Two Colorado transportation officials were lauded Tuesday by the White House for spearheading innovative approaches to solving transportation problems.
Phil Washington, who became the Regional Transportation District’s general manager in 2009, and Jacque Whitsitt, who has served on the board of directors for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority for nearly 14 years, were both designated as “Champions in Change” by the White House.
Both Washington and Whitsitt were singled out because they have “provided exemplary leadership in the growth and expansion of the transportation industry at the local, state, or regional level.”
“They are making a difference every day in their local communities and across the country by improving America’s transportation infrastructure,” said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, ” and helping their friends and neighbors get where they need to go.”
The White House said Washington is leading one the most “dynamic transit agencies in North America” in RTD. The agency is implementing the FasTracks program, one of the largest transit expansion programs in the country, the White House said.
Washington is responsible for a 2012 total agency appropriation of $2.2 billion and is managing active transit expansion projects totaling $4.2 billion.
Whitsitt oversees Colorado’s second largest transit agency and the largest rural transit agency in the country.
She led a successful ballot campaign in 2008 that led to a region-wide sales tax increase as well as bonding authority for the authority. The tax increase helped fund the VelociRFTA Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The VelociRTFA BRT system is the nation’s first rural BRT system.
This 39-mile bus route from Glenwood Springs to Aspen will alleviate congestion along the crowded rural highway, said U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or
