RTD FasTracks Program – Seeing the Big Picture

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is embarking upon what is arguably the most ambitious transit program of our time. In November 2004, the voters of the Denver metropolitan region endorsed a 12-year, $4.7 billion transit improvement program dubbed “FasTracks.” FasTracks will provide new and expanded rapid transit in nine major travel corridors by funding 119 miles of light rail and commuter rail and contributing to the construction of 18 miles of bus rapid transit (BRT). The rapid transit component includes expansions and extensions of existing light rail lines, construction of new light rail and commuter rail lines, and construction of the stations and other improvements for bus rapid transit. Planning and program management of such an ambitious undertaking requires systems thinking – seeing the big picture and adopting a systemwide approach to planning, design and construction. This paper describes the RTD FasTracks program management approach, evaluation of alternative project delivery methods by corridor and system-wide, and the inter-relationships between corridor projects that require top-down evaluation and trade-off analysis. The focus is at a high level, not describing any RTD FasTracks corridor project in detail, but instead discussing the system-wide approach and decision-making process being utilized.