Colorado voters approve transit tax despite economy

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(The Center Square) - Colorado voters approved a sales tax increase to fund a transit project that could cost the state over $1 billion in gross domestic product over the next 10 years.

Residents in the Front Range Passenger Rail District voted 56% to 44% in favor of Ballot Issue 7A, which would create a 0.33% sales tax for the district, including 31 cities such as Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

The Nov. 3 ballot initiative is expected to raise an estimated $295 million annually for the Front Range Passenger Rail District.

The extra tax revenue will help the public agency expand its starter rail route between Denver and Fort Collins to Colorado Springs and Pueblo while increasing train frequency across the corridor.

The Denver-to-Fort Collins route is expected to start in 2029, while the others are anticipated to begin in 2032.

Sal Pace, general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District, said Colorado is “one of the most congested states in the country,” especially in the Denver metropolitan area.

“On average, people are losing two entire full work weeks every single year being stuck in traffic,” he told The Center Square.

The new project will provide a “tangible benefit of alternatives to utilizing I-25,” he noted.

According to the Common Sense Institute of Colorado, Ballot Issue 7A could cost the state “$1.23 billion in GDP and $528 million in personal income through 2036,” and result in nearly 420 fewer jobs.

CSI, a nonpartisan think tank, has concerns about the “long-term costs” associated with the project, citing Colorado’s FasTracks project, its communications director, DJ Summers, told The Center Square.  

In 2004, Colorado voters approved FasTracks, a transit expansion program, at a cost of $4.7 billion. Although the transit project has routes running, it has not completed the whole project and has gone nearly $1 billion over budget as of September 2025.  

These types of projects’ projections “don't have a great track record of meeting those benchmarks in Colorado,” Summers said.

CSI projected the new project will not add “a lot to [Colorado’s] economic health and prosperity,” Summers explained.

To keep the project on budget, the public agency has worked “closely with the freight railroad industry, including modeling, so [the organization has] a full understanding of an agreement on capital needs and costs,” Pace explained.

He said the project will utilize “existing tracks” while “leasing from private freight railroads.”

The state has gotten word it is receiving around $255 million in federal funding for the project, which means the project is already under budget, Pace said.

He added that the budget model includes contingency plans to prevent the project from going over budget.

When fully operational, the transit system will have around 3 million riders annually, Pace said.

He noted the Denver Regional Council of Governments projected that if no action was taken to address Denver’s traffic, 5 p.m. "rush hour" traffic would start at 2 p.m. by 2050.

According to Summers, the transportation project will have a minimal impact on reducing traffic on I-25.

CSI projected the transit routes will reduce annual vehicle travel on I-25 between Pueblo and Fort Collins by less than 0.3%.

Summers said state residents should watch the project’s promised benchmarks, including whether it meets its projected mileage targets within the outlined timeline.