UPDATE: More On FREX vs Local Transit

The conversation is not over on taxpayer dollars and the funding of local transit.

Mayor Steve’s Bach’s Chief of Staff Laura Nuemann said the mayor must make tough decisions that will negatively impact someone. A question remains, though– who?

“In a perfect world we would like to be able to provide service to everyone, including FREX,” said Nuemann.

However, it is not a perfect world and neither is the state of the local economy, and the mayor’s office has made it clear, after asking City Council on Tuesday to end FREX. Council did not, but the service might still be ended by Bach.

Bach’s decision will come down to numbers– FREX has 200 riders a day, but local transit has 4,000.

“We believe that local transit is of greater importance because it serves a larger majority,” said Neumann.

Despite the severe cuts already made to local transit, ending FREX does not mean that local transit will see the return of nights and weekends, as some riders say they hoped. This because the mayor’s office said they are swamped with many city departments asking for more funds, including public safety, parks, and roads.

KRDO NewsChannel13 was at Tuesday’s city council meeting where the majority of people pleaded for FREX to stay because it helps them get to work in Denver and back home to Colorado Springs. Neumann was at that meeting too, and said people’s personal stories about why they need FREX were moving.

“You’d have not to be human to not be moved by the stories of the people,” said Neumann.

Moving stories are not enough to save the service, because it has been called unsustainable for years.

Bach’s office is currently waiting for the city attorney to verify if the mayor does indeed have the authority to cut FREX before he makes a final decision.