Choose connection objectives

Method2.1

Decide which connections to the subject matter most, based on adopted plans, community engagement, and goals for the service. Then choose, for each objective, one or more indicators from the data available for the catchment that show where the objective is met. In Step 2.2, each objective is applied to the catchment on its own and becomes a label a Priority Area can carry.

Connection objectivesOne row per objective

NameA short label used through the rest of the study.

SourceThe plan, policy, engagement finding, or service goal behind the objective.

GoalThe outcome stronger connections should promote.

Connection priorityThe areas, trips, people, or places whose connection would most advance the goal.

IndicatorsThe measures, each with a direction, that show where the priority is present.

Flux walkthrough2.1

Choose and configure the objectives

Colorado Connector Fort Collins, Colorado · NFR 2045

Review the relevant goals

Connection objectives draw from adopted plans and policies, community engagement, and goals for the service itself. For the Colorado Connector, we began with the four purposes stated in the Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) Preliminary Purpose and Need, published before the service was renamed the Colorado Connector. The document sets out what the service is meant to achieve and how its success will be measured.

Decide which goals the analysis can address

We carried forward mobility choice, connections to regional destinations, and transportation equity. We narrowed the broad destinations goal to commercial and job centers, where the available land-use evidence could support a clear objective. We did not create a separate objective for the fourth purpose: its economic and equity outcomes overlapped the third purpose, while environmental outcomes were outside the scope of the available data and this study’s focus. The table shows the objective each purpose became.

FRPR Preliminary Purpose and Need · page 7

Purpose	Source language	Becomes
1	Provide increased mobility choices for safe, efficient, and reliable travel along the Front Range now and in the future.	Travel to other Colorado Connector station areas
2	Connect communities to jobs, retail, recreation, health care, leisure, education, entertainment, and other regional destinations.	Commercial centers and job centers
3	Foster economic vitality and improve transportation equity.	Equity communities
4	Advance Federal, state, and community economic, environmental, and equity outcomes and capitalize on Federal objectives and funding to expand passenger rail infrastructure investments outside of the Northeast Corridor.	No separate objective: economic and equity outcomes overlap Purpose 3; environmental outcomes are outside scope.

(Optional) Choose a scenario

Most studies will evaluate current conditions. We switched to the North Front Range 2045 forecast (NFR 2045) because the Colorado Connector is designed for the growth it describes.

Connection Objectives stage for the Fort Collins analysis, with the Scenario control set to NFR 2045 Forecast.

Start from the presets

Presets come with their indicators already set up. We selected Equity Communities, Commercial Areas, and Job Centers and kept each as is.

Equity Communities objective expanded to show higher shares of households with income below $50,000 and people of color, plus a highest-of group for residents age 65 or older and under age 20. — Expand a preset to see its indicators before selecting it.

(Optional) Add and configure custom objectives

Where no preset represents an objective, add a custom one: name it, describe what it looks for, and give it conditions of its own. A condition is an indicator with a direction, and can reference places drawn or selected on the map.

Travel to the other Colorado Connector station areas had no preset, so we added CoCo Station Area Travel with one condition: more travel to three places (Loveland, Longmont, and Boulder, each a two-mile station-area buffer) means higher priority.

Connection Objectives panel with Equity Communities and Commercial Areas retained and a new CoCo Station Area Travel objective awaiting its first condition. — A custom objective begins with a name, description, and its first condition.

Add a Place dialog naming Boulder with a two-mile buffer, while Loveland, Longmont, and Boulder station areas are outlined on the map.

CoCo Station Area Travel objective showing a higher travel-to-three-places condition and the retained Loveland, Longmont, and Boulder two-mile areas.

Review the retained objectives

Three presets and one custom objective carry into the Priority Areas stage, which takes them one at a time.

Connection objectives retained · higher values mean higher priority

Objective	Setup	Rule
Equity Communities	Preset	Low-income household share, people of color share, and the greater of the 65-and-over or under-20 share.
Commercial Areas	Preset	The greater of commercial or entertainment building-footprint share.
Job Centers	Preset	Work-trip destinations.
CoCo Station Area Travel	Custom	Modeled travel to the two-mile Loveland, Longmont, or Boulder station areas.