Denver ? Cab drivers in Denver are having a feeding frenzy, as commuters scramble for alternative transportation amid a transit strike.

Denver-area transit workers went on strike for the first time in 24 years on Monday.

The Regional Transportation District used private contractors to keep about 45 percent of its bus routes running but closed light-rail operations and a shuttle service stretching along a downtown pedestrian mall.

The transit system averages about 275,000 rides per weekday.

No negotiations between the union and Regional Transportation District are scheduled.

The last strike in 1982 lasted for a month.