Bus riders struggle to find transportation, keep jobs

June Benson loved everything about her job at the west-side Goodwill thrift store, including her split days off.

On her Sundays off, she’d visit her mother. On Wednesdays, she’d take care of doctors’ visits and other business that’s impossible to tackle on weekends.

So why did she give up her great schedule for a Monday-Friday workweek? To keep her job.

When weekend and evening bus service ended Jan. 1 because of budget cuts, so did Benson’s rides between her home near Circle Drive and Galley Road and her job on West Colorado Avenue. Her bosses rearranged her schedule so she could catch the bus to Goodwill on weekday mornings, and she now catches a ride home with a co-worker on the days she works until 7 p.m.

“My bosses made everything happen,” said Benson, who is 40 and has never had a driver’s license.

“If they hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have a job.”

Like Benson, hundreds of others in the Pikes Peak region who rely on the city bus service and its paratransit arm for evening and weekend service are finding their routines uprooted and their jobs in jeopardy. And unless they have enough money for a taxi or are in good enough shape to ride a bike, few transportation alternatives are available to them.

“I’m starting to get calls from people who are going to lose their job if they can’t figure out something soon,” said Lori McGinnis, transportation case manager for the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Area Agency on Aging. “(Benson) is lucky she works someplace that will accommodate her, because some can’t or won’t.”

Robert Sigala doesn’t think there’s much chance his schedule can be changed, and he’s afraid of losing his job.

Since September, he’s been working varying days and hours at cafeterias on Fort Carson. He got to his job through Metro Mobility, the paratransit service of Mountain Metropolitan Transit, but service has been cut. Now, he fears ending up on the streets. He said his income barely covers his rent and phone bill.

“I really don’t want to quit this job. It’s the only thing helping me right now,” said Sigala, 35, who doesn’t drive and has trouble walking. “I’ve been taking a taxicab, but that costs me an arm and a leg. I don’t want to be out on the streets. My life is depending on transportation.”

Granted, when officials with Mountain Metropolitan Transit had to eliminate service, they went with evenings and weekends because more people use bus service on weekdays. But McGinnis said there are plenty of people like Sigala who are left in the lurch.

“Maybe it doesn’t affect a whole lot of people, but the people it does affect are low-income, and just holding on,” she said. “What’s going to happen to them?”

It’s not just getting people to jobs that worries those who work with the poor, disabled and others who, for whatever reason, don’t drive. With no weekend or evening bus service, their opportunities to socialize, attend church, go to movies and the like will be limited.

“They can’t get out into the community to interact with others because their means of transportation has been taken away,” said Laura Marth, a spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries of Colorado Springs.

McGinnis is doing what she can to help people find transportation. Her hope is that family, friends, neighbors, churches and co-workers will bridge the gap.

“I think people do want to help when they can, so we’re hoping to tap into that volunteer spirit,” she said. “I’m very hopeful that people who belong to a church community will at least ensure that people are getting to services, at the very least, although I just talked to one church that wasn’t willing to do that. That was very sad to me.”

Need a ride?
People affected by cuts in bus service can call Lori McGinnis at 471-7080, ext. 108, for help. The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments also will meet with businesses whose employees are affected by bus service cuts to work on transportation options. Call 471-7080 and ask for Lori or Lisa.
The other option for most evening and weekend transportation is a taxi.
Silver Key Senior Services provides some recreational weekend trips for those 60 and older, regardless of income. For more information, call 884-2380.