DISQUS

OldGrouch · 9 months ago

As one who both fondly remembers the wonderful public transportation system Denver once had - "Owl Car" service and all - and who currently finds it necessary to drive anywhere and everywhere in the Metro-Denver area if he hopes to get anything done in a day's time, I have often said that, since Reason To Drive seems to be totally unable to provide even half-way decent public transportation - bus service - to the people of Denver it is a total waste of taxpayer money to let it keep on playing "trains" all over the front range.

The "T-Rex" system - out to the end of nowhere in particular South - was supposed to . . . what? Just as the notion of running trains all up and down the front range is supposed to . . . what? Denver has an airport, built out at the end of nowhere in particular North-East. Yet, years after this circus tent blossomed on the prairie, one still has to drive - or hope to get a bus - to get there. (And for anyone wanting to deal with friends, relatives, or business coming or going, it had better be DRIVE, with all the silly delay out there.) Why?

There is an extension of "T-Rex" up I 225, to Parker Road. O.K. Yet, it is now proposed to either abandon this expensive boondogle, or so limit the service as to make it nothing more than a useless monument to rotten management, equally rotten planning, and even worse adminstration all round. How much more servicable - and even profitable, maybe(?) - would a line to the Airport have been?

But, the little kiddies have to "play trains"! And Gee! Whiz! Isn't that more fun going up and down the Front Range, from nowhere in particular to nowhere else in particular as well. Just like the old Lionel set of original childhood! So, bring on more sales tax, for more waste, more rotten planning, more rotten management, more rotten administration, but OH! such FUN!

Allen · 9 months ago

What is most frustrating about the current Fastracks debate is how it becomes black and white; it's all or nothing. RTD is wrong to imply that we get nothing without doubling the original tax for Fastracks. As we've seen on the West Corridor, a lot of cost cutting can occur without having a large impact on ridership.

We can tell RTD that we would rather spent another $7 billion (or whatever it is after interest is paid since that is part of the cost) on addressing the 25% of Colorado kids that don't complete high school or shore up the increased medicare/Medicaid costs we will be facing in the coming years. And they can take the money they already have and lay the foundation for a good network. It may mean that they only buy land for the east corridor, it may mean they don't have duplicated rail / BRT service on the Boulder turnpike, and it may mean that 30% of the track is single track. But as we've seen on the West Corridor, this system will serve tens of thousands of riders every day. And going forward we can address expansion with smaller, more manageable projects.