I do not have a strong opinion on this. But I received an email blast from Jesse Kumin and a response from Spense Havlick. I thought these provided a good set of arguments pro & con and so with their permission I am reprinting them here.
Jesse Kumin:
Howdy!
This falls under the category of "Gee Jesse, why don't you tell us what you really think". This page on the www.wonderlandlake.org site has my take on the US 36 EIS Dog and Pony show Wednesday evening at the Boulder Public Library. I've previously expressed to many of you much of what I wrote. There
are 4 questions I posted that I would appreciate answers to:
- What does the US 36 project do to reduce air pollution and provide a compelling alternative to cars?
- Who dreamed up the name FasTracks for a 30 mph choo-choo that runs slower than trains 100 years ago?
- How is the name FasTracks not deceptive and fraudulent when 3/4ths of public funds are being spent on highway improvements and the train only goes 30 mph?
- Why are CDOT, RTD and other public agencies spending $2.8 billion ($112 million per mile) on two mediocre to lousy solutions between Denver and Boulder that will only increase traffic, pollution, noise and fossil fuel consumption, neither being a compelling alternative to cars, when you could build one high speed rail system?
I will post answers to the above questions on the site. I would welcome a response from the city and elected officials. I'm open to factual corrections if I got any of my numbers or any other details wrong. Thanks.
Jesse Kumin
Spense Havlick:
Howdy Jesse,
Several of your questions are useful to raise and I trust those people who have the most accurate and most current information will respond.My thoughts are only those from an ongoing observer and one who served on a few early task forces to evaluate this corridor and those in other parts of Colorado.
I may be the one to take the blame or credit for extending the commuter rail service beyond the
Table Mesa Park and Ride and on to Longmont.With the increasing congestion on Co 119 between
Boulder and Longmont and with the excellent seamless rail along that route that extension looked like a reasonable possibility.In terms of the air quality you may wish to compare the carbon loading of the aggregate average auto trips (or any other pollutant) per day with the same air pollutants put out by busses or DMT trains per capita ,or per person.
Then of course you would want to compute the travel time not only in the summer but in winter with adverse weather and road conditions,sunrise and sunset problems ,and with road closures due to accidents .The latter three costly constraints to bus and private vehicle travel do not exist with the same frequency one would find with heavy rail commuters.
I do not know where the name originated.What would you call the system? I hope you do not object to the names wehave given our local community transit network such as the HOP,SKIP,DASH,BOLT,JUMP etc. which by the way are funded by public money and carry more than 4.6 million passengers per year many of whom might have been driving SOVs filling parking spaces,polluting the air,and creating even more traffic congestion than we have now.
I agree with your concern that some of the project money is being spent on roadway.The more concrete we pour ,and the more lanes that are put in the more traffic fills them up exacerbating the original problems.
Your train speed estimate of 30 mph is a little deceptive.Of course anyone can juggle data to suit their position perhaps.You may or may not know that the top speed of this heavy rail proposal is 79 MPH after the proper ballasting.What you may have done is calculate the average total time the train is on the track including station stops,and awaiting on a parallel track to allow a priority freight train to pass ,or to allow an express train to have the right of way. How does the average speed of a bus counting all its stops compare with a train for the same distance.It is estimated in seven years the average vehicle on U.S. 36 will take 66 minutes compared with the train time of 41 minutes. Of course today the trip time in a car going from Boulder to Denver can vary from 36 minutes to two hours depending on accidents,weather,ice and blowing snow or even road closures......none of these impact rail service.
I would be most interested in the cost and kind of your "one high speed rail " option. Where would you locate your version of the TGV or the Japanese bullet trains I have enjoyed and in what year would they be operational under your dream scenario?
Spense Havlick
Jesse Kumin:
I ask that you refer to my report on the US 36 EIS hearing, on the www.wonderlandlake.org site. The report covers the subject in far greater detail than the questions posed by the letter. I figured out and fixed the issue stopping people from posting comments directly to the site. That feature is now back on.
Thank you Spense for taking the time to reply to my note. I will post my response on the www.wonderlandlake.org site.
Dave, thanks for taking up the issue. As I mentioned in my report, in so many words, I think we're going in the wrong direction with the US 36 expansion / SloTracks solution when there are so many better models available that were never examined or presented for public comment. Federal law requires that all alternatives be examined in the EIS. RTD and CDOT presented very narrow solutions with a predetermined outcome before comment was ever taken. The FasTracks tax was sold, and continues to be sold to us, fraudulently. RTD and CDOT aren't delivering on what was promised: "Fast Tracks" and are misusing our tax funds. A good test of the veracity of these allegations would be to compare the language of the 2004 ballot issue with what RTD and CDOT are proposing.
Spense Havlick:
If there is an honest ,objective economist in the blogosphere audience it would be most interesting to have calculations about the total annual costs of property damage(both vehicles and road infrastructure),hospitalization costs from car accidents,LOST DOLLARS from time sitting in congested traffic,driving stress costs ,etc. plus construction and O/M costs of new highway compared with the passenger rail service costs of this Denver -Longmont line .That line could be double track at stations only and using existing single track until the time when increased demand required the more costly double track for the entire length,including Utah Junction.
I want to respect those who have an anti rail service opinion .Perhaps they have never had the convenience ,safety, peace of mind,and environmental benefits of well designed passenger rail in Europe ,Asia or Australia.
One of my favorite rail commutes has been in Perth,Western Australia.It is a city about the same size and sprawl as Denver....and a rather auto-addicting metro region.Ten to fifteen years ago some visionaries proposed rail service to reduce vehicle congestion.Now six rail lines feed (spoke like ) downtown Perth from the suburbs. It has been an amazing,record breaking success.I attach the Perth Central station which along with many other TODs have been exemplary prototypes of what should and could be done in the Denver metro area.
