Denver’s FasTracks Transit Program Heads This Way
Published Nov 19, 2008
FasTracks light-rail lines are being introduced in stages and eventually will total 122 miles, including one Metro North corridor.
Metropolitan Denver’s FasTracks program is proof that many minds can converge for the common good. Back in 2003, more than 30 civic leaders collaborated on a 12-year plan for light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit and streetcars throughout the region.
“We are still in the spotlight of the nation because people can’t understand how we got so many people to agree to support this,” says Noel Busck, former mayor of Thornton and current board member of the Regional Transportation District.
At the same time, some people complain that the development of FasTracks isn’t occurring fast enough, Busck says. “We’re working to get it all done, but we’re probably 20 years behind the curve. People want the train done tomorrow.”
The RTD is trying to resolve overruns from the original $4.7 billion cost estimate to $7.9 billion, and Busck says officials are sifting through several options.
“It will be built,” he says. “The question is how and how quickly.”
The program will provide transportation for commuters to get to work and for people to attend cultural or sports events. Communities served by the lines branching out from downtown Denver will be enhanced by the service, Busck adds, through transit-oriented development at stations. “We’ll see more high-density homes and retail and other amenities that commuters desire. It will mean so much to the economies as far as jobs and spinoffs and overall robust business climates (are concerned),” he says.
Metro North Corridors
FasTracks will include a light-rail line serving Commerce City, Northglenn and Thornton in the Metro North Region, as well as a rapid busway along the U.S. 36 corridor from Denver to Boulder via Westminster and Broomfield.
Patrick Quinn sees the program’s benefits from both perspectives – as mayor of Broomfield and as a downtown Denver businessman for 33 years. “I have an Ecopass just like everyone else, and I give an RTD pass to my employees that can be used for either the bus or the train,” he says.
Quinn says Broomfield officials are working with the RTD to add stops on the bus rapid transit route, including one for the Arista development, which contains the Broomfield Event Center, home of the Rocky Mountain Rage professional hockey team and the Colorado 14ers of the National Basketball Association Development League.
Quinn also advocates building a northwestern rail line.
Another program that advocates smart travel along the U.S. 36 corridor is 36 Commuting Solutions. The nonprofit public/private membership organization rewards commuters who use alternative modes of transportation between Boulder and Denver and points in between.
Created in 1998, 36 Commuting Solutions is one of six transportation management associations in metro Denver and one of more than 135 TMAs across the United States. It matches commuters with vanpools or carpools and identifies bicycle routes to workplaces.
Story by Kelli Levey
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