[Colorado-Talk] EDITORIAL: 'Crazy trains' won't benefit Colorado

[Dan Burke]

I didn't have any trouble reading it. Pasting it below.

EDITORIAL: 'Crazy trains' won't benefit Colorado
The Gazette editorial board Oct 8, 2019 Updated 2 hrs ago
denver light rail
The D train arrives at the Englewood station headed northbound to
downtown Denver Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006. Photo by Christian
Murdock/The Gazette
murdock
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Happy birthday to RTD’s light rail, which launched 25 years ago Monday
in Denver.
>From a 5.3-mile stretch has grown an eight-line system, soon to be
nine, with 71 stations and 88 miles of track.
The trains leave Colorado at a crossing. The future could be roads,
rail, or more of each.
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Long-time residents know all-too-well the promise of intercity
passenger rail to connect with RTD and Mountain Metropolitan Transit
in Colorado Springs. Someday, visionaries have told us for decades,
trains will whisk us from Fort Collins to Pueblo and all points along
the 177-mile stretch.
President Barack Obama would get it done, optimists hoped, after
Congress allocated nearly $11 billion for prospective rail projects.
Wish-list maps included Colorado’s Front Range.
 LETTERS: How about some common sense?; more is not always better
“The projects have gone mostly nowhere,” a New York Times news article
explained on Aug. 6, 2014.
The Gazette’s editorial board expressed excitement in 2017 about a
Fort-Collins-based company that identified Colorado Springs as the
likely location for a $25 million, 3-mile test link of a high-speed
train. The plan fizzled.
That same year locals heard about Virgin Hyperloop One, a Los
Angeles-based company planning a system of passenger pods moving
through pneumatic tubes in Colorado. Pie, meet Sky.
Just last month, members of the Southwest Chief & Front Range
Passenger Rail Commission spoke of something more likely: a possible
2020 ballot measure to fund passenger rail.
Trains might culturally and economically enhance life in Front Range
communities. They would put urban amenities of Colorado Springs,
Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins within easier reach of millions.
We love to dream. Ozzy Osbourne might say we listen to preachers, we
listen to fools, we watch all the dropouts who make their own rules.
As such, a decade ago The Gazette’s editorial board hosted
transportation scholar Randal O’Toole of the Denver-based Independence
Institute. O’Toole warned against our enthusiasm for passenger trains,
calling them an outdated model. Consumers would increasingly reject
trains for new and emerging options. If not a preacher, fool or
dropout, O’Toole was a Debbie Downer for sure.
Cars would drive themselves, he explained. With technical precision,
they would enhance safety and reduce congestion. Eye roll. Weeks later
in 2010, a driverless car wiped the smirk off our faces by
transcending the switchbacks of Pikes Peak.
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O’Toole spoke of public car kiosks and a ride-sharing culture that
seemed a bit out there. He promised unforeseen innovation would
further reduce demand for trains.
Sadly, in a romantic sense, one cannot deny developments that support
what O’Toole predicted. Colorado has never had more state-of-the-art
passenger rail and so much population. Yet RTD ridership, on all mass
transit modes, is in disturbing decline.
Total ridership of 103.4 million in 2014-2015 dropped to 97.6 million
during 2017-2018. The decline comes despite a major new rail line to
Denver International Airport and a 20% increase in population since
the 2010 census.
RTD wants the public to share ideas for keeping mass transit relevant.
“The landscape is changing,” explained a Sept. 2 press release,
launching “reimagine RTD” five days before light rail’s birthday. The
statement said topics for discussion should include “ride-sharing
services” and the future of “autonomous vehicles.” No one can laugh at
O’Toole, the cool new Ozzy Osbourne. He warned us: Don’t go off the
rails on a crazy train.
Before committing billions to more rail, Coloradans need to decide if
the investment fits a quickly changing landscape. In our hearts, we
hope it does. In our minds, we fear it may not. Colorado should
proceed with plans that make sense. Crazy, but that’s how it goes.


On 10/15/19, Catherine Michele Mitchell via Colorado-Talk
<colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Gary, I wanted to read this article, but when I went to the link I was
> blocked by a message that instructed me to turn off my ad blocker (my
> what?!) or subscribe to theGazette. I tried to sneak in via Newsline, but
> the previous issue button only took me back as far as October 14.
>
> I have not encountered this situation before; I'm not 100% adverse to
> subscribing, but not just for one article. anyone got any workaround tips?
>
> Thanks!
> Michele Mitchell
>
>> On Oct 11, 2019, at 5:49 PM, Gary Van Dorn via Colorado-Talk
>> <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>  I am sharing this editorial from the Colorado Springs Gazette.
>> EDITORIAL: 'Crazy trains' won't benefit Colorado.
>>
>> Gary Van Dorn
>> Treasurer, Mile High NFBCO
>> Chair, Mile High NFBCO Transportation Committee
>> Board Member, NFBCO
>> Treasurer, NFBCO Sports & Recreation Division
>> President, NFB Public Employees Division
>>
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>


-- 
Dan Burke

National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Coordinator

President, NFB of Denver

"Blindness is not what holds you back.  You can live the life you want!"

My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal