Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

consists of a network of

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

, surface street,

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

, and

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

options. While the

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

is much more complex and developed than other parts of the state, tourism and growth have led to extensive needs statewide.

Roads and highways

Overview

Colorado is a landlocked state, so ground and air transportation are the primary focus of the state. Also, due to low population density outside the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas, highways are the primary transportation method for most residents.

Interstate and U.S. Highways

The main north–south route in Colorado is

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexi ...

(I-25). The I-25 corridor follows the front range of the Colorado Rockies and connects Denver, Colorado Springs,

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, Greeley,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, and other small cities.

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

crosses Colorado from west to east and is a primary viaduct for tourists and locals to visit mountain communities. When it was completed, the section of I-70 passing through

Glenwood Canyon Glenwood Canyon is a rugged scenic canyon in western Colorado in the United States. Its walls climb as high as above the Colorado River. It is the largest such canyon on the Upper Colorado. The canyon, which has historically provided the route ...

was the most expensive section of Interstate highway ever built in the United States with a total cost of $490 million for the stretch. Due to

winter weather A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...

conditions, sections of I-70 are regularly closed during the winter and are expensive to maintain. Interstates

I-225 Interstate 225 (I-225) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Colorado. The freeway is a connector spur route of I-25 that acts as an eastern bypass in the Denver metropolitan area and serves Aurora. It also provides direct ...

and I-270 provide connection through heavy traffic corridors in the Denver Area.

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular c ...

connects the Denver area with

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

to the northeast.

Highway Safety

In 2011, Colorado ranked among the five deadliest states for debris/litter–caused vehicle accidents per total number of registered vehicles and population size. Figures derived from the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...

(NHTSA) show at least 16 persons in Colorado were killed each year in motor vehicle collisions with non-fixed objects, including debris, dumped litter, animals, and their carcasses. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, including Colorado, most civil aviation incidents are investigated by the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB), as well as the

Colorado Bureau of Investigation Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a division of Colorado Department of Public Safety, is a law enforcement agency of the state of Colorado that performs forensic and laboratory services and criminal investigations at the request of local an ...

(CBI). When investigating an aviation disaster, NTSB investigators piece together evidence from the crash and determine the likely cause(s), whereas the CBI will also investigate if there is any involved criminal actions.

State Routes

Colorado maintains

state highways A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

for high-volume travel routes that do not qualify for federal funding.

Buses and mass transit

Denver's

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. state of Col ...

, known locally as RTD, is the largest public transportation system in Colorado. The RTD system provides bus, light rail, and

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

transportation services in the majority of the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area. Through its FasTracks initiative, RTD is working to rapidly build light rail and bus rapid transit. Other transportation services exist throughout the state. Some systems, such as in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, focus on the local area. Other systems, such as that found on the Western Slope connecting Glenwood Springs, Aspen, and Carbondale offer regional connections. Intercity bus service is provided by a number of carriers including Burlington Trailways,

Bustang Bustang is an intercity bus service in the U.S. state of Colorado. Service began in 2015 and originally traveled between Denver and Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Glenwood Springs. Service has since been expanded to connect Grand Junction, ...

, Express Arrow, and

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...

. *Denver and Colorado Springs are serviced by the FREX regional bus. *Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, and Longmont are serviced by the FLEX regional bus.

Air transportation

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , it is the largest airport i ...

handles the majority of air traffic in Colorado and is the fifth busiest airport in the world.

Colorado Springs Airport City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport , known as Colorado Springs Airport, is a city-owned public civil-military airport southeast of downtown Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado, United States., effective December 30, 2021. It i ...

also handles commercial flights and offers service to national destinations. The majority of other airports in the state handle on regional or private aviation needs.

Centennial Airport Centennial Airport is a public use airport owned by the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area, 15 nautical miles (17 mi, 28 km) southeast of downtown Denver, Colorado, United States. L ...

, located in Arapahoe County, is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country and primarily handles private and corporate traffic.

Rail transportation

The

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

Central Corridor begins north of Denver, passing through the

Moffat Tunnel The Moffat Tunnel is a railroad and water tunnel that cuts through the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado. Named after Colorado railroad pioneer David Moffat, the tunnel's first official railroad traffic passed through in February 192 ...

at the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

. Denver's

operates a

and light rail system serving local transit needs.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

operates two long-distance passenger train routes through Colorado—the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'' and ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flags ...

''—as well as the ''

Winter Park Express The ''Winter Park Express'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado. The scenic route uses the same line as the ''California Zephyr'', climbing into the Front ...

'' seasonal ski train.

Front Range Passenger Rail Front Range Passenger Rail is a proposed inter-city passenger train service along the Front Range and broader I-25 corridors in Colorado and Wyoming. Most proposals envision a route from Pueblo north to Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Fort ...

service on the

I-25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

corridor between

and

is under development.

References

{{U.S. political divisions transportation