Federal Boulevard needs bus rapid transit, not funding chaos that threatens the entire system
By Jill Locantore, Denver Streets Partnership
Recently, Elon Musk stood on stage at a conservative conference just outside of Washington, D.C., waving a chainsaw in the air, claiming he would take the chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy. In reality, Elon and President Donald Trump have just created chaos. And now, that chaos and confusion may cut off access to economic opportunity here in Colorado.
For some time now, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the City of Denver, and the Regional Transportation District have been planning a bus rapid transit project on Federal Boulevard — one of four corridors in the Denver region planned to have bus rapid transit service up and running by 2030. Enhancing the bus service on roads like Federal Boulevard stands to offer a tremendous economic boost for the area, leading to greater access to jobs and moving us closer towards our state and regional safety, equity, and climate goals.
But now, thanks to Trump’s and Musk’s chaos, it is not clear that the funding that states typically rely on for these types of projects will come through, jeopardizing the full vision and scope of the project. That’s a big problem because, in communities throughout the country and here in Denver, transit is essential for the affordability and economic vitality of our community.