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Mass transit development will be slow
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At least there was free beer.
A regional transportation forum last night at New Belgium Brewery painted a bleak picture of transportation progress in northern Colorado. Regional transportation planners and thinkers discussed new high-speed rail systems and other transit options to connect northern Colorado cities. However, most proposals sounded more like distant, beer-fueled fantasies rather than realistic short-term plans.
I’m glad city and state officials are looking at mass-transit options and bike lanes rather than just adding highway miles. Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, acknowledged that planners can no longer keep studying population projections and trying to match highway lanes with cars. He said new thinking and mass transit proposals are needed, particularly when considering any new developments.
To that end, the FLAG (Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley) rail transit system was briefly discussed, but the proposal has several flaws.
• The projected costs are based on the purchase of existing rail lines. Most of these rail lines are still in use, and moving all that coal and freight off rail lines and onto trucks will increase both pollution and congestion.
• The proposed funding mechanism includes $3 billion in Public Access to Transit fees. Anyone buying a home within a quarter-mile of a train station would supposedly pay “a one-time fee, perhaps equivalent to the cost of an automobile” for free lifetime rides. I’m not sure how many people will pay a premium to live near a train station, and the free pass is not economical for most people. If a four household members each take a $1 ride every day of the year, it would take 15 years to pay back a $20,000 fee.
A more realistic proposal is the city’s bus rapid transit route along the Mason corridor from Old Town to Harmony Road. Construction has started, and the city hopes to have the system in place by 2011. The city council will discuss the plan, along with other transportation improvements, at its meeting tonight.
It’s a positive development, but it doesn’t solve my problem of getting to Denver for a concert or getting to Loveland for a meeting.
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