The public and journalists worldwide can watch the Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) groundbreaking of the East Corridor rail line at Denver International Airport (DIA) this Thursday, Aug. 26 at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time from the comfort of their computers. RTD is setting up a wireless 3G network on the south lawn of DIA’s Jeppesen Terminal to provide a live webcast of the FasTracks East Corridor groundbreaking and to offer free wireless connectivity for journalists or bloggers who want to connect during the event.
To webcast the event, RTD is utilizing a free service that allows for live interactive broadcasting on the Internet. RTD will embed a live stream on its home page at www.RTD-Denver.com/video.
The webcast and wireless connection will allow the public in general as well as international journalists and bloggers who have followed RTD’s innovative Eagle P3 public-private partnership to be part of this historic event. The free 3G connectivity at the groundbreaking site allows for live blogging during the event.
RTD’s Eagle P3 project includes the East Corridor from Denver Union Station to DIA, the Gold Line from Denver Union Station to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, and a short segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor to south Westminster. In June, the RTD board of directors selected Denver Transit Partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project through a 34-year agreement.
FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area. FasTracks will build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county district. The FasTracks investment initiative is projected to create more than 10,000 construction-related jobs during the height of construction and will pump billions of dollars into the regional economy.
