As the headlines note, the RTD Board voted unanimously to move forward with the proposed hotel project for Union Station: RTD Board supports Union Station hotel proposal.  I joined my fellow board colleagues in this final vote last Tuesday after my initial opposition to the staff recommendation in favor of the hotel project.  I will take [...]

Tuesday evening, the RTD Board is scheduled to take its initial vote on whether or not to authorize RTD staff to negotiate with one of the two competing candidate teams on a re-use plan for Denver Union Station (DUS).   So, what do you think? The two candidate teams first pitched their proposed DUS re-use plans during [...]

After much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, the RTD Board voted last week not to pursue voter approval for additional FasTracks funding in 2011.  The full story is available here:  Denver-area voters won’t see FasTracks sales-tax vote in November.  In summary, by a nod of 13-1, the RTD Board bowed to overwhelming indications of [...]

The date for a decision on whether or not RTD should go to the ballot in 2011 for additional resources to finance FasTracks came and went on March 8.  To be precise, the RTD Board voted to give the question more thought . . . until our May 3 meeting. The main reason for the [...]

As the Denver Post reported on Monday, ”RTD delays decision on how much to request from taxpayers,” the RTD Board decided to wait until its March 8 meeting before making a final decision on seeking a proposed tax increase for FasTracks in 2011.  The primary reason for this delay is the notice we received from some [...]

As the RTD Board approaches its preliminary decision regarding a potential ballot initiative to increase the FasTracks tax, we are beginning to receive feedback from some of our local public officials and editorial writers. This Monday, Sean Maher wrote an excellent piece in the Daily Camera, “FasTracks needs more fuel“.  While Sean wants to make [...]

As expected, RTD staff offered their proposal at the end of last month for speeding completion of the FasTracks program.  The full staff presentation is available here:  Annual Program Evaluation ( I addressed some of this material in a previous post).   In summary, their initial recommendation is a modest increase in the FasTracks sales tax of 0.2%.  With public support [...]

I have received great input from a number of local citizens regarding the two significant FasTracks decisions the RTD Board will be making in the near future associated with the distribution of remaining FasTracks dollars and whether to pursue additional sales tax funding.  I thank you for this continued input and, in the words of former [...]

As I stated in my recent newsletter, I need your input on two important decisions associated with the FasTracks program that the RTD Board will confront at the beginning of 2011. First, the Board needs to allocate an anticipated $305 million in remaining funds from the innovative public-private financing, construction and operations arrangement for the two [...]

As a follow-up to my April blog regarding progress toward completing the US 36 BRT system, I am please to report that my RTD Board colleagues voted this month to immediately commit $30 million toward further advancing elements of the full system.  This decision is expected to leverage sufficient funds to construct high occupancy vehicle [...]