Challenging times demand bold decisions. In the coming months, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) will be bold in the decisions we make about both our existing system and the FasTracks transit expansion program. The current economic conditions have had all of us — individuals, businesses, and organizations — contemplating the decisions we make about how to address the present and plan for the future. As the new interim general manager of RTD, I consider the challenges that the agency faces as an opportunity to show how innovation and success can persevere when a region works together.
Each day, RTD is a vital part of people’s lives. For many, our service makes it possible to get to work, school or medical appointments. For others, taking transit is by choice — providing convenience, cost savings and an alternative to enduring the frustration of traffic gridlock. This is why as we solve an $11 million budget gap over the coming year, we will minimize impacts to our customers. Service cuts will be minimal. Fare increases are not likely. It will be a combination of other cost containment strategies like using agency reserves, salary freezes and voluntary furloughs that will get us there.
RTD is proud of delivering all four light rail lines on time and on budget, with each one carrying far more riders each day than what was originally projected. If you ride the trains you see how many people have been taken off the roads, making us less reliant on the very volatile foreign oil market. Since voters passed the FasTracks program in 2004, RTD has been laying the foundation for this great investment initiative. We’ve put scores of people to work —planners, environmental experts, engineers, communications professionals, and construction crews. To date, our small business participation is 21 percent, which has exceeded our original goal. Ninety percent of those small businesses are local.
Our mission in transit is multi-purpose. No single benefit — environmental, economic, mobility or quality of life — solely defines our value. We provide much-needed transportation alternatives, do our part to minimize various air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a catalyst for the region’s economic development. In the next several years, we will provide many more job opportunities, serving as the Denver metro area’s own economic stimulus package. During the height of construction when all of our corridors are being built, it’s estimated that this effort will create more than 10,000 construction-related jobs alone. Economists tell us that every $1 invested in transit infrastructure translates into $6 to the local community in the form of direct and indirect economics. Our metro area will come to life with activity, which will benefit all of us.
A lot has changed since we started FasTracks. That is why we do an annual program evaluation taking into account the ever-changing economic conditions on both the cost and the revenue side. We dropped our sales tax revenue forecasts earlier this year, and plan to modify them again as appropriate during our 2010 evaluation. This gives us an updated picture with the best available information, but with the understanding that things will continue to change.
The challenge will continue to be forecasting sales tax revenues over many years. This is much more complex than projecting shorter-term revenues, as most organizations do.
However, despite increased costs, slumping sales tax revenues, and necessary program adjustments, RTD’s commitment to deliver this investment initiative remains as strong as ever. We’ve been innovative in funding FasTracks, and in September, we will release a Request for Proposals for a public-private partnership that will bring private equity to the table to help kick-start construction of some of our FasTracks rail lines. In addition, we will progress on all rail projects to get them “shovel ready” for when funding is solidified for build-out of the whole program.
The RTD board of directors and staff will continue to work with our stakeholders to complete FasTracks by investing in our future today, which will pay dividends for generations to come.
With RTD’s former General Manager Cal Marsella now moving on to another business opportunity, I want to thank Cal for 14 years of dedication and devotion as a visionary and highly respected leader. I feel proud and privileged to have been selected by the RTD board during this important time of transition to take the reins of this great agency. No one ever said it would be easy to make the journey from good to great, but it remains our mission. We face many challenges, but also many opportunities, as our regional partnership continues to be a positive example for the nation. RTD will not march in place, but forge ahead and deliver the FasTracks investment to the region.
Phillip A. Washington is interim general manager of the Regional Transportation District.
