End of the road

03.12.09

John Businger sits mutely for a long time before leaning over the table, his 55-year-old eyes earnest under the shadow of his ball cap.

"I'm very in luck, because I'm military," he says. "So I have medical benefits through the military."

Businger is one of three bus drivers gathered on a cold weekday morning in the woozy quarters of the pale double-wide trailer that serves as their breakroom.

All three will be out of a job within a month. As part of massive budget cuts, the urban district is eliminating its transit contractor, First Transit, resulting in the loss of weekend and evening bus service — and the layoffs of 73 workers, including 47 bus drivers once paid with blended-fund dollars. The savings will amount to about $5.7 million in 2010.

"It's almost like a dream," Businger says grimly. "It's almost determinedly to believe."

The dirty morning light streams through the windows on a simple setup: old table and chairs, aging chaise longue, TV, worn pool table, lockers. A few years ago, the bathroom and its single toilet served around 100 drivers, both virile and female. Now few of the remaining employees even bother coming to this dingy little refuge on Transit Compel.

Source: Colorado Springs Independent