Stop is Part of Colorado Infrastructure Tour Highlighting Critical Need to Maintain Infrastructure and Build New Projects
Comes in Wake of Congressional Inaction on Long-Term Solution for Highway Trust Fund
Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet met with local civic, business, and transit leaders aboard the VelociRFTA Rapid Transit Bus from Glenwood Springs to the Aspen Airport to learn how transit service is boosting economic development in rural areas. The stop is part of Bennet’s Infrastructure Colorado: Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and More tour to highlight Colorado infrastructure projects and call attention to the critical consequences of Congressional failure to develop a long-term solution to our infrastructure needs, threatening our economy, competiveness, and safety.
“The VelociRFTA bus system is a perfect example of the innovative infrastructure development in our state that is boosting regional economies and creating new jobs,” Bennet said. “Colorado has continued moving forward, but Washington’s inability to come up with a sustainable way to fund our country’s infrastructure could jeopardize this progress. It is past time for Congress to agree on a way to pay for the roads, busses, bridges, train tracks, and other infrastructure needed to support a 21st century economy.”
Bennet fought to secure federal resources to complete VelociRFTA, making it the first rural bus rapid transit service in the country. Bennet also secured a change to the rural transit formula program to take into account the number of miles traveled on rural transit trips. This change boosted Colorado’s intake for rural transit funding, benefitting the Roaring Fork Transit Authority and other rural transit service providers across the state.
In the Senate, Bennet has worked to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure. Earlier this year, he sponsored the Partnership to Build America Act, with Republican Senator Roy Blunt from Missouri. The Bennet-Blunt proposal establishes a $50 billion infrastructure fund that can potentially support hundreds of billions in loan guarantees and financing authority for state and local governments. While not a replacement for keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent, the fund created by the bill would help finance transportation, energy, communications, water, and education infrastructure projects.