Perched in the Rockies, Denver has grown from a small town to a bustling city.  It has become one of the cities that tourists visit in Colorado  in part due to its proximity to Denver International Airport, and in part, due to the fact that it has kept many aspects of its small town charm even as it has grown. 

Even with these attributes, Denver, just like other cities across the United States, is not immune to the effects of the fuel crisis.  Just like other cities who are struggling with the balance between paying for fuel and eliminating mass transit services, Denver is dealing with the same issues.

Denver has become a commuter city, where people from the mountain communities that surround it drive or take the bus into the city for work and other reasons.  The paradox right now – just as in other areas across the country – is that as people are using mass transit more and bus ridership has gone up, rising fuel prices make it nearly impossible for the system to keep up.

The result: some of the routes that are needed the most are in jeopardy of being cancelled.  On bus line that has been in peril has been the commuter line from Park County into Denver.  The commuters that use this line live in mountain communities and have no other means of transportation into the city.  The route runs along highway 285 and is a lifeline for the people who use it.

Because of the fuel prices – even though ridership has surged – the route was scheduled to be terminated, which left its commuters in an uproar and left them in a situation where they would be stranded.  They had to beg the transit officials to keep the route going, which, at this time, it still is. 

The Denver Transit System will be $6 million over budget this year due to fuel alone.  They are budgeted for $2.60 per gallon but having to pay $3.20.  With 100 million passengers last year and estimates for more this year, the price of fuel to get them where they need to go in the eight counties that are served, could be staggering. 

For now, the route on 285 is safe.  Officials are looking at various ways to help fund the deficit including surcharges to cover fuel costs.  This scenario is being played out in communities throughout the country with little or no help.

It is time that lawmakers take some of the good ideas that have been heralded for year and put them into practice.  Even one small community on a mountaintop in Colorado can effect the economy.  The country needs to work together to overcome the fuel crisis so the economy in big cities or small towns can work.