The trains to Arvada would run at a peak frequency of 15 minutes, as they did before the pandemic, instead of 30 minutes. trains to Westminster would be restored to run every 30 minutes, instead of once per hour.

RTD’s have embraced this doubled frequency as a potential game-changer to boost lagging ridership at a difficult time when agency officials are struggling to address a $250 million-a-year budget hole. They’d been considering service cuts, and agency leaders are planning job cuts.

But the agency’s board hasn’t taken action to hold the contractor, , accountable.

When RTD officials discovered that Denver Transit Partners wasn’t providing the service required under an agreement with the agency, they “immediately” ordered the company to boost train frequency, starting in June, subject to board approval, agency spokeswoman Marta Sipeki said in an emailed response to questions.

The transit agency reduced bus and train service during the pandemic and, in July 2022, committed to a plan for restoration of service, factoring in ridership. No timetable was set, but bus and rail service elsewhere has been restored.

RTD data reviewed by The Denver Post shows the agency has paid Denver Transit Partners more than $414 million since 2019 to run and maintain RTD’s B, G and A rail lines. RTD did not specify how much it overpaid, under a complex contract, for services not delivered.

Agency officials did not respond to The Post’s requests to elaborate on those costs, or explain when they first realized Denver Transit Partners wasn’t delivering the full B and G line service required by its contract.

Officials at Denver Transit Partners declined to comment for this story, referring questions to RTD.

RTD did not make executives available to discuss this matter with The Post, and agency communications officials did not respond to repeated follow-up questions.

RTD spent millions

The agency’s executives haven’t said whether they’ll seek reimbursement or impose a penalty on Denver Transit Partners, which received $87 million to run the A, B, and G rail lines in 2024 alone, according to the agency data provided to the advocacy group and reviewed by The Post.

Metro Denver residents across eight counties pay sales taxes that fund RTD operations and cover roughly 70% of the district’s record $1.5 billion budget.

RTD began running the 11.2-mile electric commuter rail G Line in 2019, and the agency opened the 6.2-mile B Line in 2016. Both were part of RTD’s FasTracks project, approved by voters in 2004 on the understanding that revenues from a sales tax increase would fund eventual extension of the G Line to Golden and the B Line to Boulder and Longmont.

FasTracks hasn’t been completed due to insufficient funds.

RTD Director Patrick O’Keefe, chairman of the agency’s 15-member board, said he is interested in understanding agency contracts better to determine what happened.

“I will look at the agreements. … I am very happy the service on those lines is increasing,” O’Keefe said Thursday.

RTD’s reliance on privatized funding “means we owe minimum payments even if the service is not being delivered,” and “higher frequency still costs more than we pay for minimal or no service,” he said, adding that he’s frustrated and “we have to live with those contracts, for now.”

RTD Director Brett Paglieri, who represents a west metro district encompassing the G Line’s , said the increased frequency means public transit will be viable for more people because “if people have to think about when to leave, they are less likely to use it, and if trains run frequently and you likely won’t have to wait more than 10 minutes they are much more useful.”

“Being able to do this without increased cost is a huge win. It shows there are a lot of opportunities in the agency to make transit more efficient and benefit the riders. … I understand it sounds a little suspect,” Paglieri said, planning to seek a full explanation for how service can be increased for no extra cost.

“All I was told previously when asking about this was that ‘it is very complicated,’ ” he said.

The ridership on RTD trains and buses has fallen by nearly 40% since since 2019. Colorado lawmakers, along with transit advocacy groups, blame low frequency as the core obstacle to making transit competitive with driving. Service improvements can cost millions to implement.

Mayors elated

West metro mayors welcomed the prospect of better rail service, aware that residents face worsening traffic congestion and rising costs as they move around metro Denver.

“I am absolutely over the moon about this. It is going to help a lot of our commuters,” said Arvada Mayor Lauren Simpson, who used to ride G Line trains to drop her daughter at school and reach work downtown, before 2020, when trains ran every 15 minutes.

When RTD supervisors reduced the frequency during the pandemic and then did not restore it, Simpson no longer could rely on public transit, she said. “I spent a small fortune on parking in downtown Denver.”

Along the B Line in Westminster, Mayor Claire Carmelia anticipated the return to 30-minute frequency as “a milestone for improving transit options for our community.”

“Not everybody can afford a car in this inflated economy,” she said, noting better public transit and closer collaboration with RTD has become a primary conversation for members of the regional planning organization, where she serves on the board.

She and Simpson questioned how RTD wasn’t able to run trains more frequently over the past five years and could now propose to do so at no extra cost.

“If there was an error, and service was being paid for and not delivered, that is highly concerning,” Simpson said. “It����ap highly inappropriate for money to be spent for a service that wasn’t delivered. … I certainly want to know more about it.”

‘Getting a sub-par experience’

RTD officials issued a statement confirming their push for Denver Transit Partners to boost train frequency. If approved by the board in March, the changes will take effect June 7.

RTD selected Denver Transit Partners in 2010 to design, build, finance, run, and maintain the A Line to Denver International Airport, along with the B and G lines.

The train hours and mileage costs for running service at current frequencies on the B and G lines total about $11.3 million ($7.9 million for the G Line, and $3.4 million for the B Line), agency spokeswoman Sipeki said in an email.

On Dec. 2, Greater Denver Transit advocates met with RTD’s new chief operations officer, Patrick Preusser, who joined the agency in September, and raised questions about train frequency on the B and G lines, among other issues.

Preusser committed to look into the matter, two Greater Denver Transit leaders said, lauding him for “openness to review operational issues” and solve problems.

On Feb. 11, Preusser told directors in a committee meeting that agency staffers proposed to double B and G line train frequency and that this restoration of service would be “cost neutral.” RTD staffers proposed the changes to strengthen reliability and restore service “where it matters most,” he told directors.

RTD directors in March are expected to approve the increased train frequencies, along with other , including the extension of RTD’s 15 bus route to reach an Amazon fulfillment center and the resumption of C Line trains running between southwest suburbs and downtown.

RTD Director Chris Nicholson said he’s “excited that the current RTD board and leaders could deliver increased service on the B and G lines. Understanding what happened before is worthwhile and is something the board should look into.”

It’s a matter of trust, said Saigopal Rangaraj, a co-director of Greater Denver Transit, and “when contract terms are not upheld, it is fair for the wronged party to take corrective measures.”

“If frequencies have been lagging by half what RTD has been paying for, we as a community have been getting a sub-par experience. This contributes to a significant decrease in usability and ridership on these lines,” Rangaraj said. “Faith in public institutions is already quite low. Any instance of RTD not providing what was promised hurts the agency’s credibility.

“There are a lot of critics in our community who believe that investing in transit is not a wise investment of public funds. Worse ridership plays into that narrative that public transit is not a worthwhile investment.”

The A Line will run as normal, but westbound trains will be delayed about five minutes between the 38th and Blake Station and Union Station.

The G Line will also be running as normal between Wheat Ridge and Union Station, but G Line trains will arrive and depart on Track 8 at Union Station.

The B and N lines will be the most affected and will not have service at Union Station.

The B Line will run normal service from the Westminster to the 41st and Fox stations, and customers can transfer to the G Line for service to Union Station at the 41st and Fox or the Pecos Junction stations.

The N Line will run normal service between 48th and Brighton-National Western Center Station and Eastlake-124th Station. Bus shuttle services are available Saturday to N Line customers between Union Station and 48th and Brighton-National Western Center Station.

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Denver Transit Partners’ 2018 lawsuit stemmed from problems with crossing-gate technology that delayed the opening of the G-Line and required flaggers at active rail crossings on the A- and B-Lines for more than two years. In a ruling issued Feb. 10, Denver District Judge Andrew P. McCallin, who presided over a late-2020 civil trial, found that DTP had shouldered the risk that it would face difficulties winning regulatory approval for the problem-plagued warning system.

The judge, at the same time, also rejected RTD’s counter-claims for $27 million in damages.

The contracting team’s lawyers have asked the Colorado Court of Appeals to review some of the judge’s findings and interpretations of the partnership contract.

“We believe there are several areas that warrant judicial review by an appeals court,” said Doug Allen, Denver Transit Partners’ CEO and executive project director, in a statement, adding: “We have taken this step because it is important to protect our rights and the rights of our consortium members. We have enjoyed a very strong working relationship with RTD throughout this lengthy legal process and we expect that to continue.”

In a statement, RTD said it was prepared to oppose the contractors’ appeal.

DTP is seeking an order for RTD to cover $2.2 million in costs, about two-thirds of that spent on experts.

The was issued by Judge Andrew P. McCallin more than two years after he presided over a complex, four-week civil trial in Denver District Court. His decision, establishing findings of fact and legal conclusions, serves as the trial verdict.

Denver Transit Partners, the contracting team that built RTD’s A-, B- and G-lines as part of the $2.2 billion Eagle P3 project, had contended in a 2018 lawsuit against RTD that the problems and delays resulting from tricky crossing-gate technology were unforeseen and should be reimbursed by the transit agency. Most recently, DTP claimed nearly $112 million in damages.

Its claims were based in part on what it contended were unforeseen difficulties in winning state and federal regulatory approval.

“The Court concludes that the design and operation of the warning system were under the control of DTP,” the judge wrote in rejecting one of the contracting team’s claims. “Therefore, it is appropriate to place the regulatory risk on DTP for a warning system that fails to activate properly or as designed.”

RTD countersued for $27 million damages, citing missed deadlines and DTP’s failures to meet project requirements. RTD also sought a ruling finding that the contracting team was in default of its partnership contract, allowing the decades-long deal to be terminated.

The judge declined to grant such a ruling or award RTD any damages, either.

“The warning system has been approved” by regulators, McCallin wrote. “It is operating properly and carrying passengers on a daily basis throughout the Denver metro area. … It would be unfair to allow RTD to walk away from all of this now.”

Both sides could appeal aspects of the judge’s 71-page ruling. A leader said in a statement that the team was evaluating its options.

“Despite the commercial disputes giving rise to the court����ap decision, we have always enjoyed a strong working relationship with RTD, and we expect that to continue,” said Doug Allen, the CEO and executive project director. “Our focus has always been, and remains, delivering a high-quality transit experience for RTD and Denver-area commuters.”

In a statement, RTD echoed the contractors, saying it’s “committed to its long-standing partnership” with DTP and serving its millions of commuter-rail riders. The transit agency “is thoroughly reviewing the decision,” the statement says.

DTP built three commuter rail lines that terminate at Union Station: the A-Line to Denver International Airport, the B-Line to Westminster and the G-Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge. It’s also responsible for operating them under a public-private partnership agreement with RTD.

The trial began Sept. 21, 2020, and wrapped up with closing arguments in mid-October 2020. Because there was no jury, McCallin had no deadline to issue a ruling. The parties’ final written pleadings were filed in December 2020.

New wireless crossing-gate technology was at the root of RTD and Denver Transit Partners’ struggles to open the commuter rail lines on time. Gates were supposed to close about 30 seconds before a train came through.

But during testing, they often closed minutes in advance — or cut it too close.

The difficulty of dialing in the technology caused delays in regulatory approval from the Federal Railroad Administration and Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission. For more than two years, flaggers monitored active rail crossings on the A- and B-lines, while the G-Line’s opening was delayed from late 2016 to April 2019.

The 2020 trial centered on regulatory decisions and how those should be viewed in light of contractual provisions that assigned responsibility to the contractors and RTD for different kinds of unforeseen costs.

Read the Denver District Court ruling:

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Whether you go out to a bar or a friend’s party, several organizations, including the and local law firms, are offering ways to ride free or get reimbursed for taking Lyft and Uber or calling a taxi. In metro Denver, the Regional Transportation District is waiving fares starting at 7 p.m. and running some trains later than usual.

Authorities warn that they’ve stepped up drunken-driving enforcement this weekend.

“The new year brings plenty of parties around town to celebrate, and troopers are prepared to keep Coloradans safe by removing impaired drivers from our roads,” Colorado State Patrol Chief Matthew C. Packard said in a news release. “Our DUI enforcement efforts are vital, but we’re counting on all Coloradans to make responsible choices this holiday. Don’t end the year with a DUI — make a plan to get home safe and stick with it.”

Here are the options available for free rides:

RTD services are free from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday

The zero-fare period is sponsored by Molson Coors, RTD says, and the promotion applies to all buses, train lines and on-call services, including Access-a-Ride and FlexRide.

While RTD is operating on normal weekend schedules, which have less frequent service, it says it has scheduled an extra late trip out of Union Station on the N-Line (12:56 a.m.) and the B-Line (1:09 a.m.), with two late trips for the G-Line, leaving at 12:31 a.m. and 1:01 a.m. The A, E and W lines already have final trips at 1 a.m. or later.

From the Central Business District’s 16th and Stout light-rail station, the D-Line has two late trips added (leaving at 1:15 a.m. and 1:45 a.m.) and the H-Line also has two extra late trips (1:21 a.m. and 1:51 a.m.).

since the D and H lines will have service interruptions starting at 8 p.m. because of the downtown fireworks shows. During the two shows, set for 9 p.m. and midnight, the MallRide shuttle won’t run.

CDOT offers code for $10 Lyft credits

Credits for $10 on Lyft are available in advance from CDOT under a promotion with the Governors Highway Safety Association, Lyft and Responsibility.org. As of Wednesday, CDOT said 1,300 credits had been used so far this month, and it was making 1,500 more available through Jan. 3. Until then, they can be redeemed any night, between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m.

To , enter the code “NODUISNYE” on the Lyft app in the promotions or payments section (select “Add Lyft Pass”).

Reimbursements up to $35 for longer rides

There’s a better option for longer rides, or if CDOT’s credits are all claimed. The Sawaya Law Firm in Denver long of up to $35 for cab rides or Uber and Lyft rides home on New Year’s Eve to anyone who’s 21 or older and has a valid ID.

Keep the receipt and upload it within two weeks, along with a photo or scan of your photo ID, at . Or you can send the receipt and photo ID copy via email to cab@sawayalaw.com.

The reimbursement will be sent to the address on the ID, unless another is specified in the request.

Southern Front Range option

In Colorado Springs and Pueblo, covers taxi rides home on New Year’s Eve with partner cab companies. To take part, revelers in Pueblo can order a cab from City Cab at (719) 543-2525. In Colorado Springs, zTrip (formerly Yellow Cab) is available at (719) 766-4567, or via the zTrip app (select “pay in car” when booking). Riders should mention the promotion when they get in the cab.

Lawyers for RTD and Denver Transit Partners spent nearly four weeks in a Denver courtroom in the fall of 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, presenting evidence and arguing over whether RTD should be responsible for covering major costs stemming from crossing-gate problems on three new commuter-rail lines. DTP, which shouldered those costs and sued for reimbursement, is a consortium of contractors that built the A, B and G lines and now operates them under a long-term public-private partnership deal.

The complex civil trial wrapped up on Oct. 16, 2020.

Since then, Denver District Court Judge Andrew P. McCallin has worked behind closed doors on the ruling that will serve as the trial’s verdict, since there was no jury. He’s given no public indication of when it will come out. The parties’ final post-trial pleadings were filed in December 2020.

Two years is unusually long for a trial’s verdict to hang in the balance, a legal expert said.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t good reasons for the length of time, particularly in cases where there are a lot of legal issues in play and there’s a lot of money and controversy,” said Christopher Jackson, a Denver appellate and litigation attorney who isn’t involved in the case. “But two years is on the longer side for the amount of time that you would wait for a verdict in a bench trial.”

Update to the update: In the v. Denver Transit Partners case, Judge Andrew McCallin just issued a status update. Says he plans to complete the ruling/order on the trial — which wrapped in Oct 2020 — in the next 30 days. He “does not anticipate any further extensions.”

— Jon Murray (@JonMurray)

The Denver Post reached out to the Colorado Judicial Department this month to check on the ruling’s status. Spokesman Rob McCallum said regular judicial reassignments at Denver District Court had resulted in the case being transferred to the docket of another judge — Mark Thomas Bailey, who joined the bench this month after being appointed by the governor to fill a vacancy.

But McCallum confirmed that McCallin still would handle the ruling, since he presided over the trial.

“I can tell you he’s actively working on finishing that order,” McCallum said. “It is still on his docket.”

(Note: Several days after this story was published, Judge Andrew P. McCallin in which he apologized for the delay and said he “intends to complete the final order by Thanksgiving,” in late November. He later extended that timeline through the end of the year, and on Dec. 30, he issued another status update: “The Court anticipates completing the order within the next 30-days. The Court does not anticipate any further extensions of this deadline.”)

In a civil bench trial, the verdict typically takes the form of a lengthy written document in which the judge issues factual findings and legal conclusions.

As of the trial, the contractors were seeking $111 million from RTD. The transit agency, in turn, disputed that it was responsible and counter-sued for $27 million in damages, citing missed deadlines and DTP’s failures to meet project requirements. Ultimately, any damages awarded in the court’s verdict could be adjusted to add interest.

If the contractors’ side wins, DTP likely will pass the money it’s awarded to the consortium’s design and construction contractors, since they paid for the extra project costs, according to a November 2021 by Fitch Ratings for debt issued on the project. But any ruling also would be open for either side to appeal.

Denver Transit Partners filed its lawsuit against RTD in 2018, following a series of setbacks on the commuter-rail projects.

The contractors struggled to get new wireless crossing-gate technology to work properly at road crossings. During testing, gates that were supposed to close 30 seconds before a train came instead would activate minutes in advance or, in some instances, cut it way too close.

Flaggers stood by at train crossings for more than two years on the A-Line to Denver International Airport and the B-Line to Westminster. The opening of the G-Line to Wheat Ridge and Arvada was delayed from late 2016 to April 2019, largely because of the crossing issues. All three lines originate at Union Station.

Regulatory approvals also played a role in the delays. During the trial, the arguments centered in part on those regulatory decisions and whether they triggered contractual provisions that would shift responsibility for unforeseen costs from the contractors to RTD.

While the crossing technology now works, the signal problems have been the most significant hiccup in RTD’s relationship with Denver Transit Partners.

An RTD spokeswoman confirmed last week that the claims and issues raised by the trial remain unresolved but declined to comment on the verdict delay.

In a statement, Denver Transit Partners said: “This matter went to court in accordance with the process outlined in the Dispute Resolution section of our Concession Agreement. We remain focused on our long-term partnership with RTD and delivering a high level of service to Denver area commuter rail passengers.”

Start by riding the A-Line after you arrive at Denver International Airport, then continue the trend by visiting some of these day-trip-worthy destinations you can access via light rail. Some are neighborhoods you could spend a whole day exploring, while others are standalone spots that are worth your time.

Since everyone’s starting location will be different, we’ve listed the train lines and stops for each destination, but you should check out the official Regional Transportation District (RTD) and to determine your route.

The Beer Spa

How to get there: L-Line to 30th/Downing Station

In a state that����ap obsessed with craft beer, there’s perhaps nothing more fitting than a spa dedicated to all things beer. The Beer Spa, which opened in February, is a relaxing way to treat yourself while you’re on vacation and sample the creations of some local breweries at the same time.

Book a session in a private beer therapy room, which includes an infrared sauna, a rain shower and, perhaps most importantly, a hydrotherapy “beer bath” filled with hops, barley and herbs. As an add-on, you can also book 15 or 30 minutes in a zero gravity massage chair.

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Be sure to get there a little early so you can pour yourself a beer (or a cider, wine, kombucha, herbal tea or non-alcoholic beverage) in the spa’s taproom, which features a rotating selection of Colorado brews. And yes, you can bring your beer with you into the therapy room — staff will give you an insulated tumbler to keep your drink cold as you unwind.

Afterward, walk west on Welton Street to eat and drink at Five Points’ spots like sour beer and charcuterie restaurant Goed Zuur, Spangalang Brewing and Rosenberg’s Bagels.

Olde Town Arvada

How to get there: G-Line to Olde Town Arvada Station

Arvada is one of Denver’s suburbs, situated a few miles northwest of downtown. The city’s charming Olde Town district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a great place to spend the day shopping, eating, drinking, perusing art and learning about the city’s history.

For lunch and a beer, make your way to Yak and Yeti, which serves up authentic Indian-Nepalese cuisine and house-made craft beers inside the historic Eli Allen House, built in 1864. Pop into boutiques like Electric Cherry Shop & Studios and Book Cranny, then quench your thirst at Denver Beer Co.‘s Arvada taproom, Elevated Seltzer, New Image Brewing or Silver Vines Winery, just to name a few.

To learn about the city’s history, you can take a self-guided walking tour or poke your head into the headquarters of the Arvada Historical Society, located at the historic McIllvoy House. Also be sure to wander over to the Arvada Flour Mill, which was built in 1926 and features equipment from the late 1800s (the historical society gives tours of the mill by appointment, but call ahead to check on any COVID-19 restrictions).

South Pearl Street

How to get there: E-, F- or H-Line to the Louisiana/Pearl Station

Stroll the tree-lined streets of South Pearl Street and pick up a souvenir or two to take back home. This historic district, which dates back to the 1890s, is a beloved Denver neighborhood and the perfect place to spend a few hours while you’re in town.

Start the day with one of the creative rolls from Duffeyroll (think cinnamon rolls, plus a ton of other savory and sweet flavors), then shop local stores like Gracie’s Boutique and Ruby’s Market, which supports refugee, immigrant and indigenous entrepreneurs.

For dinner, choose from Sushi Den, Uno Mas, Izakaya Den, Kaos Pizzeria, Ototo, Que Bueno Suerte and Chook, among others, depending on what you’re hungry for and your budget.

If you’re visiting on a weekend, be sure to check out the South Pearl Street Farmers Market, held Sundays during the summer from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and First Fridays, a weekly event celebrating art and music held Fridays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Cherry Creek Reservoir

How to get there: H- or R-Line to the Dayton Station

It����ap shaping up to be a super hot summer in Denver, so be sure to pack your swimsuit and plenty of sunscreen. If you’re looking for an easy-to-access place to cool off, head to the 880-acre Cherry Creek Reservoir, part of Cherry Creek State Park.

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Once you arrive, head to the marina at Pelican Bay to rent a pontoon, deck boat, jet ski, stand-up paddleboard, kayak or canoe. Grab a bite to eat and some drinks at The Pub, then stick around for live music on the waterfront.

If you’ve got more time to spend at the park, you can also go hiking, birding, horseback riding, biking or picnicking.

Historic Downtown Littleton

How to get there: D- or C-Line to the Littleton-Downtown Station

Located about 10 miles south of Denver, Littleton is a seriously cool suburb with its own personality and charm. The historic downtown area, in particular, is home to an array of locally owned restaurants, bars, specialty stores, breweries and other places to check out on foot.

Drop by the nonprofit Dirt Coffee for a latte that helps support people with neuro-diversities. Pick up some extra virgin olive oil and barrel-aged balsamic vinegar at EVOO Marketplace, then refresh your pantry with a trip to Savory Spice.

For lunch, choose from restaurants like McKinners Pizza Bar and Curds Gourmet Cheese Shop & European Deli, then stop for a beer on the patio at Jackass Hill Brewery. Wander over to the War Memorial Rose Garden for a few moments of beauty and reflection.

Zeppelin Station

How to get there: A-Line to 38th-Blake Station

When you’re traveling with a group, it can be hard to satisfy everyone’s tastes come mealtime. You can avoid the “Where should we go eat tonight?” debate entirely by visiting Zeppelin Station, a food hall and retail space in Denver’s RiNo district that����ap home to an array of globally inspired food stalls, a bar and lots of space for catching up on the day’s events.

Get authentic Thai street food, Colombian fare, burgers, Japanese street food, Filipino comfort food, nixtamal tacos or (coming soon) barbecue — or a little something from each — then reconvene on the patio.

Afterward, stick around RiNo to explore the many wineries, breweries, cideries, distilleries and other bars that have helped make this one of Denver’s most popular areas.

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The idea stemmed from a problem connecting people from home or work to the light rail stations. The Regional Transportation District (RTD) light rail G-Line stops in Olde Town Arvada, but the city wanted more connectivity. Hence they came up with a solution involving micro-mobility. In an April 2020 City Council meeting, a proposal for a roughly 1-mile radius following each of the four G-Line stations between the Sheridan-Arvada Gold Strike Station and the Wheat Ridge-Ward Station was made.

This pilot project period will last six to nine months, allowing the city to collect data on the usage, benefits, public feedback, and issues that arise during the summer. This information will be used to determine whether or not to make the program permanent and expand it city-wide.

There will be a maximum of 200 scooters and bikes involved in the pilot as a maximum of two companies will be allowed to offer service. Arvada has also instituted a bunch of rules around parking the dockless zoomers, preferring that customers park the bike or scooter at a bike rack where available or a designated scooter parking area that looks to be repurposed parking spots.

Arvada will host in the next two-plus weeks where the scooters can be discussed. The city is also on the project.

For people, policy and Colorado politics

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“Senator after senator kept coming up to me and saying, ‘Who is that guy? Who is that guy?’” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet told a Capitol Hill pool reporter Wednesday night, after Day Two of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

That guy is U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a 36-year-old Democrat from Lafayette who’s serving as one of nine impeachment managers (read: prosecutors). The rising Democratic star has been given a national stage this week and has impressed.

“He’s showing us, right now as an impeachment manager, what I’ve seen in him since I first met him in college — he is smart, he is humble, he is a leader,” Democratic state Rep. Leslie Herod told The Post����ap Alex Burness this week.

The praise has been bipartisan, according to Bennet, and even Trump’s attorneys tipped their hats in his direction.

“I thought the House managers who spoke earlier were brilliant speakers … I thought they were brilliant speakers and I loved listening to them. They are smart fellas,” Trump attorney Bruce Castor said Tuesday.

It����ap a popular parlor game among Colorado Democrats to guess how high and how fast Neguse can rise. When asked if Neguse could be president one day, Herod said, “I absolutely believe and hope that for our country.”

“I don’t know if he thinks that about himself,” she added, “but it����ap definitely time that he does.”

Want to get caught up on Neguse’s speeches? On Tuesday, he told jurors the trial was constitutional. On Wednesday, he outlined the prosecutors’ case against Trump.

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Questions?

Have a question about Colorado politics? Submit it here and it’ll go straight to The Denver Post politics team.

Top Line

Since 2004, taxpayers have been pitching in to get the long-promised RTD line from Denver to Longmont. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis showed up at a virtual public meeting this week, the Post����ap John Aguilar reported, saying the agency’s now 20-plus-year estimate for the B-Line is not a legitimate timeline for discussion.

Capitol Diary • By Saja Hindi and Alex Burness

Immigrant advocacy

Former Colorado state Rep. Val Vigil, most known for his efforts to get in-state college tuition approved for students who came to the country illegally, died last week at 73.

The Democrat from Thornton pushed the legislation for three years, from 2003-2005, but it didn’t pass until after he was out of the legislature on Democrats’ seventh attempt in 2013.

Joe Salazar, who served in the Colorado House from 2013-2019, helped carry the torch forward.

“There were thousands upon thousands of people affected by (Vigil),” Salazar said.

The week Vigil died, immigration advocacy groups denounced actions by Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who sided with Republicans on a non-binding vote to block stimulus payments for immigrants who came to the country illegally.

The Action Fund for the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights said it would be an understatement to call Hickenlooper’s vote a disappointment.

“Candidate Hickenlooper promised Coloradans in 2020 that he’d learned from his past mistakes that harmed our undocumented brothers and sisters,” the group said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Senator Hickenlooper seems to have forgotten his promises to our communities, at the first opportunity, he has voted against our communities.”

A sneak peek at 2021 bills

A flood of legislative proposals is coming next week when lawmakers return to the Capitol to restart their 2021 session.

While most bills won’t be introduced until the restart, we got a sneak peek at a handful that were approved for early release.

There’s the bill to allow dead bodies to be composted, which was sidelined last year because of COVID. Another would allow in-state tuition for members of Indigenous tribes with historical ties to Colorado. , if you’re interested.

One early-release bill to watch would grant benefits to military veterans who were dishonorably discharged under anti-LGBTQ policies like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

It����ap personal for first-year state Democratic Rep. David Ortiz, believed to be the first openly bisexual man elected to the legislature. He’s also an Army veteran who was paralyzed from the waist down in .

“There was a great injustice done, bottom line,” he said of the need for a bill to return benefits like in-state tuition to veterans who lost their jobs because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

“When you’re coming for me — like in my helicopter crash, for example — I don’t care who that medic is sleeping with or what they identify as,” he said. “They’re American.”

Ortiz said he wasn’t out to his Army colleagues, because even after Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed in 2020, he didn’t quite feel comfortable.

“I wasn’t interested in making my career more difficult than it needed to be, to my shame,” he said.

More Colorado political news

• Colorado Democrats want to ban plastic bags and foam products in restaurants and stores.
• Former Colorado House speaker who donated land to Staunton Park dies at 99.
• A legislative fight is brewing over whether students should take standardized tests this year,
• Colorado’s COVID-19 vaccines expected to increase by about 27,000 in coming weeks.

Mile High Politics • By Conrad Swanson

“This library should have been in Globeville …”

Denver City Council members had to pick Monday night between opening a new library branch and opening it in the place that needed it the most. They picked the new branch.

It was a fine line to walk, Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca said before voting in favor of the new branch for the well-to-do River North Art District.

“This library should have been in Globeville or should have been in Swansea,” CdeBaca said.

Although she supported the affordable new branch — which will — CdeBaca said residents told her the move was a slight to the neighborhoods to the north.

The newest branch will aim to highlight the district����ap namesake: art. There will be a maker’s space, possibly featuring a tool library, 3-D printer and sound studios — some of which can be found at other libraries.

It’ll also have a traditional lending library, which Globeville-Elyria-Swansea residents say they need — books, internet access, job hunting and adult education services.

“We do have a very small library in the Elyria neighborhood, which is supposed to serve all three (neighborhoods) and is just totally inadequate to meet the needs of the three neighborhoods,” Councilwoman Debbie Ortega said before also voting in favor of the new branch.

Ortega was optimistic, though, saying there might be another city-owned property on Washington Street in Globeville that could serve as an affordable way to bring the neighborhood its own library branch.

More Denver political news

• Up to five unrelated people can now live in a single home, the Denver City Council decided early Tuesday morning after hours of public comment over the controversial decision.
• Denver residents who identify as Latino need not worry about health insurance, money or proving citizenship when they seek the COVID-19 vaccine.

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At stake is whether the Regional Transportation District must reimburse Denver Transit Partners for $111 million in costs that included crossing guards on the A-Line and B-Line, as well as delays and lost revenue for the G-Line. That line’s opening was pushed from late 2016 to April 2019, in large part because of the same issues.

DTP posted flaggers at train crossings for more than two years while it worked to dial in new wireless crossing-gate technology. That system was supposed to trigger gates to close about 30 seconds before a train came through, but gates often closed minutes in advance — though at least once, they didn’t close until a train already had passed through.

DTP and RTD struggled to win final sign-off from increasingly impatient state and federal regulators  — and that is the basis for DTP’s lawsuit, filed two years ago.

DTP’s complex public-private partnership contract with RTD assigns responsibility for different kinds of unforeseen costs. The contract says RTD must absorb expenses that are due to unexpected changes in the law or purely unforeseen circumstances — and the two sides are arguing about whether either provision was triggered by the crossing-gate fiasco.

The $2.2 billion, 34-year deal called for DTP to build and maintain three commuter rail lines anchored at Union Station and then operate them for decades — the University of Colorado A-Line to the airport, the G-Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, and the B-Line to Westminster.

The need for flaggers at crossings for so long resulted in the largest, most prolonged blowup to date with the contracting team, even prompting RTD to threaten termination of the contract when the G-Line’s opening was delayed.

The trial began the same day that RTD’s new N-Line to Thornton, its latest commuter rail line, opened for service. It was built by another contracting team and also ran into delays and problems, but RTD is operating the N-Line itself rather than outsourcing it.

The case is scheduled for four weeks in Denver District Court, with the final week potentially delayed until mid-November because of a scheduling conflict in Judge Andrew P. McCallin’s courtroom. It’s a bench trial, leaving the verdict up to the judge instead of a jury.

The proceedings began with finger-pointing and conflicting interpretations of key events during each side’s opening statement.

DTP attorney Tiffanie Stasiak painted a picture of overzealous regulators who applied standards for the new crossing technology that went beyond existing regulations, singling out RTD’s new lines with requirements not faced by other railroads. While no law was changed, Stasiak argued that the regulations were applied in such a haphazard fashion that they amounted to new legal hurdles that weren’t envisioned at the time the contract was inked.

“The evidence will show that it does not require that a new law be enacted” for RTD to be on the hook, she said.

Jocelyn Knoll, RTD’s lead attorney, said the contracting group waived its right to make some of the claims in 2016 agreements it signed, just as the A-Line and B-Line were opening. She said DTP performed most of its duties well, but it failed to deliver a crossing-gate system that performed as designed — or within regulations.

“DTP’s attempts to revise history cannot withstand scrutiny,” Knoll said.

On its side, RTD is seeking $27 million in damages for DTP’s missed deadlines and failures to meet project requirements.