SPECIAL: Ghost Train
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Back in 2004, Denver-area voters supported one of the most ambitious transit projects anywhere in the United States. The plan called for a network of new rail lines that would let commuters glide past traffic and transform Denver into a world-class city in the process. But almost two decades later, an uncomfortable truth has emerged: Denver's sprawling metropolitan region is as gridlocked as its ever been. This is Episode 1 of Ghost Train, a four-part mini-series from Colorado Public Radio. Hosted by transportation reporter Nathaniel Minor, Ghost Train dives deep into the question that we ask here at The War on Cars: What does it to take to move American cities away from automobile dependence?
SHOW NOTES:
This episode was brought to you by Colorado Public Radio.
You can find more of reporter Nathaniel Minor's work here.
The remaining three parts of the Ghost Train series...
Part 2: The Mission
Part 3: An Unexpected Solution
Part 4: Waiting On A Train
I made a documentary about RTD. Here are some curious things I found along the way (Nathaniel Minor for CPR)
RTD is in Crisis: A three-part series for Streetsblog Denver by Andy Bosselman.
Why don't RTD's trains go into Denver's neighborhoods? (Nathaniel Minor for Denverite)
The Train That Saved Denver (Politico Magazine, 2016)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody we have something a little different for you this week. |
| 0:11.5 | What you're about to hear is brought to you by Colorado Public Radio. |
| 0:14.8 | It's episode one of a four-part podcast mini-series called Ghost Train. |
| 0:19.4 | Hosted by Transportation reporter Nathaniel Minor, Ghost Train tells the story of the quest to build better transit in Denver, Colorado. |
| 0:29.0 | Back in 2004, Denver Area Voters supported one of the most ambitious transit projects anywhere in the United States. |
| 0:37.0 | The plan called for a network of new rail lines that would let commuters glide by car traffic |
| 0:42.7 | and transform Denver in the process. |
| 0:45.4 | People were excited. |
| 0:46.8 | Powerful elected officials were on board, |
| 0:49.2 | and the project appeared to be well-funded and ready to go. |
| 0:52.8 | But almost two decades later, an uncomfortable truth has emerged. |
| 0:57.2 | The train lines that were built aren't being used by most commuters, and Denver's sprawling |
| 1:02.3 | metropolitan region is as automobile centered as ever. |
| 1:06.0 | Ghost Train is a deeply reported, well told story that gets straight to the heart of the |
| 1:11.8 | question that we deal with on our |
| 1:13.4 | podcast. What is it going to take to move American cities away from car |
| 1:18.8 | dependence? Find the entire mini-series at CPR.org or wherever you get your |
| 1:24.0 | podcast. We hope you enjoy episode one of Ghost Train from Colorado Public |
| 1:28.1 | Radio as much as we did. It was a crisp sunny day in February 2003. |
| 1:45.0 | Spence Havlick stepped into a train car at Union Station in downtown Denver. |
| 1:51.0 | I remember the color of the train. |
| 1:53.5 | It was kind of a maroon with yellow painting and it was beautifully appointed. |
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