Colorado politicians are proposing a bill that implements a 19th century solution to a 21st century problem and, almost certainly, will be a monument only to their egos.

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SB21-238 would create the “front range passenger rail district for the purpose of planning, designing, developing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining an interconnected passenger rail system along the front range.”

One doesn’t have to look too far to discover that these projects typically end up being government boondoggles that are plagued with cost-overruns and delayed construction schedules while being ultimately underutilized by the people.

Putting aside the many disastrous examples of other cities and states where these projects have failed to yield a return on investment, let’s look no further than Denver’s Regional Transportation District’s own struggling efforts to create its west light-rail line.

Initially, taxpayers were assured that construction and completion of the west light-rail line would cost over $325 million. Citizens were additionally promised an efficient and reliable public transit alternative where passenger demand would justify its existence.

Turns out, not so much.

In fact, the project cost was over double the original estimation with under half the weekly ridership that was promised within the first year of operation.

Unsurprisingly, government agencies rarely, if ever, give taxpayers accurate cost estimates to public construction projects.

And why would they? Government actors are seldom fired if they fail to meet cost projections, and most politicians and bureaucrats are not wise stewards of public funds because they don’t have skin in the game. In other words, it’s other people’s money and they suffer no consequence, financial or otherwise, if they fail.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say the new “front range passenger rail district” will be the one public entity that gets the costs projection right. This unrealistically optimistic concession still doesn’t address the fact that most people won’t use this new rail system to begin with.

First, public transit systems can only have a chance to succeed in population-dense areas, and when it comes to a rail transit system that connects one community to another, ideally, there should be some sort of shared business or community interest that justifies the route. With this in mind, this new rail project is doomed to fail.

Even if one could make an airtight argument that there are communities of interests up and down the front range that should be connected via a billion-dollar rail system, which one cannot, there are simply not enough potential passengers along the front range that will use this system for it to break even, let alone be a return on investment for Coloradans.

Should this become a reality, it’s likely that the lower-than-expected passenger demand will lead to less service, which further undercuts the whole point of this endeavor.

Second, people really like their cars and trucks.

When it comes to SB21-238, Colorado politicians seem to have adopted the motto, “if you build it, they will come.” Again, this ignores all the historical data and empirical evidence. People who can afford their own vehicle will purchase one and then use it. Most people, especially commuters, are not going to ditch their personal transportation options for a train that will take longer to travel in and be undermaintained while being unclean.

There are about $9 billion worth of state road transportation projects that are unfunded in Colorado. Spending our precious resources on much-needed road infrastructure is what people truly want.

Instead of wasting billions on creating a rail system that most won’t use, the priority should be focused on what most Coloradans have come to trust and depend on when it comes to transportation: roads and bridges.

Dave Williams, R-Colorado Springs, represents District 15 in the Colorado House.