demand for intercity bus service? Colorado Springs just doesn't get it.

Is your position, then, that there is in fact a heavy demand for this FREX service, the buses are in fact full, and that "Colorado Springs" is ditching the service because of misguided ideological reasons?

Are you personally aware those FREX buses are full? I have no idea if they are or not, but I presume those who profess to know are not simply lying through their teeth for ideological reasons. If the service is underutilized and is not cost-efficient, it should be eliminated until the demand is there to make it viable. No? If people decided they no longer wanted to use the NY subways, should the city keep them running indefinitely?

What is the "it" Colorado Springs doesn't get? That they should be subsidizing a bunch of empty buses back and forth to/from Denver because public-transit, used or unused, is a good idea, even if people aren't using it? I'm obviously a bit confused here.