Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF OCTOBER 3, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 44
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Colorado violated Three candidates seek EPA ozone limits RTD director seat for central Denver 40 times in Winner to be tasked with increasing ridership on metro transit
summer of 2024
BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN
where most residents own cars. “RTD needs to offer a compelling alternative,” said Chris Nicholson, one of three District A candidates. “It is important to deliver a quality of service that people who have options will want to use. In doing so, you improve the quality of service for everyone else.”
The northern Front Range counties violated EPA ozone standards on 40 days of the 2024 summer air pollution season, Colorado officials said Monday, and their new action recommendations call for more restrictions on oil and gas activity. Monitors watching the nine Front Range counties in Colorado’s “nonattainment” area for toxic ozone recorded violations of the EPA’s 2008 cap of 75 parts per billion on 22 summer days, according to the Regional Air Quality Council. The monitors showed exceedances of the tighter 2015 EPA standard of 70 parts per billion on 18 days. Together, the 40 violation days were higher than totals in eight of the past 10 summer seasons, RAQC said. Colorado must bring average ozone levels below both the 2008 and 2015 standards in the next few years, or face increasing restrictions from EPA sanctions. The northern Front Range counties have already been forced to use more expensive reformulated gasoline that has lower emissions, and Colorado Air Pollution Control officials must now write permits for any business projected to exceed 25 tons of emissions a year, down from the previous threshold of 50 tons per year. Some recent regulations have yet to fully impact high ozone levels and need a chance to work, said RAQC spokesperson David Sabados. But policymakers cannot rest on past actions, he added — new sets of rules are needed to reverse the rising ozone trend of the past few years.
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While the RTD boasts a growing budget, ridership on the public transit system has been declining in recent years. BY MERYL PHAIR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
This year’s election cycle includes seven up-for-grabs seats on the fifteen-member Regional Transportation Department (RTD) board, with three candidates in central Denver running for the title of RTD Director of District A. Elected directors will have their work cut out for them
between allocating a $1 billion-plus annual budget and working to revamp the public transportation service that has seen steadily declining ridership numbers in recent years – about 46 percent from 2019 to 2022. In the central metro area, the elected RTD Director will be focusing on producing a safe and reliable service with the unique challenge of increasing ridership in a district
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PHOTO BY MERYL PHAIR
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