“Mass transit systems get tougher to build as cities age and grow, planners say. But as the Denver metropolitan area begins work on one of the most ambitious urban transportation projects in the nation’s history – 120 miles on six new rail lines to be built all at once over the next 12 years – that logic has been turned on its head.

Politicians and planners say that for reasons of economics and car culture, Denver could never have embarked on such an adventure in urban thinking at any imaginable time in the past.” – Newcomers Reinvent Denver With an Unlikely Idea: Trains

The demand for better public transit extends beyond Colorado:

“[On November 2, 2004] At least 23 of 31 ballot measures to launch or expand bus and rail lines in 11 states were approved, she (Stephanie Vance, program manager for the Center for Transportation Excellence) says. The price tag: more than $40 billion.

Voters approved 19 of 24 other tax or bond measures for roads and bridges only, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

“It speaks volumes to what voters see as a very important problem,” says Matt Jeanneret, spokesman for the transportation lobbying group. “People are clamoring for relief from traffic congestion. … The voters are way ahead of the politicians on this.” – Red state or blue, Americans sick of gridlock

View the Center for Transportation Excellence’s “2004 Transit Ballot Measures” data sheet: Click Here.


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