Business leaders from Longmont, Boulder and Broomfield gathered at the state Capitol on Wednesday morning to discuss rail (or the lack thereof), bus rapid transit and other public transportation issues.

John Tayer, president and CEO of the Boulder Chamber, announced the combination of the three chambers of commerce into the Northwest Chamber Alliance at the mile-mark on the Capitol steps.

“When people bring solutions to the table, they then generally ask businesses to pay for them,” Tayer said. “So we thought we would come together and get a seat at the table early on.”

The group met with Gov. John Hickenlooper and made it clear that the new organization’s first priority is increased public transportation for Boulder and Broomfield counties.

“I appreciate the frustration in how long it’s going to take rail to get there,” Hickenlooper said. “Bus rapid transit would probably make more sense.”

A commuter rail line from Westminster, through Boulder and terminating in Longmont, was part of the FasTracks plan approved by voters in Boulder and Broomfield counties in 2004 and funded by a 0.4 percent sales tax. Bus rapid transit, with frequent and reliable bus service, also was part of that plan.

Unfortunately for the rail piece of the FasTracks plan, RTD’s negotiations with Burlington Northern Santa Fe only yielded operating windows on the railroad tracks, not right-of-way next to the existing tracks. According to RTD estimates, northwest rail isn’t scheduled until sometime after 2040.

The bus rapid transit piece in Boulder County did come into play with the introduction of the Flatiron Flyer service three months ago.

The Flyer runs along U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver by way of Broomfield. The new service has meant a 45 percent increase in the number of average passengers per weekday along the U.S. 36 corridor since August, according to a RTD news release.

Wednesday, Hickenlooper quickly transitioned from questions about public transportation into answers about how becoming more environmentally friendly and maintaining a high quality of life will continue to attract millennials and business to the state.

Boulder Mayor Suzanne Jones and 36 Commuting Solutions Executive Director Audrey DeBarros both tried to turn Hickenlooper’s attention to ballot initiatives submitted recently by the Colorado Contractors Association.

The association will ultimately pick one of the initiatives to put on the 2016 statewide ballot. All 10 aim to raise $640 million in the first year through a sales tax to be used on road, bridge and transportation projects.

Jones told Hickenlooper that the Metro Mayors Coalition decided it cannot support any of the initiatives because they don’t dedicate a high enough percentage of the proceeds to public transit.

“Funding for transportation is really important … to this group and our northwest corridor,” Jones said. “I hope you will help us kinda carry that message of how we’ve got to have a high percentage for transit and a high percentage of that going toward the northwest corridor in whatever sort of statewide solution.”

Hickenlooper replied that it was odd that a higher percentage of the proposal wasn’t going toward public transit.

When asked if she felt like the governor fully answered the Northwest Chamber Alliance’s questions about public transportation in Boulder and Broomfield counties, Longmont City Councilwoman Joan Peck said no.

“But I think what we accomplished was to let him know that we are a united front and we’re not going to give up. This is a huge issue in our county and we’re going to come together and work on transportation with one united voice,” said Peck, who also co-founded the organization Citizens for Finishing FasTracks.

The alliance also met with a delegation of state House representatives. Rep. Jonathan Singer introduced himself quickly before he had to run to a meeting, as did state Sen. Matt Jones.

“Someday we’ll see a train, right?” Jones said before leaving for a senate vote.

Rep. KC Becker took questions from the alliance. At a Longmont legislative dinner in February, both Singer and Jones said Longmont City Councilman Gabe Santos’ suggestion one of them introduce a bill to audit RTD was interesting.

Asked about it Wednesday, Becker agreed it’s an interesting idea, but said no one has brought her a proposal.

“I would certainly be willing to support an effort to look into that,” Becker said, adding that she was that day considering a bill that would expand the authority of the state auditor.

“Along the U.S. 36 corridor, it’s frustrating in a lot of ways because it seems like we are funding more than we are receiving funding,” Becker said.

Karen Antonacci: 303-684-5226, antonaccik@times-call.com or twitter.com/ktonacci