A light rail running from Fort Collins to Denver would decrease traffic on the surrounding roadways, cost less than expanding I-25, and lower CO2 emissions.

A study done on Denver metro area traffic found that after their light rail was put into place traffic was lowered by almost 5% in some areas. The effectiveness of public transportation decreasing traffic was also illustrated in Los Angeles, when public transit workers went on strike there was a 90% spike in road traffic. While Los Angeles is a heavier transit area than northern colorado we could still benefit if we enact this transit system.

The light rail could get you from Fort Collins to Denver in 96 minutes which is equal to or less than the time it could take if you were to hit traffic on your commute to Denver. According to one source the light-rail could get you from Fort Collins to Longmont in 40 minutes which is 10 minutes faster than the existing FLEX bus already in place.

The projected cost to expand the highway from Fort Collins to Denver is around 1.2 billion dollars which the exact same as the projected cost to build a light rail from Fort Collins to Denver. To maintain a light rail system, it would cost less than $10,000,000 a year but it would cost around $20,000,000 a year to maintain the highway. Overall it is cheaper to invest in the light rail than in expand the highway.

The major benefit brought by light rail system from Fort Collins to Denver is Greenhouse gas emission reduction. Research from the U.S. Department of Transportation: Transit Administration found that “Light rail has a lower estimated CO2 emission per passenger miles compared with automobiles,” which indicates that light rail transport creates less CO2 emissions than automobiles, when transporting the same amount of people. Another study found that CO2 emissions of public transportation which included construction and maintenance has 60% less emissions than automobiles. When more people chose public transportation, the higher the energy efficiency and the lower the fuel and electricity usage.