The Denver Regional Council Of Governments (DRCOG) has told RTD that it needs to get its financial forecasting straight and stop dreaming.  We already know that the $4.7 billion cost taxpayers were promised for this boondoggle has ballooned to $6.1 billion.  In DRCOG's annual review of the project, they are pretty much forewarning the public that more cost increases to the project are on their way.  Some of their notes include:

• "DRCOG staff finds the Financial Plan to be optimistic, as regards both costs and revenues."
• "Most of the FasTracks environmental studies continue to lag"
• "...the availability and cost of rights-of-way from the railroads, in particular, is an uncertainty that could affect schedule and cost. RTD must make demonstrable progress with railroad negotiations during 2008"
• "RTD continues to show that most corridors have fallen behind the original schedule in terms of environmental study completion"
• "Overall, the capital construction estimate of $6.1 billion is probably at the optimistic (low) side of a reasonable range.... Thus, future increases to the cost of the FasTracks system should not be surprising."
• "The amount or degree of increase is unknown....  RTD’s assumptions for operating expenditures are also considered to be optimistic."
• "Staff has reservations about RTD’s New Starts expectations and sales and use tax forecasts. DRCOG staff considers the revenue element of the Financial Plan to be optimistic." 

Feeling good about the project?  Click here to read the full DRCOG report.  Click here to read a story in the Denver Post about it.