Coloradans....Fastracks. YES OR NO?

Ohh goody, another political thread.

 

I voted no.

 

Same here.

 

Can I ask why? And do you live in the south metro area?

 

I voted yes, and it has nothing to do with the Rapids.

I love the light rail. I won't go downtown any other way now.

 

I agree... It may be late, but something like this is better late than never. Everybody driving one person to their huge gas guzzling SUV's is no way to live on this planet.

I love the rail as well and use it EVERY time I go downtown or to Invesco.

Not sure why folks oppose it other than they don't want any more taxes. Kind of like old people who vote against tax hikes for the school system because their kids are gone. Shameful.

 

Hell yes.... It's our last chance to save Denver from becoming another L.A. type city where everyone drives everywhere.

 

There is concern that 4A is poorly constructed, just giving money to RTD without much regulation or direction for spending. I voted "Yes", because I think adding some sort of rail up to Boulder would be great. I just hope it works, despite some skepticism on my part.

Q

 

Definitely the biggest sticky point with this, but how is that different from anything else we entrust our government and their contractors!?! I just don't know

 

I voted no. While I really like the idea and agree that it is needed (if not desperately needed in some parts of town) the measure seemed too general and too "all-encompassing". I would prefer for RTD to target a couple of areas and concentrate on them. I like their targeted areas, but I would prefer a more limited scope and focus. Of course, i don't know what all is involved for RTD on this issue.

Oh and I do live in the south metro area, specifically at Mineral and Santa Fe (near C-470 and Santa Fe/85).

 

What is too general about it? Have you actually seen the plan? http://www.fastracks.org/default.cfm
They have already planned it all out. I don't see what is general about it.

 

Each of the other RTD light rail (two completed right now) projects have come in on time and under budget. RTD seems to do well with these kinds of things.

 

Time for debate is up anyway.

 

Some people might read this before going to the polls.

If our poll here has statistical significance I'll be happy, although I'm sure it doesn't.

 

After spending yet another traffic-laden weekend in LA, it's easy to vote for Fastracks. Do we really want the Front Range to develop to the point where public transportation and mass transit are so hard to find they're all but ignored?

Los Angeles used to be well regarded for its bus system (ohh 30 years ago), but now the running joke in the Basin is that nobody understands why there are so many bus stops, because nobody ever sees a bus. (seriously, I overheard variations on this joke 3 times this weekend)

My feeling is that the majority of opponents of Fastracks are only capable of pointing out the "potential" problems, "likely" issues and "incomplete" planning... yet nobody is putting anything close to this on the table. Kinda reminds me of people that were opposed to T-REX.

Anyway, Fasttracks is such a long and big-budgeted project that if it is approved it could certainly be amended and altered ad infinitum. So a vote to move it forward today will mean its opponents spend their time trying to tie it up in red tape later.

Let's make a Rapids analogy here: voting against Fastracks would be like keeping Hankinson around for another year. After all, if we can't get the best coach on earth for the best salary, why should we bother improving upon the mediocrity we already have?

 

At least a step in the right direction.

 

Yes, I live in the South Metro Area when not in college.

I oppose the government giving tax money to private companies for any reason. I have no problem with RTD wanting to construct FastTracks. By all means, sounds like a great idea. But, please, not at the taxpayers' expense.

 

RTD isn't really a private company. It is considered a quasi-governmental organization. It is not for profit and it already needs government support for daily operations.

Too bad, it won.

 

The Governor made a good point last night on the television, that it's difficult to believe that $4.7B is well spent when it will affect only a small percentage of Denver's commuters.

But I can't help but wonder if they are underestimating. Didn't they claim that "nobody" would use the light rail line that runs parallel to Santa Fe? And now you can hardly get on the thing because there isn't even standing room. They had to build more parking, too, because they failed to anticipate how popular it would be.

Anyway, building more highways, which is what Owens wanted to do, only encourages people to keep driving. Congestion on the highways might get them out of their cars and into the transit system. If there was an efficient transit system that got them where they wanted to go...

 

By quasi-government operation, its allowed to be in cohorts with the government and, potentially, exist as a monopoly by outlawing any possible competition to its market and giving it tax payer money.

If FastTracks needed to be paid for, then let the consumers and constituents who are going to use it pay for it.

I'm just a bit disgusted with the government whoring itself out in the private sector, like it does with United and the rest of the airlines industry.

 

Saying that Fastracks is a bad investment is very short sighted. This is something that is going to positivly affect the Denver metro area for years to come. In 2030 Denver residents will be able to get around a majority of the area without a car. Commuters who work in Denver and live in Boulder will be able to jump on a train and get downtown without delay. The cost is high because of what a major project this is. The size is huge. The project will increase the size of light rail and other train in the area by over 200% or something like that.

Highway construction leads to more congestion. This will atleast get some people out of their cars.

Also consider where the billions of dollars are going. Directly back into the Denver economy. This project is going to add jobs to the Denver economy for the next 15 years. Once Trex is over the construction workers will have somewhere to go. It will also encourage transit oriented development around Denver and aid in the re-development of Union Station into a great hub. Denver will become a great city with this project.

 

I can't argue with the case for public transportation. Traffic in Denver sucks. FastTracks would be a good investment.

I just don't want taxes paying for it.

 

Sometimes the citizens need to make some sacrafices. The federal government is paying for some of it. I know, more taxes. However, if RTD was expected to pay for it you'd never see it. Also, you really won't feel the taxes too badly. It is $.004 on a $10 purchase. So when you spend $100 it will be 4 cents. I think you can handle that.