Week 14: Public Rail Transportation (case study Boulder)
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 4:48PM Hey Everyone,
This coming friday we are going to be discussing public rail services and their impact on commuting and energy conservation. Many big cities have public rail services such as the metro in DC or the subway in New York, but there is increasing interest in public rail for transportation between these centers.
In 2004 the greater Denver area including Boulder and Longmont voted for RTD to build a FasTracks program which would put a rail line between Boulder and Denver for increased public transportation along this route. Now, the cost has increased dramatically from initial estimates leaving the public to question whether it is still worth it.
This week we will talk about public transportation in the US and the general inefficiency of Amtrak and compare it to other countries such as China which has built an extensive high speed rail network reducing both their energy consumption and carbon emissions.
As always we will be in ECCR150 from 12-1pm with free half fast subs for lunch! Hope to see you all there,
Rudy