Character and Convenience:
Vehicle Technology

Wires
Electric light rail will result in a safe, quiet, environmentally-sound transit solution. Electric vehicles will require overhead wires along the transit corridor. Every effort will be made to mitigate any visual impact of electrification. The Entrance to Aspen Citizens Task Force strongly recommended rail along the south side of Main Street, partly to minimize the impact of electrification.

In order for Entrance to Aspen light rail to work, the rail vehicles must fit the character of our town and provide riders with a safe, convenient alternative to driving. Light rail vehicles have a scale more like a bus than the locomotives which served our valley until the 1980's. Electric light rail will reduce noise and pollution in town with less vehicles than would be required with a bus system. Light rail vehicles allow greater room for passengers and their skis, snowboards, bikes, baby carriages, and other gear. Since passengers carry their gear inside, loading is fast and items are safe. European resort communities with light rail have a proven record of safety and convenience.

Convenience
During peak hours, vehicles would leave Rubey Park for Brush Creek Road every 15 minutes. Stops are planned on Monarch Street, at 2nd and Main, 7th and Main, Maroon Creek Road, Buttermilk, Airport, and Brush Creek Road. The trip from Rubey Park to Brush Creek Road will take 16 minutes- regardless of weather, traffic, or time of day. Rail vehicles are fitted with interior space for bikes, skis, snowboards, or baby carriages. This speeds loading time and increases security.

Making the Valley Connection
The Entrance to Aspen light rail vehicles will work in concert with other valley wide transit services to provide a seamless network of transit solutions for our region. For those traveling to Snowmass Village, a timed transfer at Brush Creek Road will enable riders to walk across a platform to a waiting bus.

Rubey Park is currently at its capacity with buses.

Character
The Entrance to Aspen electric light rail vehicles will have more in common with the trams of European mountain communities than rail vehicles in major US cities. These vehicles are less expensive, quieter, and more compatible with our community character. The scale of electric light rail will be similar to buses currently operating in Aspen.

Local officials and representatives of the Colorado Department of Transportation have visited European mountain communities to study the effectiveness of rail-to-bus transfers. The best available information will go into designing this critical transfer. The downv alley connection will be identified through the ongoing Corridor Investment Study. The Roaring Fork Railroad Hilding Authority (RFRHA) is studying three options: a bus transfer, a rail transfer, and rail all the way int Aspen.

Bus Transfer
As with the transfer to Snowmass Village, riders would simply walk across a platform from the electric rail vehicle to waiting buses.

Rail Transfer
Riders would transfer from electric light rail to larger, clean-burning diesel vehicles which would seat more people, provide more storage, and have on-board rest rooms.

Rail into Aspen
The Entrance to Aspen light rail system could serve a dual role. The line is physically and operationally compatible with the larger valley rail vehicles. Both vehicles could operate on the same tracks with an integrated schedule to serve their different riders. Regardless of the results of the valley study, the Entrance to Aspen works!

This light rail vehicle can carry as many people as 4-6 buses.