I read with interest Jack Major’s Viewpoint in the April 2-8 issue. Mr. Major asked the question, “Whose problem is I-25 corridor?” His answer was that the solution lies solely within the purview of the Colorado Department of Transportation and therefore CDOT should fund the proposed light rail system parallel to I-25. I disagree for several reasons.
READ MOREHave you ever been stuck in traffic on the freeway only to look over and see a nearly empty car-pool lane? While they may have seemed like a good idea, unfortunately High Occupancy Vehicle lanes are woefully underused. For most of us, carpooling to work is simply impractical, as a result HOV lanes remain near-empty during rush-hour while unrestricted lanes are often bumper-to-bumper.
READ MOREThe legislature went at it again, doing its best to make the world a better place. This time, they were going to improve the existing seatbelt law by making failure to buckle up a primary offense. (Right now, you can be cited only if you are first pulled over for another violation.) Although the measure is dead for this year, it will probably be resurrected one day. If this day comes, we would be better served if our lawmakers would consider a different approach to this matter.
READ MORETable 1 Traffic Count: I-25 at Hampden – August 1996 (3 lanes each direction)
Table 2 Configuration possibilities
Table 3 Capital construction cost of all configurations
Table 3A Capital construction cost of all configurations
READ MOREThe problem with any all-or-nothing approach is the very real possibility of getting nothing. There is no better example than RTDs attempt to build out rapid transit in all directions all at once. Heres the simple story: RTD has within its own means the ability, without a tax increase, to build one rapid transit line at a time. In order to do this RTD must decide which corridor goes first, which goes second, etc. Sounds like what we all have to do with our own major investments.
READ MORESynopsis: House Bill 99-1212, which makes driving or riding in a car without a seat belt into a “primary” traffic offense, is yet another attempt to control peoples own decisions about risk taking. Research shows that when reckless drivers are forced to buckle up, they drive even more recklessly. Thus, careful drivers (who wear seat belts by choice) are endangered. Moreover, mandatory seat belt laws also increase the risk that minorities or other groups will be victimized by pretextual traffic stops.
READ MOREThe competitive contracting program, which requires RTD to contract out 20% of its services to private contractors, has reversed RTD’s previous trend of increasing costs. The cost savings from competitive contracting has enabled RTD to improve service, resulting in the largest ridership gain of ant of the nation’s largest 25 bus systems. If the legislature raised the percent of RTD services which can be competitively contracted to 35% or more, the benefits to metro Denver mass transit users would be all the greater.
READ MOREWhat if your supermarket was absolutely jammed with shoppers? Day after day, week after week it’s solid people. Checking out takes hoursand it’s been that way for years.
Even imagining such a situation is difficult, because it never happens. Entrepreneurs are always searching for opportunities for profit, and any numskull can see that a routinely overcrowded supermarket means there is money to be made opening a competing store down the street.
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