The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) conducted an operational pilot of the Road Usage Charge (RUC) concept as a possible transportation funding replacement to the state gas tax. The Colorado Road Usage Charge Pilot Program (RUCPP) involved a total of 147 participating vehicles that used one of three mileage-reporting mechanisms to record miles traveled and simulate fees based on that travel. Overall support for the operational pilot and the RUC concept itself remained high among pilot participants and there were no major technical issues encountered. A number of policy-related issues were identified throughout the course of the pilot. This report provides a summary of the RUCPP.
Rich in mining history, the Mountain Mineral Belt design segment rises from the foothills. Dotted with historic towns including Idaho Springs and Georgetown, the Mountain Mineral Belt offers scenic views, lush forests, rocky hillsides, waterways, and access to local and regional destinations and recreational opportunities. The Mountain Mineral Belt design segment contains five Areas of Special Attention (ASA) including Floyd Hill, Twin Tunnels; Idaho Springs; DLD and Empire Junction; and Georgetown and Silver Plume.
As recently as 1969 about half the school aged children in the United States walked or bicycled to school. Today fewer than 15% of school children walk or bike to school and as much as 20-30% of morning traffic is generated by parents driving their children to school. Children are less active today and the majority of children living within a 1/2 mile of schools are driven in private vehicles. Obesity rates are on the rise and the cost of obesity and other health related challenges have significant impacts on the rising cost of health care in the Unites States, not to mention the lifestyles of our children. In response to these challenges, in an effort to encourage healthy living, the Colorado Department of Transportation has developed a series of pedestrian and bicycle safety lesson plans in support of the Colorado Safe Routes to School program. These lesson plans, which help educators teach children about safe walking and bicycling, introduce a variety of skills that can help children stay safe while they walk by teaching them skills that will help them safely cross the street. Statistics show that child pedestrians are disproportionately represented in injury crashes and that the typical factors in those crashes that can be mitigated by education and practice.
The Tunnel Visioning Design Workshop is the result of state and local interest in the I-70 Mountain Corridor and a desire for improvements to the existing weekend congestion. A focal point of the congestion and delay has long been the Twin Tunnel area. The Twin Tunnels encourage drivers to slow down as they approach the seemingly narrow tunnels. These slowing vehicles create a queue stretching back, sometimes, for 4 and 5 miles. It was decided to bring together technical experts in the areas of tunneling, roadway design, geotechnical engineering, traffic operations, and transit design for 1 week. The process, participants, and the results are detailed in this report.
Grand Mesa penstemon (Penstemon mensarum) is a tall, dark-blue-flowered plant in the Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family) that is known only from the vicinity of Grand Mesa in Gunnison, Delta, Mesa, and Pitkin counties, Colorado. This distinctive species is not known from anywhere else in the world, and is considered to be imperiled at a global and state level. One of the biggest conservation issues for this imperiled plant species is the lack of awareness of its existence and status. Avoiding or minimizing impacts to this species during road maintenance activities will effectively help to conserve its habitat and is unlikely to confer substantial impacts on road maintenance goals and projects.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) initiated this US 24 PEL Study to examine existing transportation conditions and anticipated problem areas along the US 24 corridor in El Paso County between Powers Boulevard and the Town of Ramah. The study identified and screened a reasonable range of potential transportation improvements to develop an implementation plan for projects to meet the operational, safety, and capacity needs along the corridor. The study was conducted following Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) PEL guidance regarding the integration of transportation planning and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, which encourages the use of planning studies to provide information for incorporation into future NEPA documents.
Section 106 Determinations of Effects I-70 East DEIS Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). The intent of the EIS is to identify highway improvements along I-70 in the Denver metropolitan area between I-25 and Tower Road and to assess their potential effects on the human and natural environment.
The State of Colorado is rapidly emerging as a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) market. According to the ZEV Sales Dashboard, as of August 2017 there were 11,238 EVs in Colorado. Over the first eight months of 2017, EV sales were up 73% over the same period in 2016. Battery electric vehicles (BEV) comprised 70% of total EV sales with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) making up the remainder. With increased adoption, the State of Colorado stands to reap significant air quality benefits. Under the Colorado EV Market Implementation Study's high growth rate projection, by 2030 Colorado could have close to one million EVs on the road.7 By achieving this growth rate, Colorado could experience an annual reduction of ozone forming pollutants estimated at 800 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 800 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC), and up to 3 million tons of GHG.
