Ski vet puts trains-to-resorts idea on track

Allen Best Special to the Business Journal

Thirty years ago, when Jerry Jones was a vice president at Keystone Resort, he conceived the notion of selling lift tickets to skiers at Front Range grocery stores.

Today, it's standard practice in the industry.

Now, as a general partner in Grand Elk, a vacation home project in Granby, Jones has another idea.

With Interstate 70 increasingly congested on weekends, he's trying to put together a coalition of governments, land developers and resorts to promote passenger trains from Denver to the towns of Winter Park, Fraser, and Granby.

"It's a wonderful asset that is being underutilized," he said.

Forget about an expensive monorail up I-70, he said. Grand County already has rails - and trains, in the form of daily Amtrak service plus the ski trains that now go to Winter Park four times a week during winter and on summer weekends.

And with more than 6,300 homes planned in Granby alone, plus thousands more in the Fraser, Winter Park and Grand Lake areas, critical mass is building for a rail-based transportation alternative to Grand County.

Unlike other mountain resort areas, the target market for most of these vacation homes is Coloradans, particularly the 2.5 million people in metropolitan Denver and the 1 million new residents expected during the next two decades.

And with FasTracks approved, approved, and the funneling of light rail traffic into Denver's Union Station, Jones sees a new era of rail-based transportation that, in a way, brings Colorado full circle.

Long before I-70, the easiest way for Denverites to take mountain vacations was by rail. The rails reached what is now Winter Park in 1904. The resort came about some years later after George Cranmer, Denver's director of parks, and famed ski jumper Carl Howelsen conceived of the idea while on a train trip to a winter carnival.

After World War II, Winter Park arguably vied with Aspen as Colorado's most illustrious ski resort. Generations of Denver-area kids became skiers when taking the weekend ski trains. Ridership on those ski trains has grown in recent years, with the ski trains running 30 to 35 trips per winter, averaging 700 passengers. More passengers yet embark from Amtrak trains, delivering an estimated 3 percent to 4 percent of Winter Park's skiers.

But the prominence of Winter Park as a resort, and Grand County more generally, began to fade in the 1960s as other resorts opened. After the first bore of the Eisenhower Tunnel opened in 1973, resorts hard along I-70 roared into prominence.

Jones was at Keystone when that happened, and he now sees an opportunity for Grand County to catch up with Summit County. One first step is to get towns, resorts and land developers to collectively promote their Amtrak connections. One critical link is offering transportation to travelers from train depots in Fraser and Granby to weekend homes, where part-time residents presumably will keep cars.

"We have a problem of not taking advantage of what is available to us today - without spending a dime," he said. Train fare from Denver is only $17, he said. And while Amtrak is too unpredictable and too time-consuming to allow daily commuting, he foresees commuting on a weekend basis.

But in time, Jones foresees bigger things. He talks about the possibility of adding a couple of passenger cars to Amtrak on the Denver-Granby segment. He even envisions the ski train making daily runs to Granby, similar to the way airplanes shuttle passengers to airports serving the Vail Valley, Crested Butte and Steamboat Springs.

In most cases, direct flights from distant cities into the ski-town airports are subsidized. In Steamboat, for example, the ski company, along with hotels and others, have been spending anywhere from $1.7 million to $2.3 million annually to ensure flights. The Telluride and Montrose communities commit an equal amount of money to flights, both winter and summer. Vail Resorts, meanwhile, has spent $1 million to $2 million in recent years.

Like those resorts, Jones said Grand County interests may someday want to pony up subsidies to ensure operation of trains. The Anschutz family - owners of the ski train - are open to the possibility of running passenger trains to Winter Park and Granby, as long as it doesn't cost them money, Jones said.

Anschutz doesn't grant press interviews.

In Grand County, there seems to be at least a smattering of support for Jones's idea of subsidized train service.

Tom Hale, town manager of Granby, is among those in favor. "My mayor [Ted Wang] used to work for Amtrak, and he thinks this is impossible, but I just think nobody has ever been brazen enough to approach Mr. Anschutz and say we want to do this and we want to figure out a way to make it financially feasible to you."

In Fraser, Mayor Pat Howlett isn't pledging any money, but thinks the idea should be pursued. "You have an interested party here," he said.

Freight rules the tracks, and the Moffat Tunnel in particular constricts potential growth.

Joan Christiansen, a spokeswoman for Winter Park Resort, sees additional passenger traffic into Grand County being difficult.

"It's an easy thing to say, 'Bring up more trains,'" she said. "The idea is just the beginning of the process. The tracks are not just available to whoever wants to move something along them."

Moreover, she's skeptical that traffic on Interstate 70 has reached the level of congestion to make large numbers of people want alternative forms of transportation.

"Right now, it's pretty hard to shoehorn people out of their cars," she said. "It's just not bad enough on I-70."

To such talk, Jones replied the only trouble with train travel is that it hasn't been sold properly. "All the elements are there, and it is just the will to do it that is holding us back," he said. "We need a leader to get us there."

link;

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2004/12/06/story2.html

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Riders travel easier street

Springs-Denver line gains favor

By John Aguilar, Rocky Mountain News November 26, 2004

It's 5 p.m. on a Monday and brake lights are popping along Interstate 25 like so many Christmas ornaments.

Drivers hunch over steering wheels and stamp gas pedals, white-knuckling their way into neighboring lanes to move up another 21/2 car lengths.

For David Wade, the T-REX effect goes unnoticed outside his window. He's busy firing off e-mails on his wireless-enabled laptop while seated in the plush comfort of a Front Range Express bus.

Since the Colorado Springs-to-Denver commuter bus service started up last month, Wade, who lives in Castle Rock and works in downtown Denver, went from public transit skeptic to loyal customer.

"I don't want to stop 38 times from Lincoln Avenue (in Lone Tree) on my way downtown," Wade said, citing one of the main reasons he hasn't been a regular bus rider until now.

With the Front Range Express bus service, or FREX, Wade's only stop on the way to and from work is the Denver Tech Center.

The 30-mile one-way trip takes about an hour, time Wade says he can use to communicate electronically with colleagues or visit his favorite Web sites, using the free WiFi wireless Internet connection on every FREX bus.

And Wade said he saves up to $370 in gas and $140 in parking every month, paying just $90 for a 40-ride FREX pass, or $5.50 a day.

"We're really pleased with the results and encouraged by the trends with FREX," said Dave Menter, Castle Rock's transportation planner.

Menter said the trend 10 years ago was equally promising when RTD ran a demonstration commuter bus between Castle Rock and Denver for a few months. But the service went away when Castle Rock residents voted against becoming part of RTD's service area.

While Castle Rock will get another chance to vote itself in or out of RTD next November (currently about 20 percent of the town is in the transit district), it didn't want to pass up the chance to join FREX when the Colorado Springs-based commuter bus service started up.

"It's one of the only communities that lies so close to Denver that didn't have a public transit alternative," said Tom Mauser, modal planning manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Castle Rock pays $200,000 a year to be a stop on FREX's route. Most of the money it pays to Colorado Springs for the service comes from local tax revenue, but $70,000 is covered by a federal grant.

FREX, which runs nine buses up and down I-25 during weekday rush hour, makes six stops between Fountain and Denver's Elitch Gardens.

The buses make five morning pickups and six evening drop-offs at Castle Rock's makeshift park-n-ride, a 100-space area in a remote section of the vast parking lot surrounding the town's factory outlet mall.

"What we're doing is meeting a demand or need the folks in Castle Rock had. We heard there was a desire for a way to get to Denver where people don't need to take a single-occupant vehicle," said Sherre Ritenour, transit services division manager for Colorado Springs.

So far, the demand for the service has been steadily climbing week to week, not only in Castle Rock but across the entire system.

For the week ending Nov. 19,

FREX recorded nearly 400 boardings in Castle Rock, both southbound and northbound, for a total of 2,041 boardings since the service began Oct. 11.

Across the entire service area, there have been more than 10,400 trips taken on FREX since the buses started rolling in October.

While the service is gaining popularity, it must increase and maintain ridership to survive.

FREX got started with a three-year, $3.9 million federal grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

The agency also gave FREX $900,000 to buy nine to 10 used buses. Colorado Springs Transit Services contracts out FREX's operations to a separate company.

By late 2007, when the federal money dries up, FREX will have to rely on fares.

"The riders are testing this service, and unless we can adapt ourselves to their lifestyles, the service will go away," Ritenour said.

Craig Hamilton, a Castle Rock resident who used to drive 30 minutes up Santa Fe Drive to catch the light-rail train at Mineral Station in Littleton to get to his job in downtown Denver, finds FREX far more convenient than RTD.

Neill Quinlan, the outgoing RTD director from the southeast metro area, said if enough people turn to FREX, Castle Rock may not see the "economic argument" of increasing the sales tax to join RTD next year.

But Bruce Abel, assistant general manager of contracted services for RTD, said his agency already helps fund Castle Rock's downtown shuttle service to the tune of $65,000 and is in a better position to provide more extensive services outside town, including links to light rail.

Ritenour said RTD, while ostensibly a competitor, is also a "fabulous partner" in FREX.

An intergovernmental agreement allows FREX to use RTD's park-n-rides at Elitch Gardens and Arapahoe Road in the Denver Tech Center, and Ritenour said RTD will help her agency out during crises.

Ritenour said both agencies ultimately share the common goal of providing transit and reducing congestion along the Front Range.

"If this demonstration project turns out to be successful, we want to integrate seamlessly into RTD's system, so that people can buy one ticket to ride various modes of transit," she said.

In the meantime, FREX is addressing problems including bus delays, breakdowns and inconsistent wireless Internet service.

Wade would like to see a shelter built at the Castle Rock bus stop and perhaps an electronic board installed there, informing riders if buses are delayed.

Already FREX has responded to customer demands for an earlier bus by shifting its schedule for its first morning pickup starting Dec. 6.

Joe Loesch, a 30-year veteran of Colorado Springs' transit service and an evening driver for FREX, said he has heard only positive remarks from his riders and is optimistic about its future.

"If it goes as good as it has for the next three years, they think it will be self-sustaining and they'll probably buy some newer buses and keep on rolling," he said.

FREX - The Front Range Express

• When: Started Oct. 11

• What: Three-year commuter bus demonstration project funded by $3.9 million federal grant

• Who: Run by Colorado Springs Transit Services

• Where: Bus service runs between Fountain and Denver

• How many: Nine buses serving eight stops during rush hour

• Bonus: Only public bus system to offer free onboard wireless Internet service

aguilarj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2550

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Wednesday, February 16, 2005, Public Hearing on I-70 Mountain Corridor PEIS

4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Jefferson County Fairgrounds 15200 West 6th Avenue Golden, CO 80401 Phone: 303.271.6600

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I-70 East Corridor EIS Corridor-Wide Meetings

# Wednesday, February, 23, 2005 5:00 - 8:00 pm Montbello Recreation Center 15555 E. 53rd Avenue (Denver)

# Thursday, February 24, 2005 5:00 - 8:00 pm Bruce Randolph Middle School 3955 Steele Street (Denver)

Small group discussions and an open house from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Meals, childcare, and Spanish translation will be available.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Discussion about a railway connecting Denver and Colorado Springs has been renewed thanks to the popularity of a new bus service.

The FrontRange Express, which averaged 300 riders each week day since beginning Oct.. 11, has some business commuters and transportation watchers talking about a railway. Train service between Colorado's two largest cities might attract more people because highway traffic jams wouldn't be a concern, they say.

''If they had a rail, then it would take out all the worry of the driver,'' said Colorado Springs resident Duncan Tenney, who often makes the 70-mile drive to Denver.

The price tag would be stiff: a 1994 study found that upgrading freight rails between the cities would cost about $8 million per mile.

El Paso County Commissioner Chuck Brown, a member of the study committee, said the upgrade would be necessary for the trains to travel at the speed of highway traffic. The study determined a rail line would attract few riders and cost between $25 and $40 each way.

A separate study, conducted by the Colorado Department of Transportation in 2000, determined a light-rail wouldn't take enough traffic off the highway to make a difference in rush-hour traffic.

However, a new scenario being considered would build new freight lines along a long-planned toll road bypassing Front Range cities. That would free up current freight lines between Denver and Colorado Springs for passenger trains.

The Colorado Department of Transportation last week completed a study of previous research on Front Range passenger rail. The study will be released within a few weeks, spokesman Bob Wilson said.

Voters have shown interest in using tax dollars for public transit.

Residents of Denver and its surrounding suburbs approved a sales tax increase last month to fund more bus service and 119 miles of new track for passenger trains.

In El Paso County, residents approved a 1-cent sales tax to pay for transportation projects. Ten percent will fund bus service.

''There's a point in time where rail is going to be the answer to the congestion that we have on the highway system,'' Brown said.

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Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.comSpeer and Auraria

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RTD Board Candidates elected November 2004:

District A (SE Denver) Bill Elfenbein

District D (W Denver) Barbara Brohl

District E (W Aurora) Bill McMullen

District F (E Aurora) Barbara Yamrick

District G (Parker/Lonetree/E Centennial) Neil Quinlan (Appointed)

District H (Littleton/W Centennial,Greenwood Vil./S Englewood/H.Ranch) Daryl Kinton

District I (E Boulder / W Adams) Lee Kemp

District M (S Lakewood) Dave Ruchman

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