Coloradans living in the Front Range Passenger Rail District would vote on a one-third cent sales tax this November to raise $295 million a year to fund frequent service between Pueblo, Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins, if the rail board decides in late August to move forward.
District general manager Sal Pace said Monday a limited service line between Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins would still be ready to open in three years even if the board declines going to a vote this year, or if voters reject the sales tax hike. Colorado’s statewide sales tax rate is 2.9 cents per dollar, though most local communities pay more for city government, local transit or other services.
Limited rail service for 2029 would send three round-trip trains a day on the Denver to Fort Collins corridor, with the route heading northwest to Boulder and Longmont on the way to Larimer County. Fares are projected to be somewhat higher than local transit fares and will increase for longer distances traveled, the rail agency said in releasing a draft plan for the board to act on in August. Current RTD rail tickets are $2.75 for a three-hour pass, $5.50 for a day pass, and $10 for a day pass to and from Denver International Airport.
The rail agency says it can build out stations, buy train cars and prepare other services for the limited opening phase without the additional sales tax. The $332 million limited phase cost would come from a state transportation innovation fund built up by various fees, and RTD money set aside for FasTracks rail lines north of Denver that were never built. The state and RTD would split the $30 million to $36 million annual operating costs for that phase.
Full buildout down to Colorado Springs and Pueblo under the proposed sales tax would take a total of $2.7 billion for the newly named CoCo or Colorado Connector, and take five years from the vote to complete. The fully funded system would also feature more frequent service throughout the route. The full system would take $85 million to $116 million annually to operate.
Amtrak, experienced in inner city rail service, would operate CoCo for the rail district, the draft plan says.
Rail advocates are not advertising CoCo as a commuter rail line. The draft plan says only 11% of expected ridership would be work-related. A plurality of riders would jump on for entertainment or sports venues, the draft says. Another significant portion would be traveling to see family.
A fully built system should attract 2,300 daily trips between Denver and Fort Collins, though far fewer on the Denver to Pueblo segment. The rail agency’s planners used accepted national demographic formulas to predict ridership, based on metro area populations and growth of interest across America in passenger rail, Pace said.
The critical moments for long-studied Front Range Passenger Rail come as other transit options are in economic and cultural flux. RTD has in recent year lost 40% of its ridership among 3 million metro Denver residents, and has a budget deficit of more than $200 million to close. The agency, one of the largest west of the Mississippi, is calculating the consequences of potentially drastic service cuts ranging from 10% to 20% of the system’s routes and frequency.
Most of RTD’s funding comes from a 1 cent per dollar sales tax in its metro service area. In Denver and its suburbs, the Front Range district overlaps with RTD communities. The Front Range district has been reshaped so that only the communities where stations are planned will be taxed and have the right to vote on the new sales tax. Those include cities or communities from Pueblo to Sterling Ranch to Denver, Westminster, Louisville, Boulder, Loveland, Fort Collins and more.
Bustang, the long-distance passenger service managed by the Colorado Department of Transportation, has thrived in ridership growth, but operates at steep losses with ticket sales covering only a fraction of costs. State officials have been searching for revenue to fill gaps left by an end to some federal and state support.
The Front Range connector will be different, Pace said Monday, because planners have crafted budget savings and not overpromised service areas in the way FasTracks did. Instead of building expensive, dedicated rail lines, CoCo will run on existing privately held lines operated by BNSF and Union Pacific. The agency has already negotiated costs and complex sharing agreements with the railroads.
If a Front Range rail vote takes place and passes, $1.5 billion of the projected revenue would go to the cities hosting stops along the route for station development and other transit needs, Pace said.
The agency’s optimism about public acceptance remains high.
“Ultimately, we have a plan of reaching New Mexico and Cheyenne, Wyoming,” Pace said.