Front Range residents will vote in November on whether to add a new sales tax to fund a train between Denver and southern Colorado that will connect the south metro, Colorado Springs and Pueblo with daily trips as far north as Fort Collins.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District’s Board of Directors voted 14-1 to refer the during a board meeting Friday morning at the Transportation Technology Center, a federal rail testing facility near Pueblo, after hearing mostly supportive public comments from community members.
If voters approve the tax, the measure will expand service for the Colorado Connector, or CoCo, a rail line funded in part by the Regional Transportation District and Colorado Department of Transportation that is set to link Denver’s Union Station to Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins through three daily trips starting in 2029.
The 0.333% sales tax – equivalent to 33 cents on every $100 spent – would extend the Colorado Connector south, adding two daily trips between Union Station and Sterling Ranch, Littleton, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. It would also add a fourth daily trip to the northern section of the line.
The tax won’t apply to items exempt under state law, including food, gasoline, residential electricity and gas, prescription drugs and medical supplies.
Community leaders and residents from across the region spoke in favor of the measure before the board vote Friday morning.
Larimer County Commissioner Kristin Stephens told the board that Fort Collins has been waiting for the train to become a reality for decades.
“I’ve heard some comments that this is not a good economic driver for Colorado and I think that is absolutely wrong,” she said. “States that have done this have thrived, and we need to do this for our state.”
Denver resident Gable Patterson also spoke in support of the measure and said he hopes people can see across party lines to see the benefit of the measure.
“We have already seen what happens when we just endlessly expand highways, and it is time to do something different,” he said.
Natalie Menten, a former RTD director from Jefferson County, spoke in opposition to the measure and said she could not see herself using the train. She also rarely uses RTD, she added.
Before the vote, Director Claire Levy — a Boulder County commissioner who represents a FasTracks community on the board — said the rail expansion should be looked at in the context of all of the transit expansion across Colorado, including more Bustang service and efforts to revive the Mountain Rail between Denver and Grand County, and eventually to the Western Slope.
“We shouldn’t overlook the transformative potential of this project to change how people get around Colorado for the better,” Levy said. “This couldn’t come at a better time with climate change and the impacts that’s having on everyday life.”
Rail district officials estimate the train will have the same environmental effect as permanently taking 29,000 cars off the road by saving an estimated 233 million vehicle miles a year.
El Paso County Commissioner Cory Applegate, who represents the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments on the board, was the sole no vote.
In a statement to The Denver Post, Applegate said while he supports investing in transportation, there are still “significant questions” about project costs, how many people will likely ride the train and how it will benefit El Paso County and the Pikes Peak region.
“At a time when families and businesses are already dealing with higher costs, I did not believe this proposal provided the financial certainty or accountability necessary to justify such a substantial new tax burden,” he said.
