It makes sense that in times of a fuel crisis where we are being told to conserve fuel by carpooling or riding the bus, ridership would go up.  On top of conserving fuel, some drivers simply cannot afford to drive their cars because of high fuel prices, so they are also using mass transit to get from one place to another.

Even this, however, is causing problems.  According to a U.S. Government report regarding rising fuel costs and the impact on mass transit, the majority of mass transit systems are experiencing an overflow that they cannot keep up with.

Because people are opting to use mass transit – especially buses – the system is overcrowded and can’t handle the number of individuals it now needs to serve.  One would think that because there are more riders, there is more revenue and, as a result, there could be extra buses on heavily used routes, especially during peak hours.

The issue is that fuel prices have increased for everyone, not just individuals.  Mass transit systems are paying much more for fuel than they had projected in their budgets.  Many cities, such as Denver, have had to eliminate various routes or scale back from ongoing service to service only once or twice per day.

American Public Transit Association (APTA) William Millar has stated that the “mass transit system in the United States is woefully underfunded.”  That, plus the skyrocketing costs of fuel has caused some cities to cut their routes more than once this year as well as increasing fares, in an effort to continue service.
Millar says that Congress needs to provide financial assistance to help the mass transit systems provide services for those who need it, and he says that Congress needs to do this “now, before the recess that will go into next year.” 

With ridership on the rise – in most cases as the only means of getting to work and maintaining employment – it is essential that these services are continued to avoid adding to the financial woes that the country is already in.  More unemployment will only increase the problems, and if people can’t get to work because there is no public transportation their unemployment is in jeopardy.

Hopefully Congress will hear Millar’s plea and help mass transit now before their fall session ends and leaves transit systems and their riders stranded until next year.

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.