Earlier this week, the Colorado Senate passed Senate Bill 21-260, a $5.3 billion transportation bill to fix roads and bridges, improve transit options, meet the state’s climate goals and future proof the state’s transportation system, with a 20-15 vote.
Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, Speaker Alec Garnett, Senator Faith Winter and Representative Matt Gray introduced the transportation bill, which will drive Colorado’s economic comeback, establish a sustainable funding source to improve roads, invest in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and expand multimodal and transit options to reduce congestion and improve air quality.
Recently, Commuting Solutions voiced support for the funding of this bill.
According to a release from the Colorado Department of Transportation, the funding will come from a fair and responsible mix of state, federal and fee revenue that reflects all the users and uses of the transportation system.
For the first two years, the proposal reduces vehicle registration fees. New fees won’t begin until mid-2022 and will be nominal, costing the average driver about $28 in the first year, and will be spread across all users using the system to bring down costs on people. The fees are estimated to raise $3.8 billion over the next decade.
The bill promotes collaboration between CDOT, the Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado Energy Office.
Over the course of the 11-year plan set forth by the bill, nearly $2.8 billion will be generated through new fee revenue and the bill will leverage nearly $1.5 billion in state general fund revenue and stimulus dollars.
