The Transportation Coalition for the 21st Century has narrowed down its potential recommendations for relieving traffic congestion in the Roaring Fork Valley to two scenarios: congestion pricing or a hybrid plan that would start with a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane and work toward congestion pricing. Both scenarios include carpooling and public-transit incentives.
Tag: Traffic Aspen
RFTA to study how Rio Grande Trail’s railroad corridor can be used for mass transit
The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will consider new ways to use its railroad corridor, which extends from Glenwood Springs to Woody Creek and includes the popular Rio Grande Trail, to alleviate traffic on Highway 82 and respond to the valley’s transportation needs.
Carrots won’t cut upper-valley congestion without sticks
The preferred alternative is projected to have a negligible impact on congestion, and in some cases makes it worse. “If that’s all we do, we’re stuck with an hour and seven minutes from Brush Creek to the S-curve basically, and that is not a happy picture,” said John Bennett, a former Aspen mayor and a coalition co-founder.
AI vehicle counters to provide better input on upper valley traffic flows
Each counter has a camera, operating 24/7, that captures both directions of traffic and an AI-processing unit that translates the video into data. This system is capable of counting the number of vehicles passing by and can distinguish vehicle types based on the Federal Highway Administration’s 13 vehicle category classifications.
Aspen in 2021 saw one of its lowest car counts in decades. So why does it feel like local traffic is at a breaking point?
Beginning in the last two years, the expectation that transit will absorb growth has been put to the test. Although car counts at the entrance were relatively low last year, other factors help explain why 2021 saw perhaps the highest level of community angst about traffic in a generation.
