Bus passengers seek more funding for transit system

Bus passengers in Colorado Springs are calling for a better service. There aren’t enough routes and wait times are too long, they said.

“I am pretty much transit-dependant. I ride it almost every day,” Keesha Jackson said. “I spend about 20 to 30 hours a week just in commuting.”

She said there isn’t enough service. Most routes on the Mountain Metro Transit run once an hour. Most routes end in the early evening, and on weekends the options are fewer.

Jackson and other members of the Community Transit Coalition said the solution would be more funding.

Mountain Metro Transit gets its funding from multiple sources, and one of them is the city’s general fund. This year, the bus system received $4.3 million from the city, $470,000 more than last year. The city’s budget manager said they have slowly increased the amount in the last few years. And that while transit is high on their priority list, they have a limited amount of money to work with.

The Community Transit Coalition hopes for a $1.4 million increase from the city next year. That would bring the total to $5.7 million, the minimum “maintenance of effort” amount the system received annually between 2004 and 2008.

“It would just impact the community a lot to be able to be more independent with their transportation and rely on the system that really works for everybody, and not just for the bare minimum,” Community Transit Coalition community organizer Courtney Stone said.

The coalition is providing postcards for bus passengers to write down the improvements they think the bus system needs. Those will be mailed to Mayor John Suthers.

Meanwhile, the city is asking for feedback, as it works on next year’s city budget. This survey asks residents to prioritize the needs think the city should spend money on next year.