Voters from Aspen to New Castle will be asked Nov. 4 to approve a sales and use tax increase to help pay for $61 million in improvements to the RFTA bus system.
The elected officials from local governments who sit on the Roaring Fork Transit Authority board voted unanimously Thursday to put a ballot question before voters to determine whether they will fund the first phase of a “bus rapid transit,” or BRT, project.
“This is the most significant move as a district we have ever made, and I’m very pleased,” said Dave Sturges, a Glenwood Springs councilman.
The proposed four-tenths of 1 percent tax increase, which equals four cents for every $10 spent, would give RFTA the ability to issue $45 million in bonds.
The authority is also pursuing $21 million in federal funding for the project.
While the deadline for local governments to approve ballot questions is not until August, RFTA Director of Planning Kristin Kenyon urged the RFTA board to act now, in part to send a positive signal to federal transit grant administrators.
“I think it is extremely important that we go forward with a vote this November,” said Kenyon, adding that having local funds already in place is critical to obtaining federal matching funds for the project.
Voters in Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and New Castle will find the question on their ballots in November, as will voters in Pitkin County and voters in the portions of Eagle County within the Roaring Fork Valley.
Voters in Silt will also likely be casting votes on RFTA on Nov. 4, as Silt Town Council has decided to ask its denizens whether to vote to join RFTA.
Voters in unincorporated Garfield County, which is not a member of RFTA, will not be asked about the RFTA funding question.
For the funding measure to take effect, it must be approved by a majority of all votes cast on the issue, which will be counted across jurisdictional lines.
It doesn’t matter whether the measure fails in one jurisdiction, such as Snowmass Village, where the proposal has received a chilly reception, according to John Wilkinson, a RFTA board member and Snowmass Village Town Council member. If a majority of the voters in all RFTA member jurisdictions taken together pass the measure, by a count of 50 percent plus one vote, it will take effect.
If voters do in fact approve the measure, RFTA will move forward with the first phase of its regional bus rapid transit system, which includes $61 million in improvements.
Of that, $9 million will be spent on new buses, including some low-floor, hybrid-electric buses.
Six million dollars is allocated for an “intelligent transportation system,” including real-time signs at major bus stations notifying riders when the next bus is arriving; high-tech fare boxes that streamline the boarding process; and wireless Internet service aboard buses.
Seven million dollars will be devoted to roadway improvements at eight intersections to give buses priority through bypass lanes and signals.
Eleven million dollars is designated for expansion of RFTA’s overcrowded Glenwood Springs maintenance facility. And $29 million is allocated for improving bus stations and bus stops throughout the region.
Of that $29 million, $5 million will be spent on installing bus station platforms on either side of Highway 82 at the Roaring Fork Marketplace intersection in Glenwood Springs, which provides access to Wal-Mart, as well as a pedestrian underpass or bridge.
The intersection at El Jebel Road and Highway 82 will also see transit platforms built on either side of the highway, and, potentially, a 200-car park-and-ride lot. Close to $4 million in improvements has been budgeted for that intersection, including improvements to the existing pedestrian underpass.
Almost $6 million has been budgeted to create transit stations on either side of Highway 82 at the Brush Creek Road intersection, which would eliminate buses’ having to swing through what is known as the “intercept lot” at that location.
And transit stop improvements are slated for Rubey Park in Aspen, the Basalt park-and-ride lot, a new stop at Willits and other stops between Aspen and New Castle.
The list of improvements to the RFTA system won’t go anywhere without voter approval. RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship is hopeful that a citizens’ committee will soon be formed to begin campaigning for the ballot measure.
One downside to the RFTA board’s acting this week to approve the ballot question, Blankenship said, is that RFTA board members now have to be careful about campaigning for the tax hike.
Blankenship distributed to the RFTA board members a memo titled “Permitted and prohibited activities under the Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act.” Drafted by a law firm, it stipulates that board members can answer only questions about the ballot question, and that the RFTA organization itself cannot lobby citizens to approve the measure.
In the meantime, RFTA staff members will focus on determining which federal grant program to apply for and preparing the appropriate application materials, which are due in either late July or early September.
If federal funding falls through, the budget for new and improved facilities will be reduced from $29 million to $6 million.
bgs@aspendailynews.com