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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach has elected not to renew the Front Range Express (FREX) contract for the remainder of 2012 despite City Council's vote to keep the service running.

FREX, which services Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Castle Rock and Denver, will lose its Colorado Springs route Aug. 31. Bach asked council to discuss canceling the service in a letter sent earlier this month, and they voted to extend it at last week's meeting.

“We respectfully considered City Council’s role in extending the IGA with a 6 to 3 vote but also recognize it is the Mayor’s authority and responsibility to execute all operational contracts to ensure sound financial decisions on behalf of our City,” Bach's Chief of Staff Laura Neumann said in a statement.

Bach said it would have cost $425,000 to renew on a month-to-month basis for the rest of the year and said the city has spent about $800,000 annually on the service since they started it.

Bach said he would rather use the money to fund city transit services, which he said about 4,000 Colorado Springs residents use a year compared with just 200 riders of FREX coming from the entire state. He also noted FREX riders' incomes are significantly higher than those who use city bus services.

“Although this was not an easy decision to make for any involved, it quickly became clear to us that our funds could be better used to support services closer to home that serve more of our citizens,” Neumann said.