FasTracks to expand RTD
Opposition says bill is written vaguely; taxpayers may pay more
by Boyd Fletcher
The Metropolitan
FasTracks Info
•119 miles of new light rail and commuter rail
•18 miles of bus rapid transit service
•21,000 new parking spaces at rail and bus stations
•Expanded bus service in all areas
•FasTracks lines include:
West Corridor
Southwest Corridor
US 36 Corridor / Longmont
Gold Line
I-225 Corridor
North Metro Corridor
East Corridor – to DIA
Southeast Corridor – also known as T-REX
Central Corridor / Central Platte Valley –
Invesco Field at Mile High and Pepsi Center
FasTracks is scheduled to be completed: scouting, planning, biding and
construction, by the year 2017
Information from www.rtd-denver.com/fastracks.
On Nov. 4 voters in the seven-county metro area will vote on the 0.4
percent sales tax increase proposed by the FasTracks campaign to fund
its plan of broadening the reach of the Regional Transportation District’s
commuter rail and bus systems.
The expansion of RTD’s services would offer Metro students more
options in transportation to and from school.
The project’s goal is to offer alternative methods to commuters
as well as to help relieve the traffic congestion which will only grow
as the greater Denver area increases in population.
“It’s important to remember that we are expecting nearly
one million people to move here in the next 20 years,” said Jan
Rigg, spokeswoman for FasTracks.
More than 40 miles of light rail, 79 miles of commuter rail and 18 miles
of improved bus transit will be constructed in the proposed 12-year project.
According to the financial plan presented to the public by FasTracks
on April 21, the proposed 0.4 percent (four cents for every $10) increase
would bring the current sales tax from 0.6 percent to a full one percent
and will not apply to groceries, prescription drugs, gasoline, residential
electricity and heating costs.
This would mark the first time in 20 years RTD has increased the tax
rate and it would go specifically toward paying off the bonds used for
the overall $4.7 billion projected cost of FasTracks.
After the bonds are paid off, the tax increases would roll back to 0.6
percent.
Opposition groups such as Taxpayers Against Congestion have attacked
the tax rollback saying the bill is written vaguely and could allow for
RTD to continue collecting the additional 0.4 percent long after the project
has ended.
“The language of the bill was accepted and signed by the governor,
and it clearly states the plan for the tax to sunset,” Rigg said.
“Now, the tax can roll back to 0.6 percent, when the original
plan only called for it to go back to 0.8 percent,” she said.
The plan, proposed by RTD, calls for the construction of light rail and
commuter train lines and the rerouting of bus lines in nine suburban regions
of the metro area.
The 12-year project is slated to begin construction in 2005 and would
extend light rail service from Union Station in downtown Denver to Denver
International Airport, Jefferson County, Longmont, Boulder, Wheatridge
and Thornton as well as extending existing tracks into Highlands Ranch
and Lonetree.
According to Metro’s office of admissions, 93 percent of the nearly
21,000 students attending Metro live in the seven-county metro area. Many
students choose to drive their own cars, while others rely on public transportation.
All Metro students pay a $22 per semester RTD fee, which allows them
to use their student ID card as a local bus pass.
“I didn’t have a car for two years. Light rail and the bus
saved me; it was the only way I was getting around,” said Metro
student Keegan Walker.
Walker rides the light rail to school and sees the expansion of the system
as a good thing for students in the future.
“I see people taking advantage of it now to beat the five-dollar
parking,” said Metro student Matt Grace. “I’d pay it
(the tax) just so that other people going to school after us can have
it to use. If we are going to keep growing like we are we need to do something.”
The project is extremely important to young people, Rigg said.
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