RTD’s plan for overcoming a $1.4 billion shortfall on its FasTracks transit expansion assumes private companies will finance, design, build, operate and maintain trains to Denver International Airport and Arvada/Wheat Ridge for 50 years.
On Tuesday evening, Regional Transportation District general manager Cal Marsella presented revised financial estimates of FasTracks costs to RTD directors that show public-private partnerships will contribute about $550 million to the cost of the project.
Three years ago, when RTD won support from metro-Denver voters for a sales-tax increase to pay for FasTracks, the agency estimated the project’s total cost at $4.7 billion. But escalating costs of construction materials and land needed for rail right of way has pushed the FasTracks price tag to about $6.1 billion, Marsella told directors.
RTD expects teams of private firms will compete to win the prize of financing, building and operating the 24-mile commuter train from Union Station to DIA and the 11-mile Gold Line train to Ward Road in Wheat Ridge.
Marsella has stressed that even if RTD farms out the rail lines to private firms, his agency will retain oversight on setting fares and ensuring quality service.
RTD’s financial advisers estimate that private firms will generate the $550 million for FasTracks from an expected 10 percent savings on construction of the two rail lines and a commuter rail maintenance facility, and a 15 percent savings from operating and maintaining them.
Marsella said RTD may solicit interest from companies in a second public-private partnership – one that would build the $620 million Interstate 225 light-rail line from Parker Road to the DIA train as well as light-rail extensions of the current lines to Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Marsella said one option for RTD if the agency does not reach agreement with Jefferson County on running the west light-rail train to Golden from the Federal Center in Lakewood would be to reopen an environmental study of the line with the aim of ending it at the federal facility.
RTD says its estimate of passenger demand to and from the end- of-line Jefferson County government center will only support 15-minute train frequencies at peak times when the west line opens in 2013, and that mandates a single line.
Jefferson County officials recently supplied RTD with results of their own traffic analysis showing far-higher passenger demand. But Marsella said it appears Jeffco’s numbers are “pumped up” when compared with numbers from the Denver Regional Council of Governments that RTD relies on for ridership analysis.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
