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Tupa opposes parking fees at RTD lots

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 12, 2006 at midnight

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A Boulder legislator wants to stop RTD in its tracks from imposing parking fees at its busiest park-n-ride lots.

Sen. Ron Tupa said that charging taxpayers to park in lots they already paid to build is unfair. In addition, he believes the Regional Transportation District's plan to charge those who live outside RTD boundaries - and don't pay the transit sales tax - is unenforceable.

"I think RTD needs a dose of reality if they think people are not outraged over this idea, especially after they passed FasTracks," said Tupa, a Democrat who often uses the Table Mesa Park-n-Ride in Boulder to commute by bus to the state Capitol.

The fee proposal would apply to RTD's busiest lots, about half of its 66 facilities.

People who live within the boundaries of the district would be able to park for free for the day, but to do so, they would have to register their vehicles beforehand. Residents parking longer than 24 hours would be charged $2 a day.

Nonresidents would be charged $4 a day at those lots.

In addition, reserved spaces would be set aside for a monthly fee.

That prospect is particularly offensive to Tupa, who noted that part of the $4.7 billion FasTracks tax increase will be used to build new park-n-rides.

"I can't think of anything more inherently unfair than requiring us to pay a tax to build the lot and then finding out someone else has paid to reserve the parking," he said.

Tupa said he is upset that RTD failed to support his several recent attempts to expand the transit district boundaries to include all of the metro area. That, he said, would be a better way to ensure everybody pays for the system.

Castle Rock recently voted itself out of the RTD tax district, as well as the taxing districts for the cultural facilities and athletic stadium bonds. Meanwhile, places as far as Lyons and Allenspark in Boulder County, much farther from Denver than Castle Rock, are in the district.

Scott Reed, RTD spokesman, said the parking plan is on the back burner after going out in October for public hearings. The earliest it would be implemented would be 2007, he said, adding RTD would like to meet with Tupa to discuss his concerns.

"Part of the reason for the program is to address the inequity," Reed said of nonresidents using park-n-rides without paying taxes that support them.

"It seems to me RTD and the senator are on the same page in regard to fairness, but we are using different approaches to arrive at that same point," he said.