Douglas County – The expansion of the Front Range Express, the popular commuter bus service between Denver and Colorado Springs, is bringing the two cities closer together, officials said Friday.
The state Strategic Transit Task Force last week endorsed $8 million for the Front Range Express, or FREX, which would make the pilot program set to expire in December a permanent fixture on Interstate 25.
Since its rollout in October 2004, FREX ridership has far outpaced the expectations of the Colorado Springs officials who launched it. The federal money would add 16 more buses to the fleet.
Officials said Friday that FREX’s success may be paving the way to commuter rail between the cities.
The same state task force recommended spending $1.2 million, from about $60 million allocated by the state legislature over the next five years, to study the feasibility of a Front Range rail system.
“Obviously the two metro areas are quickly coming together as one market” for living and working, said Rob McDonald, executive director of the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, which landed the 2004 federal grant to improve air quality and ease traffic congestion.
The task force expects the Colorado Transportation Commission to ratify its recommendation next month, permanently extending the program that would otherwise expire in December.
Buses pick up riders more than two dozen times a day in Fountain, Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock and the Denver Tech Center on Mondays through Fridays from 3:45 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Ticket prices range from $2 to $6 each way.
Under the proposal, the Colorado Department of Transportation would pay $6.32 million, with the remaining $1.68 million coming from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.
Cities along the route would fund the program’s estimated $1.6 million operating budget, with about one-fourth of that coming from fares.
Denver’s Regional Transportation District provides its bus stops to link FREX riders to destinations across the region, including Boulder and Denver International Airport.
“We think it’s a good service and a much-needed link between Colorado Springs and Denver,” RTD spokesman Scott Reed said Friday.
FREX has served an average of 118,389 riders a year. Castle Rock provides 32 percent of its riders.
In 2005, Castle Rock residents voted by a 4-1 margin to pull its 1 cent sales tax out of RTD, withdrawing about $5 million from RTD annually.
“I think FREX helped with that decision,” said Castle Rock Mayor Randy Reed. “And I think it was the right decision.”
He said a permanent commuter link to the two cities would be “awesome for our community, and I think we’ll continue to support it.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
