ProRail Nebraska is having its Annual Meeting

Saturday, June 2 at 9 am
Hardin Hall, Room 902
University of Nebraska, East Campus
(On the corner of N. 33rd Street and Holdrege Street)
Lincoln, NE
Bus: 42, 49

Tentative Agenda:


8:30 am - Refreshments & conversation

9:00 am - Welcome & Introductions 

9:10 am - Nebraska Legislative Update for this year and plans for next year

9:40 am - Update on Iowa's Chicago - Omaha Passenger Train Study

10:10am - Break

10:25am - Rail Passenger Success Stories

     o North Carolina Railroad Company

     o Missouri: St. Louis - KC Route upgrades and new State Rail Plan

11:00am - Update on Lincoln's New Amtrak Station - Dan Marvin, Secretary & Executive Director, West Haymarket Joint Public Agency and Randy Johnson of P. C. Sports.

11:45am - Attendee evaluation, election of officers

Noon - Adjourn   

The ProRail board will meet after the annual member meeting.

Pizza and Coffee with Train Supporters in Arvada

Saturday, June 2 at 10 am (That is this Saturday!)
Standley Lake Library
8485 Kipling Street
Arvada
Bus: 100

We will discuss "Rail Tourism in Colorado and the Future of Passenger Rail" and enjoy pizza and snacks. Malcolm Kenton, a NARP staff member, will be in attendance.

You can go to Lyons for free on the weekends this Summer

At least if you are live in downtown Boulder, you can. Otherwise, it costs whatever it takes to get the downtown Boulder bus station.

Via Colorado is operating the buses which follow the route of the Y. which is being funded by grants from the Colorado Department of Health and Govenment and Denver Regional Council of Governments. The bus runs hourly Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 25 through August 31. And all the buses are free, free, free.

Lyons to Boulder Shuttle schedule (PDF)

People are going to be sad on Saturday, September 1. I hope nobody gets stuck.


(You can also ride free on the Y bus during the work week if you are resident of Lyons. All residents of that town get a free EcoPass. Call 303-823-6622 for more information.)

RTD Recognizes National Train Day!

Good for them.

Let's hope that next year they recognize the actual events that take place in Colorado. This was the second year in a row that ColoRail members went down to Trinidad to take the train from Trinidad, CO to Las Vegas, NM and back again. Along the way, they accepted proclamations from cities along the route in support of the Southwest Chief.

RTD recognizes National Train Day.

(Let's also hope that whoever designs the Train Day website makes it possible to link to individual events.)

Let's Discuss the Future of Transit in Lakewood

Social Action for Transit is meeting again.

Saturday, May 19 at 2 pm
Lakewood Library
10200 W. 20th Avenue (20th and Miller)
Lakewood
Bus: 16, 100
The 100 is closer (a five minute walk away, but the 16 runs more often. Luckily, it stops right at Miller. The 16L runs by on Colfax, but the closest stop is at Oak.

Usually, I like to meet at places that are closer to bus routes, but I want to have a meeting in Lakewood to help my neighbors organize around the changes to bus service. As of right now, almost all the bus service west of Lakewood is going to be replaced with Call-n-Rides. We need to figure out what we need to do to make that work. If we decide that there are not going to be enough seats for everyone who wants to take the bus or that the new system is going to be too complicated, what should we do?

Should we help people reserve the Call-n-Rides?
Do we want to push for a flex route? If so, where?
Do we want to advocate for a particular kind of small bus to be used for the Call-n-Rides?
Where can we get money for better bus service?

I am hoping that we will start to talk to the FasTracks team about the amount of money that they are spending to encourage people to drive to our new trains compared to what they are spending to support people who are going to walk, bike or take the bus.

I hope you can all come.

Public Transportation Workshop
Tuesday, May 15 at 5:30
Westridge/ Mulroy Community Room
3550 W. 13th Ave., Denver
Bus: 1

The City and County of Denver through the Denver Livability Partnership is hosting a workshop looking for ideas to improve transit in the west part of the city. The meeting location is near Knox Station and so will be within walking distance of the West Corridor when it opens. This area is getting a new bus line to fill in the gap between Federal and Sheridan, the first real improvement in service that I have seen in Denver in many years.

It also appears that translators will be available for people who speak Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese.

Breakout groups will discuss transit needs. Hopefully, community involvement will lead to actual funding from the city of Denver, so that we can move our money away from roads to things that actually create jobs.

For more information, please contact Cindy Patton (cynthia.patton@denvergov.org/720-865-3157) or Kyle Dalton (kyle.dalton@denvergov.org/720-865-2972).

Should We Expand I-70?

I think not. It seems that highway expansion is no longer creates the economic development that it once did. Putting money in transit AND fixing the roads we already have create more jobs. Better buses and trains also improve our quality of life.

We apparently don't have enough money to fix our roads or to run enough buses or even to fund our schools. How do we have enough money to add four more lanes to I-70?

If you would like the state of Colorado to use its money more wisely, please come to the next I-70 meeting so you can tell CDOT what you think.

Thursday, May 3 at 5:30 pm
Swansea Recreation Center
2650 E. 49th Avenue
Denver
Bus: 48 (I think that this drops you off right at the door of the Rec Center, but I am not sure.) The 24 is also in walking distance.

You can also call the Project Office at 303-757-9413.

Update: The meeting materials are online at http://www.i-70east.com/meeting_minutes.html#c-wide.