Northwest Parkway sues Eight Black over unpaid tolls

SHUTTLE SERVICE

By Dallas Heltzell

BizWest / Prairie Mountain Media

Beleaguered airport shuttle service Eight Black, which abruptly shut down June 13 just weeks after it had aggressively promoted the offer of prepaid vouchers, is facing yet another lawsuit — this one over unpaid turnpike tolls.

Northwest Parkway LLC, operators of the roughly 8.9-mile toll road that connects Interstate 25 and the E-470 tollway in north metro Denver to U.S. 36 in Broomfield, sued Longmont-based Eight Black Partnership LLC and its owners, Simon Chen and Denise K. Marble, last week in Broomfield District Court, alleging that the shuttle service owes $83,273.98 in unpaid tolls.

Tolls are assessed through license-plate readers positioned above the highway. According to the complaint, “Defendant was mailed GO-PASS bills and subsequently had access to electronic billing statements for each toll incurred on the Northwest Parkway and failed to pay GO-PASS toll bills on time. The failure to pay GO-PASS toll bills on time is a breach of the contract for use of the Northwest Parkway and subjects Defendant to additional fees and legal action.”

Northwest Parkway LLC and its operating company, Go-Pass Mobility Services LLC, were acquired in April 2024 by French firm Vinci Highways.

Owners of the 10-year-old Eight Black shuttle service blamed the abrupt closure of the company on “a perfect storm — a significant increase in insurance premiums, rising airport and regulatory fees, and steep capital costs.” But it also faced a flurry of lawsuits alleging unpaid debts as well as a deluge of complaints from riders who had been persuaded as recently as late May to purchase prepaid ride vouchers.

Another car service, Broomfield-based The Royal Ambassadors LLC, had sued Eight Black in late May, alleging breach of contract. The lawsuit claims that Eight Black purchased Royal Ambassadors for $250,000 in June 2022 backed by a promissory note and agreed to pay $7,000 per month.

According to the complaint, beginning on July 1, 2022, Eight Black made 30 months of payments, but did not make the payments in February, March or April of this year. Around April 28, it said, Eight Black made the February and March payments but has not paid for April or May.

Another lawsuit, filed May 1 in Boulder District Court, sought the return of a $200,000 investment plus interest to Daniel O’Connor of Longmont, Meanwhile, District Court Judge Nancy Salomone on May 5 ordered Chen and Eight Black to pay nearly $150,000 to Bryn Long of Lyons on a defaulted promissory note.

In frequent emails to its customers over the years, the company encouraged purchase of the single-ride vouchers. On May 27, it announced that it was extending the sale of its $32 single-ride vouchers — or $30 if eight or more were purchased. The voucher “never expires” and is “fully transferable,” the emailed sale pitch said, and is “the smartest way to get to DIA.”

Chen told BizWest he was working on a plan to refund voucher customers, and set up a voucher refund request form. Eight Black Partnership LLC was founded in 2015 and two years later began door-to-door shuttle operations in Longmont to and from Denver International Airport when Super Shuttle pulled out of the market. It expanded to Boulder in 2020 and purchased Green Ride Boulder and Green Ride Longmont in 2022.