James Flattum 9/2/2026
On Friday morning, August 28th, Colorado Connector (CoCo) reached a massive milestone as the FRPR District Board voted 14-1 at Pueblo’s Transportation Technology Center (TTC) to refer a ballot measure to voters. That means that on November 3rd, voters within the FRPR District will decide whether to go beyond the 3 round-trip trains per day from the Starter Service already underway between Fort Collins and Denver, and fund a higher-frequency Full Corridor and Expanded Service vision from Fort Collins all the way to Pueblo.
I am feeling the weight of all the pieces that must come together for this campaign to succeed, but I’m also bursting with energy to start the sprint to the ballot question in November. I’m keeping some emotional bumpers up to try and engage this process with minimal hubris, but I am also so excited because finally, I can clearly see a path forward.
This is our moment as GDT to come together and support what could be the single largest step forward for Colorado’s intercity passenger rail network in our generation. At the start of 2026, the GDT Leads voted to make supporting this project our #1 priority for the year. We are now well-positioned to lead, and I feel exceptional excitement that GDT gets to be out front on this. The tireless work across our organization is bearing fruit, and I can confidently say we would not be here – entertaining 10 round-trip trains per day – without the mighty work of GDT as a group, my fellow co-leads, and especially not without the leadership of June Churchill, who diligently served as our volunteer lobbyist back in 2024.
The urbanist appeal of CoCo is clear. CoCo will not only give Front Range residents a way out of traffic congestion on I-25 (finally); it also creates the backbone for new nodes of denser, car-light development up and down the Front Range. With our urbanist allies, GDT shares a vision for a future where this generation comes together to expand the zones of car-light living across Colorado.
In many ways, Denver itself has the largest and widest zone of car-light living in the state today. But more than any other piece of infrastructure proposed, CoCo has the potential to sprout new places where car-light living becomes a real possibility for new communities — and where more housing can be built around reliable, frequent passenger rail.
The stars have aligned. We have a friendly Governor, Legislature, and a powerhouse coalition of organizations ready to support a future of a denser, stronger, and more affordable Front Range connected by fast, frequent, reliable, and accessible transit. Now we need to move.
I’m asking all of you to get involved and spread the word through every channel you have access to. Preach to your local RNO. Talk to your neighbors. Show up at meetings. Fight as a keyboard warrior on Reddit and Facebook. Whatever your channel, now is the time for GDT members to come together and support CoCo.
CoCo is our moment. Let’s move fast and loud.