Transportation Commission Approves FASTER Funds for Transit

February 29, 2012 - Statewide Transportation Plan - DENVER – Bus operators, cities, counties and other entities are receiving a financial boost after the Colorado Transportation Commission awarded $14 million of FASTER (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation & Economic Recovery) funds for statewide and regional transit projects for Fiscal Year 2013.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Division of Transit and Rail will distribute the funds, assisting projects such as bus purchases and park-n-ride lot improvements.

“Given the state of the economy, we put more of an emphasis this year on fixing and replacing what exists, as well as on allowing the funds to complete existing projects and matching federal funds, rather than building new projects,” said CDOT Division of Transit and Rail Director Mark Imhoff.  “In fact, 74 buses or smaller vehicles will be purchased or rehabilitated with these funds.”

Awarded projects include:

  • Boulder – Transit stop improvements
  • Boulder, Longmont and Pueblo – Park-n-ride lot improvements
  • Colorado Springs – Maintenance and equipment for Front Range Express (FREX)
  • Cortez, Crested Butte, Durango, Fort Morgan, Ignacio, Montrose, and Trinidad – Transit Asset Management (TAM) shared software system for small transit programs
  • Denver – Rehabilitation of an RTD maintenance building and light rail improvements along the central corridor (downtown area)
  • Denver metro/Northwestern Colorado – One-call/one-click software programs to improve elderly and disabled programs
  • Denver area – Ticket purchase kiosks for RTD users along south Interstate 25 and U.S. 36
  • Denver area – Extension of managed lanes along I-25 north
  • Loveland – Phase II construction of regional bus transfer center
  • Wheat Ridge – New bus benches

Transit agencies also are receiving funds for new vehicle purchases in Blackhawk, Breckenridge, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Durango, Fort Collins, Montrose, Pueblo, Salida, Steamboat Springs, and Trinidad, and in Boulder, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Summit, Washington, and Yuma counties.

Additional project information is available at: www.coloradodot.info/news/documents/FY13%20FASTER%20Transit%20Awards%20list_022912.pdf

CDOT’s Division of Transit and Rail was created by legislation in 2009 to oversee a statewide transit program.  It has the authority to promote, plan, design, finance, operate, maintain and contract for transit services such as passenger rail, buses and advanced guideway systems.

A provision in the legislation provides for the allocation of FASTER funds into the State Transit and Rail Fund, which provides grants to local governments for transit projects, such as new bus stops, bike parking, maintenance facilities or multi-modal transportation centers.