Did SW Light Rail Reduce Santa Fe Traffic?
Denver’s Southwest Corridor light-rail line cost far more to build than the cost of adding two new lanes onto Santa Fe Drive, which parallels the rail line. Yet it took, at most, one-third of a lane’s worth of rush hour traffic off of Santa Fe.
Unlikely 'Slow Tracks' plan will attract very many riders
Advocates of the Regional Transportation District’s so-called FasTracks plan claim rail transit will attract huge numbers of people out of their cars, thereby reducing congestion and cleaning the air. These claims fade away when exposed to the harsh light of a recent analysis of the plan prepared by the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
They pay to play, and profit well
When I was on the RTD Board of Directors seven years ago, the board passed one of my resolutions. Miracles do happen. (Actually I got several things passed, including funding for Boulder’s Skip service)
It was an election year and the Regional Transportation District was pimping for a 67-percent tax increase. (Everything old is new again.) And you wouldn’t believe who was pumping nearly all the money into the campaign to make your taxes skyrocket. The companies that would directly profit from it.
End Authoritarian Socialist Public Policy
RTD’s FasTracks boondoggle is about much more than wasting billions of taxpayer dollars and the implementation of destructive policies. It is about increasing government control over people and redistribution of wealth. The damage caused by similar authoritarian policies has resulted in death and impoverishment for millions.
Reforming Higher Education in Colorado
Several proposals have been put forth to ‘reform’ higher education in Colorado. Some of these proposals are in fact not ‘reforms’, but rather proposals that would increase public subsidies and strengthen the monopoly position of public institutions in higher education.
Ten Reasons to Oppose FasTracks
1. It won’t relieve traffi c congestion
2. It won’t relieve rush-hour congestion
3. It’s far too expensive
4. It isn’t fast
5. It won’t relieve air pollution—and may make ozone worse
6. Most people will rarely or never use it
7. We can relieve congestion without a tax increase
8. We can have far better transit service without a tax increase
9. It forecloses options
10. Congestion will get far worse if it is built
A smarter way to do mass transit
The first tastes of freedom often come in very tiny bites. And a little, and I do mean a little, sliver of freedom has found its way to Colfax Avenue in Denver.
Toure David and Modest Kouame came to America a decade ago. When it took them an hour and 20 minutes to get to where they were going by bus, compared to 40 minutes by car, they knew their business would succeed. And they are gambling their entire life savings on it.
Are we lying? Judge for yourself
It was fun to watch RTD go into anaphylactic shock this week when the Independence Institute released a study that merely publicized federal data. Unfortunately that data showed that Denver not only had the most deadly light-rail system in the nation, but the most energy-inefficient.
Rail Transit Reduces Urban Livability
A Rail Livability Index shows that rail transit has reduced the livability of every urban area that has it. The index assesses the impact of rail transit on transit ridership, congestion, taxpayers, safety, energy consumption, and other measures of urban livability. The results show that urban areas that are building rail transit would be better off spending their limited transportation funds on road improvements and bus-rapid transit.
Should it be legal for illegal aliens to attend public instructions of higher education in Colorado at in-state tuition rates?
In a number of states, public institutions of higher education allow illegal aliens to attend college at in-state tuition rates even though they have no legal right to be in the United States. There is some evidence that this has been done in Colorado.
The False Panacea of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar, and biomass are viewed by many as superior to coal, gas, and other non-renewables. Eventually, some or all of these forms of energy may be viable. However, government subsidies and incentives for renewables can create more problems than they solve.
Reforming Higher Education in Colorado
Today the only way most Colorado citizens can benefit from public subsides to higher education is to attend a public university or college. Students are attracted by subsidies that enable these institutions to charge lower tuition than their private counterparts. The larger the subsidy the more likely students will choose public institution over private colleges and universities. This is true even when the private colleges and universities allocate more resources to their education. Thus, at least some students end up investing less in their college education than they would have in the absence of the direct subsidy.
