The upper Roaring Fork Valley should use a carrot-and-stick approach to improve transit mobility between Aspen and Basalt, according to a new task force.
The carrots would include an enhanced public bus system. The sticks would include congestion-based pricing to drive into and park in Aspen.
The Aspen Institute Community Task Force on Transportation and Mobility advised in a 50-page report against adding traffic lanes to Colorado 82 or, at this point, using the Marolt Open Space for a straight-shot solution into Aspen.
The 31-member task force is composed of elected officials and residents from the upper valley as well as transportation experts. The Aspen Institute was a neutral coordinator for the effort. The task force members worked for 15 months before issuing a Monday.
“The task force was asked to work on a difficult problem and came up with pragmatic and creative solutions,” Bill Kane, task force co-chair, said in a prepared statement. “The group sought ways to move forward in both the near and long-term that will reduce traffic congestion without waiting for one big element to solve the problem.”
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