In an action that has garnered a bit of press coverage over the past few days, along with a rash of intense dialogue amongst those who are following the distribution of FasTrack resources, I joined with Director Noel Busck in introducing the Regional Equity Compact resolution.  I have attached a copy of the resolution below.  You can also read recent coverage of the proposed resolution at the following links:

          Denver RTD directors start to look for “Plan B”:  http://www.denverpost.com/news/frontpage/ci_13346227;

          Boulder transit lines could stall without tax hike: http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13353612?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com; 

          There’s no Plan B for RTD:  http://www.denverpost.com/carroll/ci_13369198;

          RTD board plan for failure would be a new insult to Aurora:  http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2009/09/19/opinion/editorials/doc4ab26d5c35052170365479.txt

Fundamentally, the Regional Equity Compact resolution attempts to address concerns that Noel and I had about the impact of committing practically all of the remaining FasTracks dollars and bonding authority to the East and Gold rail lines.  We recognize the value of proceeding with plans to fund these corridors, particularly with the expectation that we will receive significant federal financial assistance for moving forward on the creative public-private partnership that we are cobbling together for this project, collectively known as the Eagle P3.  However, we also think it is necessary to address the transit needs of those corridors that will forgo their own transit investments, as envisioned in the original FasTracks plan, for the forseeable future in the absence of public support for a future sales tax increase.

We received a great deal of support for the Regional Equity Compact resolution and the principles it represented from fellow Board members.  However, after discussions with our Board colleagues and other regional stakeholders, we agreeded to pull the resolution from formal consideration at next Tuesday’s Board meeting.  We did this with the understanding that the Metro Mayors Caucus will take-up our regional equity concerns and return to the RTD Board in the next 60 to 90 days with their own proposal for addressing these issues.

I look forward to seeing what the Metro Mayors recommend and the opportunity to build a larger regional consensus for moving forward on future plans for implementing the FasTracks program.

The Regional Equity Compact