Public Transit in Colorado

With so many people moving to Colorado, and with so much development, transit has become an important issue. Transit, or public transit, refers to multi-modal transportation systems that can move large numbers of passengers – i.e., buses or passenger rail.

The state’s two major planning documents for transit are the Statewide Transit Plan, which “identifies local, regional and statewide transit and passenger rail needs and priorities,” and the Colorado State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan, developed “to provide a framework for future freight and passenger rail planning in Colorado.” Learn more about the two plans, and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)’s other transit policies, on their Division of Transit and Rail webpage.

Additional documents relating to Colorado’s transit and rail planning include:

• Advanced Guideway System (AGS) Feasibility Study, from CDOT, looks at a potential transit option for the I-70 mountain corridor. 
• Interregional Connectivity Study Final Report, also from CDOT, evaluates the feasibility of implementing high-speed transit in Colorado.
• Leveraging the Investment in Transit to Achieve Community and Economic Vitality is an analysis from the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs and College of Architecture and Planning
• Denver Union Station Redevelopment, a 2009 issue brief from the Colorado Legislative Council, discusses Union Station’s redevelopment into a multi-modal transit hub.
• CDOT’s 2035 Statewide Transportation plan includes a Transit Technical Report
• CDOT has also produced a series of regional transit coordination plans.

To learn about Colorado’s safety laws for rail and transit, visit the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s Rail/Transit webpage. The state also recently conducted an audit of bus and light rail operator safety practices.