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REVIEW OF THE RTD FASTRACKS PLAN Denver Regional Council of Governments 4500 Cherry Creek South Drive, Suite 800 Denver, Colorado 80246 ii ABSTRACT TITLE: Review of the RTD FasTracks Plan AUTHOR: Denver Regional Council of Governments SUBJECT: Senate Bill 90-208 Review of the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks Plan DATE: April 6, 2004 SOURCE OF COPIES: Public Information and Communications DRCOG 4500 Cherry Creek South Drive, Suite 800 Denver, Colorado 80246 (303) 455-1000 NUMBER OF PAGES: 84 ABSTRACT: A review of the FasTracks Plan submitted to DRCOG for approval pursuant to Senate Bill 90-208. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY........ ............................................................................................................. 1 I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 5 II. THE FASTRACKS PLAN ........................................................................................ 7 Summary ......................................................................................................... 12 III. CONSISTENCY WITH METRO VISION PLAN ..................................................... 13 Metro Vision .................................................................................................... 13 Extent of Development................................................................................... 13 Urban Forms ................................................................................................... 17 Multimodal Transportation............................................................................. 18 Summary ......................................................................................................... 19 IV. TRAVEL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ...................................................... 21 Corridor Effects .............................................................................................. 21 Regional Travel Effects .................................................................................. 23 Accessibility.................................................................................................... 24 Environmental................................................................................................. 26 Summary ......................................................................................................... 27 V. RAPID TRANSIT TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................... 29 Appropriateness of Corridor Technology..................................................... 29 Stations and Station Spacing ........................................................................ 30 Operations....................................................................................................... 31 Fleet Size ......................................................................................................... 35 Maintenance Facilities.................................................................................... 35 Summary ......................................................................................................... 35 VI. BUS SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS ................................................................ 37 Bus System ..................................................................................................... 37 Intermodal Connections................................................................................. 37 Parking ............................................................................................................ 38 Summary ......................................................................................................... 39 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) VII. FINANCIAL ........................................................................................................... 41 Costs................................................................................................................ 41 Revenue........................................................................................................... 46 Financial Plan.................................................................................................. 49 Summary ......................................................................................................... 52 VIII. IMPLEMENTATION............................................................................................... 53 Rights-of-Way Availability.............................................................................. 53 Availability of Railroad Tracks for Shared Operations................................ 57 Partner Agency Funding ................................................................................ 57 Impact of Delays to Another Component ..................................................... 58 Other Issues.................................................................................................... 58 Summary ......................................................................................................... 59 APPENDIX A SENATE BILL 208 PROCESS AND CRITERIA................................ 61 APPENDIX B PUBLIC HEARING SUMMARY ......................................................... 71 APPENDIX C RTD FasTracks Documentation ...................................................... 77 APPENDIX D LIST OF ACRONYMS........................................................................ 81 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Proposed FasTracks Rapid Transit Corridors and Stations ................ 8 Figure 2 FasTracks Relationship to Urban Growth Boundary and Urban Forms .......................................................................................... 15 Figure 3 FasTracks 2025 Horizon Year Rail Operations Plan Peak Hour Capacities ..................................................................................... 32 Figure 4 Revised Financially Constrained Implementation Schedule ............. 54 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 FasTracks Capital Cost Characteristics ................................................ 9 Table 2 FasTracks Mobility Measures by Corridor in 2025* ............................ 21 Table 3 2025 Peak Drive-Alone Automobile Operating Speeds ...................... 22 Table 4 Projected 2025 Corridor Ridership....................................................... 22 Table 5 Transit Percent Share of All Trips by Corridor.................................... 23 Table 6 2002 Boardings Per Person Per Year................................................... 24 Table 7 Low Income or Minority Persons in 2000 Living Within One Mile of FasTracks New or Expanded Transit Stations .................................... 25 Table 8 Number of Jobs Within a 45-Minute Transit Trip in 2025 ................... 25 Table 9 Change in 2025 Air Pollution Emissions With FasTracks .................. 26 Table 10 FasTracks Rail Station Spacing ........................................................... 31 Table 11 FasTracks Corridor Capacity and Year 2025 Maximum Line Loads . 33 Table 12 Rail Passenger Cars .............................................................................. 33 Table 13 RTD System Capital Costs.................................................................... 41 Table 14 FasTracks Finance Table Revised Revenue Scenario........................ 42 Table 15 RTD System Operating Costs............................................................... 42 Table 16 2025 Cost Per Rider and Cost Per Passenger Mile............................. 43 Table 17 RTD FasTracks Risk Assessment Components ................................. 45 Table 18 RTD System and New FasTracks Program Revenues........................ 46 Table 19 FasTracks Capital Program Revenues................................................. 47 Table 20 Financial Scenarios for SB-208 Analysis............................................. 50 Table 21 FasTracks Right-of-Way Needs ............................................................ 55 vii viii REVIEW OF THE RTD FASTRACKS PLAN SUMMARY The FasTracks Plan is an ambitious effort to construct rapid transit in nine corridors of the region along with other associated improvements by 2017. The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is required by state statute to approve any action leading to the construction of a fixed guideway system. This action must include the approval of the method of financing and technology. Each corridor must be approved separately. To fully evaluate the Plan, the DRCOG Board of Directors adopted a set of criteria, which, in addition to finance and technology, includes consistency with the Metro Vision Plan, environmental, and other pertinent factors. The FasTracks Plan To initiate the evaluation, attention was given to defining the scope of the improvements to be undertaken. The improvements in each corridor are summarized in Table 1 of the report. These improvements, and the selection of a technology are subject to change based on the results of environmental and other studies to be undertaken in the future in eight of the corridors. Though Bus Rapid Transit is the ultimate desired technology in the US-36 Corridor, the construction of the bus/HOV lanes is not included in the FasTracks Plan. Access improvements to park-n-Ride stations, pedestrian bridges, funding for centerline stations and partial funding for bus lanes are included in the Plan as steps toward the implementation of BRT. Consistency

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