TransportationFriday, November 13
Voters approve the rail tax, and Denver-to-Fort Collins trains are scheduled for 2029
The Good Day Fort Collins team
If you've been waiting on a train from Fort Collins to Denver, voters just moved it closer. Issue 7A, a 0.333% sales and use tax for the Colorado Connector, known as CoCo, passed 55% to 45%. It's expected to raise $295 million a year.
The Denver-to-Fort Collins starter service didn't ride on the vote. It's scheduled for 2029 with three round trips a day, paid for with existing Regional Transportation District and Colorado Transportation Investment Office funds. General manager Sal Pace said the starter line will stop in Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Louisville, Broomfield and Westminster. The tax money will pay for expansion between 2029 and 2032.
- Tax cost: about 33 cents on a $100 purchase
- Exempt: gasoline, food, residential utilities, prescription drugs, medical supplies
- Sunset: none, so the tax is permanent
- Starter service price tag: $332 million
Trains to Fort Collins are scheduled to start in 2029
- 2027The one-third-cent sales tax starts.
- 2028The district should begin building stations.
- 2029Starter service of three daily round trips is scheduled between Denver and Fort Collins.
- 2032District leaders expect full benefits, with 10 round trips a day.
Sources: The Sum and Substance, Sentinel Colorado, Denver Gazette
Not everyone is sold. The Independence Institute's Randal O'Toole says the line "is not going to relieve traffic congestion."
Sources: The Sum and Substance, Sentinel Colorado, Denver Gazette