Let Those Who Receive The Benefits Pay The Costs0

• September 15, 1999

I-25 between Broadway Street and Lincoln Avenue is the most congested highway in Colorado. Nearly all of Denver’s 2,3 million people are impacted by the traffic on this relatively small 16 mile stretch of freeway. Traveling the highway sometimes takes more that an hour during peak periods. Regular commuters are frustrated, and the “Mile High Salute” is often performed on I-25 with a single finger. Visitors to Denver have flashbacks of their travels on other parking-lot-like freeways in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New Jersey. Rural residents are afraid to visit simply because of the heavy traffic. Even motorists who try to avoid the freeways are faced with overcrowded arterial streets flooded by like-minded hoards. Everyone who drives in and through Denver knows that something has to be done with I-25.

RTD's Competitive Contracting Program: Cost Savings Produce More Service, Attract More Passengers0

• January 20, 1999

The 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.

Social Security Numbers and Drivers Licenses – Protecting Privacy0

• February 15, 1997

The federal immigration reform legislation passed in the summer of 1996 affects the privacy rights of all Americans, even if they are native born citizens. The new law requires:

Americans must provide Social Security numbers to apply for or renew a state drivers license beginning October 1, 2000. If not, the license cannot be used for federal identification purposes.
States must display the number on the license itself or embed it within the document for reading by electronic means.

Light Rail in Denver: Taking the Taxpayers for a Ride0

• February 5, 1997

Congress is considering giving Denver hundreds of millions of dollars to construct an eight mile extension of the existing five mile light rail system. The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is pushing for a vote on a tax increase to fund even more ligth rail With new EPA air quality standards looming over the city, the battle over the light rail system is about to begin. The facts show that light rail in Denver is a waste of money:

Stop That Train Part II: A Reply to RTD0

• May 3, 1994

Executive Summary: In March 1993, the Independence Institute published an Issue Paper titled Stop that Train, which contended that the plans of the Regional Transportation District (RTD) to build a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system throughout the metro area were flawed. The Issue Paper suggested that expanded use of special traffic lanes for busses and carpools (HOV lanes) would be a more cost-effective method of improving mass transit.

Stop that Train: RTD's Light Rail Boondoggle is on a Fast Track for Disaster0

• March 8, 1994

RTD is pushing a major public relations campaign to build an expensive light rail transit (LRT) system in southwest Denver, and eventually the whole metro area.

In nine US cities that constructed LRT projects, actual costs exceeded projections and ridership fell short of projections. Actual cost per rider exceeded projections by an average of 5.4 times.