There is a state funding program "RTD" which is the Denver regional transportation district, and a few years ago they got some taxes set up to fund a light rail system. A good start was made, but the budget got completely blown and one of the routes was poorly chosen and has low ridership. But the RTD had promised additional lines, some of which might actually get some pretty heavy usage downtown Denver to Boulder, where the main state college campus is--about 50 km, and downtown Denver to the airport--about 40 km.

Since RTD doesn't have any money left, they proposed last week that the Denver-Boulder route be done as a dedicated bus lane, built in association with an overhaul of the main highway. This caused an explosion in the communities along the original light rail route, who supported the original tax bill (which is almost impossible in Colorado) and have been paying for this for a decade. Now everybody is mad, but they don't really have a solution easy to come by.

Less than 48 hours after announcing a plan for the financially beleaguered FasTracks system that has angered some Boulder County officials, top managers from the Regional Transportation District made their case in person to the Boulder City Council.

The meeting came two days after RTD staffers announced their recommendation that the district's board of directors use a "hybrid" approach to completing the Northwest Rail line from Denver to Longmont.

The staff recommendation calls for bringing a 12-mile commuter rail line from Denver to Church Ranch Boulevard in Westminster by 2020 to 2022. Up to 80 miles of bus rapid transit, using dedicated lanes and traveling at high frequency, would cover the rest of the corridor up to Longmont -- via Broomfield, Louisville and Boulder -- by 2020.

Light blue on the map shows the part built so far, while dark blue shows the next phase, orange shows the long range plan, and green shows the proposed "bus rapid transit" route.

http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/main_26