FasTricks? I just received this from my friend Dan Kopleman:
Not only do the FasTax Yes people have $3 million to spend on supporting a 67% tax hike, but they feel the need to cheat on the voter information guide too. If it is such a great idea, why does it take lies and coercion to getpeople to support it?
If you'd likeke to save a few thousand dollars in taxes over the nextdozen years, make a contribution to Taxpayers Against Congestion athttp://taxpayersagainstcongestion.org. A small contribution will to a longway.
Please read this brief article. This is outrageous. http://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_281182336.html
Lawsuit Filed Over FasTracks Planhttp://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_281182336.html
news4colorado.com - Denver,CO,United States... in Golden, said voters were mailed booklets with arguments against themeasure that were submitted by Rebecca Barnes, deputy campaign manager of"FasTracks Yes ...
Top Ten Reasons to Vote "No" on FasTracks, Measure 4A
10. Because FasTracks is corporate welfare. Why should Denver increase a regressive sales tax whose only real impactwill be to make wealthy businesses even richer?
9. Because it won't relieve congestion.DRCOG says FasTracks will take only 1/2 percent of cars off the road, only1.4 percent of rush-hour traffic off the road, and increase rush-hourtraffic speeds in FasTracks corridors by less than 1 mile per hour.
8. Because FasTracks trains will be slow.FasTracks light-rail trains will average just 24 miles per hour, whileDiesel trains will average just 41 miles per hour. That's why so few peoplewill ride them.
7. Because buses are faster, better, and need no new taxes.RTD says bus-rapid transit can go 51 miles per hour, operate more frequentlythan any rail line, and still cost less per passenger.
6. Because you shouldn't mortgage your children's future just to take anoccasional train to the Rockies game.DRCOG says the average Denver-area resident will ride FasTracks just 6 timesa year in 2025. Yet taxpayers will pay $24 to subsidize every new ride,partly because of the $3.65 billion in finance charges on the debt requiredto build Fastracks.
5. Because "we have to do something" is not a reason to do something stupid.FasTracks supporters point out that the Denver area is expected to gain 900,000 more people by 2025. But DRCOG says FasTracks will attract only72,000 new transit rides a day in 2025, which (since most rides are roundtrips) means just 36,000 people.
4. Because a world-class folly does not make a world-class city.New York is a world-class city and has rail transit. But people go to NewYork to see a Broadway play, Rockefeller Center, and the Empire StateBuilding, not to ride the subway. Do you think millions of tourists willcome to Denver just to ride a 24-mile-per-hour light-rail train?
3. Because the most important lesson of 9/11 is "Don't bunch up."The most significant terrorist act of the last two years was the bombing ofa train. Do we really want to make Union Station a target for terrorists?
2. Because a choice you can't afford is no choice at all. FasTracks supporters will reluctantly admit that FasTracks won't do much toreduce congestion, but say it will give people a "choice." But that "choice"will require billions of dollars of capital subsidies plus tens of millionsof dollars of annual operating subsidies. A fraction of this money could domore to reduce congestion if it were spent on things such as traffic signalsynchronization, bus-rapid transit, and high-occupancy/toll lanes -- leavingthe rest in the taxpayers' pockets.
1. Because it costs too much and does too little.Is it really worth $8.3 billion -- enough money to buy every Denver-area family a new car -- just to get 1.4 percent of cars off the road during rushhour?
It's too bad it passed.
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