Hundreds gathered Thursday morning to show their support for public transportation
Read more: Local, State, Community, Transit, Public Transportation, Bernie Herpin, Alphie Omar, Bus, Morning Show, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Family
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Hundreds of transit riders and their advocates came together Thursday morning for a rally in downtown Colorado Springs to show their support for the public transportation system. This as the city considers cutting transit's funding in half next year.
The rally was put on in part by Environment Colorado, The Colorado Public Interest Research Group, and the Green Cities Coalition of the Pikes Peak Region.
All three groups cited a recent study that said in 2008 Colorado Springs saw a record year of transit ridership.
They also highlighted the positive effects of public transportation on the environment.
"It is very important for all people like myself to have the transit system, without it we can not get from our jobs or to school," Alphie Omar said.
Omar was born without arms and legs. He relies on the city's public transportation system to get around and said if the city cuts its bus service in half he will have a hard time getting through his daily routine.
City leaders said they hear Omar and others concerns, but added the city budget is in a bad way right now.
"Because our budget is so sales tax dependent and people in this town are not spending of course our revenue has gone down," Councilmember Bernie Herpin said.
Herpin said council has yet to see next year's projected budget, but he said they have been made aware of potential cuts which do include slashes to the transit system.
He said now council has to prioritize services putting public safety first.
"Well then how do we divide up the rest of the money, is it more important to save transit or parks which cost us money to operate, so those are the kind of decisions we will be making as we go through the budget," Herpin said.
He said if residents want to keep all their services up and running full time including the transit system, they will have to pass 2C, a tax increase on the November ballot.
Omar encouraged people to vote yes and said if he can not ride the bus he will lose his job which will in turn a have negative effect on the local economy.
"It just seems like the more routes they cut, the less we have," Omar said.
To learn more about 2C click here.
