21st Century Transportation for Colorado

GIVING COLORADANS TRANSIT OPTIONS

Our current transportation system has many of us stuck on crumbling roads and bridges endlessly waiting in traffic, all the while spewing air pollution and consuming billions of barrels of overseas oil.

Light rail, clean bus systems, and other public transit should play a greater part in Colorado's transportation future. Efficient public transportation systems reduce the number of cars on the road and increase our options for getting around.

We’re working for more and better transit by encouraging public support for new projects and improved service, like the completion of the metro Denver FasTracks light-rail system, and the construction of passenger rail along I-70.

Sign up for our email list to stay up to date on CoPIRG's campaign to bring 21st century transportation options to Colorado.

TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS FOR COLORADO

FasTracks: Back in 2004, Denver-area voters approved a 4-cent sales tax to construct a nine-spoke light rail system to reduce traffic congestion and provide alternative ways to travel around the metro area. Unfortunately, the economic downturn has created a shortfall for the project funding, and construction on several of the lines has fallen behind. So CoPIRG is working to secure full funding to complete this important project.
I-70 Rail: I-70 is a critical artery for our state, whether it’s the goods coming from the West Coast or the skiers and hikers coming from the Front Range. Unfortunately, it’s choked with traffic and worn down. Fixing I-70 will be extremely costly, but ignoring it is not an option. The Colorado Department of Transportation has announced they are taking a critical step to pursue the comprehensive solution of both upgrading the safety of sections of the road while also investing in rail options that get people out of their cars. But there are many more hurdles to overcome before this becomes a reality.

CoPIRG will continue our campaign, with grassroots support from Coloradans like you, to move forward passenger rail options along I-70.

Issue updates

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Report | CoPIRG | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. Then, at the turn of the century, something changed: Americans began driving less. By 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004. The trend away from driving has been led by young people.

News Release | CoPIRG | Transportation

Youth Drive Trend Away From Cars

A new report released today by the CoPIRG Foundation demonstrates that Coloradans and Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade. The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.

Report | CoPIRG | Budget, Tax, Transportation

Do Roads Pay for Themselves?

Highways do not – and, except for brief periods in our nation’s history, never have – paid for themselves through the taxes that highway advocates label “user fees.” Yet highway advocates continue to suggest they do in an attempt to secure preferential access to scarce public resources and to shape how those resources are spent.

Media Hit | Transportation

Students spend spring break campaigning for transportation changes

While many college students are spending their spring breaks vacationing on the beach, one group of local students is spending the week trying to change Colorado's transportation system.

Media Hit | Transportation

CoPIRG creates Transportation Freedom Day

The average American family spends about 20 percent of its income on transportation and one organization used Friday to get out its message of improving public transportation.

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News Release | CoPIRG | Transportation

Youth Drive Trend Away From Cars

A new report released today by the CoPIRG Foundation demonstrates that Coloradans and Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade. The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.

Media Hit | Transportation

Students spend spring break campaigning for transportation changes

While many college students are spending their spring breaks vacationing on the beach, one group of local students is spending the week trying to change Colorado's transportation system.

Media Hit | Transportation

CoPIRG creates Transportation Freedom Day

The average American family spends about 20 percent of its income on transportation and one organization used Friday to get out its message of improving public transportation.

News Release | CoPIRG | Transportation

“Transportation Freedom Day” Highlights Transportation Costs for Residents

Over the next few weeks, residents in the Denver metro area will be able to celebrate Transportation Freedom Day, the date in which a typical household has earned enough to cover its annual transportation costs. For residents in some cities like Englewood, Aurora and Littleton, that day will come earlier than many of their neighbors in Brighton, Parker and Evergreen.

News Release | CoPIRG | Transportation

CoPIRG Lays Out 21st Century Transportation Vision for Colorado

High speed rail along the Front Range, bus rapid transit on the Western Slope and flexible, fixed –route bus services in rural cities like Sterling were some of the projects highlighted in a new report by the consumer advocacy group CoPIRG that unveiled their statewide transit vision today.

Pages

Result | Transportation

Preparing The Way For 21st Century Transportation

In 2009, CoPIRG worked with a broad coalition to secure $16 billion of federal stimulus money for transit projects that will create jobs.

Report | CoPIRG | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. Then, at the turn of the century, something changed: Americans began driving less. By 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004. The trend away from driving has been led by young people.

Report | CoPIRG | Budget, Tax, Transportation

Do Roads Pay for Themselves?

Highways do not – and, except for brief periods in our nation’s history, never have – paid for themselves through the taxes that highway advocates label “user fees.” Yet highway advocates continue to suggest they do in an attempt to secure preferential access to scarce public resources and to shape how those resources are spent.

Report | CoPIRG | Transportation

Transportation Freedom Day 2010

To highlight the differences in transportation costs per city, CoPIRG released data from the Center of Neighborhood Technology that calculated each city’s Transportation Freedom Day - the date in which a typical household has earned enough to cover its annual transportation costs. That day tends to arrive earlier for residents of cities with more car-alternatives to getting around.

Report | CoPIRG | Transportation

Colorado's Transportation Crossroads

Colorado’s transportation network does a poor job of meeting the needs of the state’s residents.

Expanding public transportation can provide more Coloradans with alternatives to driving, while laying the foundation for an efficient transportation system for the 21st century.

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