Second look at commuter rail

RTD cautious, hopeful as state regulators take up gates once more

State regulators once again will take a look at crossing-gate operations on two commuter rail lines and a request from the Regional Transportation District for full testing on the G-Line — just a week after they decisively denied RTD’s requests to move forward on the beleaguered A-Line, BLine and G-Line.

The news came as a late-day surprise to RTD general manager Dave Genova, who addressed the board of directors at a meeting Tuesday night. He expressed hope that the state Public Utilities Commission is willing to reconsider its Sept. 27 blanket denial of RTD’s requests when it meets Wednesday.

“We’ll see what the PUC says tomorrow,” Genova said.

Last week, the three PUC commissioners unanimously turned down a request by RTD to change the timing of crossing gates on the University of Colorado A-Line to the airport and the B-Line to Westminster, concluding that RTD’s plan to add up to 20 seconds to the closing time on the gates could prompt impatient motorists to try to drive around the barricades.

But a little more than 24 hours later, the Federal Railroad Administration’s railroad safety board gave its blessing to RTD’s operational plan for the same dozen atgrade crossings. It granted RTD a five-year waiver to continue operating both lines under the proposed timing.

“I don’t know whether (the FRA decision) might have had an impact (on the PUC),” Genova told the board.

At the same time, he conceded that he didn’t know precisely why the PUC was taking up the same items it rejected just a week before. He said RTD should remain cautiously hopeful.

“We’ve got a hill to climb with the commission,” Genova told the board.

Attempts late Tuesday to reach someone at the PUC for comment were unsuccessful.

RTD has been trying for more than a year to get approval from the FRA and the PUC for its signaling technology on the A-Line, which started rolling in April 2016, and the B-Line, which began operations three months later.

RTD says the new wireless technology it is trying to implement at crossings has never been used before in the United States and the additional time is needed to make the system work properly. Until the crossings get certification from both agencies, flaggers are required at crossings 24 hours a day to provide a safety backstop.

Regulators have told RTD that it can’t proceed with testing on

the G-Line, which uses the same crossing technology, until it fixes the problem on the first two lines.

The G-Line was supposed to open for business a year ago.

It’s a situation that has Arvada Mayor Marc Williams feeling “beyond frustrated.” The G-Line is an 11mile line connecting Denver Union Station to Arvada and Wheat Ridge.

Williams took issue with the PUC’s calculation that up to 20 extra seconds of gate closure time could lead to unsafe driver behavior.

“The PUC should ease up on it,” he said Tuesday, noting that Arvada has spent money building crossings with medians and extra gates that prevent motorists from trying to sneak past.

Andy Goetz, professor of geography and transportation at the University of Denver, said RTD’s partnership with private sector consortium Denver Transit Partners has taken a hit among those who watch the transit industry as the negative headlines mount.

But he said the 34-year contract both entities signed is still a good publicprivate partnership model that can work in other cities.

“Some of the luster has been rubbed off,” he said. “But I think there’s still a positive outlook.”

Goetz wondered if Denver Transit Partners, which chose to go with the wireless crossing technology that has run into so much trouble, eventually may conclude that it isn’t worth the time and money. Denver Transit Partners has had to forfeit millions of dollars in penalties for its shortcomings on the ALine, B-Line and G-Line and has had to pay millions more to the flaggers who monitor the crossings.

“If it keeps dragging on like this, will DTP make the calculation that it makes sense to go with an older technology?” he said. “There must be some incredible pressure coming down on them from these global investors who are expecting a better return on their investment.”

Lorraine Anderson, an RTD director who represents the district in which the G-Line sits, said at Tuesday’s meeting that whatever the ultimate fix is, her constituents can’t wait.

“You all know how anxious we are for the G-Line to begin,” she told the board.