While I am no Hilary Clinton or Caroline Kennedy . . . I figured it was time for my own FasTracks Listening Tour.

Seriously, over the course of the next few weeks, I will be meeting with various groups and organizations in the Boulder area to get their thoughts on RTD service.  While all issues are on the table, I am particularly eager to hear how folks recommend that RTD address the difficulties it is experiencing with the FasTracks program.

I have shared some of the background on the current FasTracks situation with you in a previous posting: http://www.johntayer.org/2008/11/03/fastracks-putting-the-cards-on-the-table/.  RTD staff offered additional insights on the state of affairs and some more detail regarding specific implementation options in more recent Board presentations.  Most interesting to our planning here in Boulder County was a new ridership analysis showing that the per passenger cost of a trip on the Northwest Rail line jumped from $16 to $60.44.  Staff is reassessing these numbers in light of some incorrect assumptions, but the they are already entering the debate, with Bob Greenlee jumping on the numbers in this Sunday’s Daily Camera: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jan/11/northwest-rail-plan-off-track/.

With this background, I commence my FasTracks Listening Tour.  Not all events are open to the public, as I am the invited guest of various civic groups, including the League of Women Voters, the University of Colorado Town and Gown association, and Leadership Boulder County.  However, I will be the featured presenter at two public events:

• The City of Boulder Transportation Advisory Board Town Hall Meeting: Monday, January 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the West Senior Center, 909 Arapahoe Avenue; and,
• PLAN Boulder County Friday Noon Meetings (titled, ”Will RTD Screw Boulder?”): Friday, January 30 at 12:00 p.m. in the main branch of the Boulder Public Library.

Please catch me at one of these events and let me know what direction you think we should be taking with the FasTracks program.