July 24, 2008 7:04 AM
Would voters derail FasTracks?
Plagued by runaway cost increases to build its FasTrax transit system, RTD may be facing a ballot initiative to repeal the sales tax that funds the project.
Kevin Flynn reports:
Stymied by a lack of legal recourse to hold RTD responsible for building FasTracks according to the original plan and timetable, longtime opponent Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute in Golden said he will explore the possibility of petitioning a FasTracks repeal onto the ballot.The 2002 legislation that allowed transit advocates to petition the FasTracks sales tax increase onto the ballot also allows for a subsequent initiative election to reduce the 0.4-cent tax, effectively killing the program.
Last week, RTD General Manager Cal Marsella conceded that under current economic conditions, his agency cannot deliver the original FasTracks program at the same cost and in the same time frame.
Instead, the agency is working on new cost estimates for all 10 corridors and auxiliary projects and working on a new financial plan to pay for it all.
"If you say you're going to do something and then you don't do it, I believe that's a legal contract and that should be actionable," Caldara said. "That's something we're going to explore."
The only safeguard for RTD is that the statute lets it retain a tax sufficient to pay for FasTracks bonds already issued and any corridors in operation at the time voters might repeal it. So far, RTD has issued $600 million in FasTracks bonds and has signed contracts for construction of the West Corridor light rail line.
Should cost increases to build FasTracks be sufficient reason to scuttle the project? Should RTD scale it back? Would you vote to repeal the sales tax or is FasTracks so beneficial that taxpayers should fund the increased costs?
July 24, 2008
8:16 AM
Lindell Whitney writes:
Jon Caldara is an idiot. Over the years, he has been anti-RTD, anti-T-REX, and anti-FasTracks. It's a sad fact that the FasTracks budget has balooned, but it is not surprising -- given the rising prices of construction materials and fuel. Years ago, Jon was voted onto the RTD Board as the "lesser of two evil candidates." Jon's term was rocky, and voters applauded when he left office. If Jon had the choice, he and his so-called "think tank" would would pave over the entire city for highway expansion. While I have always been a big fan of CDOT and road construction, Jon's pro-roads and anti-mass transit views are unrealistic in today's out of control gasoline-based economy. Jon needs to wake up and realize that the public is snickering behind his back. In the meantime, let's get FasTracks completed as soon as possible.
July 24, 2008
8:24 AM
Holier Than Thou writes:
Jon Caldara is the quintessential conservative crackpot. Unique amongst all other past and present RTD Board members who volunteered to serve their communities, Caldara ran to stop the bus from going by in front of his house.
Caldara predicted that nobody would ride light rail. When it opened, they ran out of parking immediately.
Now that we're all loosing our shirts paying for gasoline, we can say that Jon Caldara is not only out of touch with the facts but is completely out of touch with reality altogether. He's off his rocker and needs to set aside the crack pipe for a while.
LIGHT RAIL IS EXPENSIVE BECAUSE...
Mass production is cheap. By rebuilding Colorado's passenger railroad systems piecemeal we're not leveraging the economic benefits of mass production.
Why are we rebuilding our passenger railroads piece by piece instead of immediately applying a long-term plan to reconnect the Front Range and Denver metropolis?
If you read the article above, the answer is Jon Caldara and the rest of the conservative crackpots who are more than happy to make you go broke. I could be wrong about that. They might be more intent on watching Colorado and the rest of the country become paralyzed economically and held hostage by oil executives.
Conservatives who argue against mass transit are either stupid or malicious. My bet is that they're both.
July 24, 2008
8:59 AM
gr8fuldude writes:
Fund the increased costs. Mass transit has to be improved and with the rising cost of fuel, we should not be surprised this is needed. Caldera sounds like he never should have been voted onto the board in the first place.
July 24, 2008
10:09 AM
paratyper writes:
We don't get something for nothing. Wasn't it the Brookings Institute predicting front range population growth of over 6 million in the coming years? If folks think $6 billion is a lot, wait and see what it will cost in 2020. We need it - we should pay for it and build it. Opponents' mindset is the same that has led to the I-70 situation - an expensive problem to fix that just gets more problematic and MORE expensive while we ring our hands about how expensive it is. (And I-70 affects the entire state. What are we waiting for?)
July 24, 2008
11:29 AM
The Problem is Too Little Oversight and Accountability! writes:
Jon Caldara is not the problem here. Caldara has lomg been a lone voice calling for responsible spending and oversight of public money. Government agencies like RTD and C-DOT need to be accountable for their budgets, and they're not. Sure, materials have increased in price, yet RTD and C-DOT wait for near-catastrophes to occur before anything gets done. Seems it's called "job security" for RTD and C-DOT employees. There's just not enough accountability for the billions of public dollars any of these "black hole" projects consume. Every single penny needs to be spent wisely, and accounted for, vs. throwing public funds at every turn. Salaries, budgets for things like parties, leave pay and how it's racked up, and whether or not workers actually put in full-time hours for full-time pay. What we often witness is part-time hours for full-time excellent pay PLUS bennies, sad to say.
July 24, 2008
11:46 AM
Derek W writes:
Kevin, get Caldera off your speed dial. The Rocky has become so predictably lame. Every time Caldera and Englewood Maccaca Dickwad(hams)bark the Rocky jumps to attention. Please leave the bullshit for the op-ed pages.(Carroll and Rosen are humorous enough) When you guys can't even get the 5 W's of journalism down, it's no wonder print newspapers are a dying business. In a time of energy crisis, we will not be voting down Fastracks, no matter what the fruit loop fantasy might be!
July 24, 2008
12:28 PM
Anonymous writes:
Not only are rising construction material prices but to blame but they recieved a very bad budget in 2001, even then people involved with the budgeting knew they made a boo boo. I think more busses would honestly be cheaper and better, hardly anyone rides the damn train as is
July 24, 2008
2:47 PM
EnlightenedOne writes:
Anonymous writes:
"...hardly anyone rides the damn train as is"
Try taking either the southeast or southwest lines in the morning between 7 and 8AM. I've ridden them both. Since the cost of gas has been going up, the trains are even more packed.
July 24, 2008
3:34 PM
JMH writes:
I hope Caldera gets very vocal on this. Everything he backs takes a beat down. The guy is the ultimate loser!
But the Republican Mountain News just loves the guy for some reason. "Liberal Bias" my ass...
July 24, 2008
6:11 PM
Dale Hanks writes:
Does everyone realize that RTD only gets 14% of their operating budget from rider fares? This is an insane business model. The truth is that its not economically feasible to build Fastracks without sales tax money.
The trains are uncomfortable, RTD is completely non-user friendly (they don't bring more trains in when they KNOW there are going to be more riders, such as sporting events), and the fares already rival the cost of driving anyway. ($6 for round trip on light rail).
Nope, this was a boondoggle to start with and the tax should be scrapped and everything left the way it is until it DOES make financial sense.
July 24, 2008
10:05 PM
SteveFesch writes:
Bus Rapid Transit is the solution. We should learn from the mistakes with cities that have experience in Light Rail. Take Santa Clara for example. They are changing their planned LRT to BRT. It's more efficient, 1/4th the cost, more flexible etc etc etc.
Oh and how about this concept. The people that actually use the system could fund it. We already had our taxes raised once and they FAILED to deliver. Nobody at RTD will take responsibility for the disaster in the making and they won't because the entire Light Rail concept in this day and age and the dynamic of our city just doesn't make sense.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9901237
July 25, 2008
12:45 PM
EnlightenedOne writes:
SteveFesch writes:
"Oh and how about this concept. The people that actually use the system could fund it."
Actually, that's a pretty universal argument when it comes to public projects. Not everyone goes to football games, but we still pay additional sales tax to fund the stadiums. I have a friend in Grand Junction who used to complain about her tax dollars being spent on Front Range highway projects. People without children pay school taxes; and we're all paying to rebuild hospitals and schools in Iraq.