Colorado is experiencing a $65 billion funding shortfall statewide in meeting our transportation infrastructure needs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is sending just over $500 million to our state to invest in roads, bridges and transit – a one-time infusion at a critical time. And this year, Colorado enacted SB09-108 FASTER (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery), creating a much-needed permanent revenue source of $250 million per year. But is it enough?

In 2008, the Governor’s Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel concluded that an additional $1.5 billion annually is needed to sustain the current transportation system and meet future needs. Our speakers will address where the ARRA and FASTER funds are going now, and offer a peek at what the future may hold for transportation investment in Colorado.

Kari V. Grant, President of K. V. Grant Consulting, Inc. and Director of Communications, Move Colorado Kari has over twenty years experience as a planner and facilitator. Her area of expertise is the facilitator of stakeholder dialogues and collaborative decision-making processes, and the design of community involvement strategies. President of K.V. Grant Consulting, her work now is largely focused on transportation issues and sustainable community development efforts. She is also the Communications Director for Move Colorado.

Steve Rudy, Transportation Planning Director, Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) An engineering graduate of Cornell University and the University of California at Berkeley, Steve has more than 30 years experience working in the fields of traffic engineering, transportation operations and transportation planning with consultants, local government, and DRCOG. He is a registered P.E. He directs the development of DRCOG’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and coordinated the process DRCOG utilized to select projects to receive ARRA (stimulus) Transportation funding.

Herman Stockinger, Director, Office of Policy and Government Relations, Colorado Department of Transportation Herman's staff at CDOT are responsible for government relations at the federal, state, and local level, as well as the internal development of official department policies and procedures. Herman has been the department's Policy Director for two years. Previously, he was CDOT's State Legislative Liaison for five years, covering all state legislative issues for CDOT, and also worked for two years as a planner at CDOT. Prior to CDOT, Herman worked for Congressman Joel Hefley for ten years, and was responsible for transportation issues and legislation for the Congressman.

Sherry Ellebracht, Regional Transportation District (RTD)