The Denver Business Journal reports that a consultant team has proposed three alternatives for changes to the 16th Street Mall. One leaves the transit lanes in place, a second pushed them together in the median, as the upper and lower mall already are configured, and the third puts northbound shuttles on 15th Street to create more pedestrian space.

RTD’s sales tax revenue inched forward for December retail sales, the second month of growth in a row. But it was a small advance – three-tenths of a percent when compared on the same basis with a year earlier.

Denver Transit Construction Group – a joint venture of Herzog Corp. of St. Joseph, Mo., and Stacy & Witbeck Inc. of Alameda, Calif. – has an update on recent construction progress and a look-ahead to upcoming construction activities in Golden, Lakewood and Denver.

Have some unused tickets from your 2009 RTD 10-Ride Ticketbook sitting in your car, jacket pocket or purse? Don’t throw those expired fares away . . . RTD will give you credit for them against the cost of 2010 tickets.

A divided RTD board committee has given preliminary approval to removing a set of planned moving walkways from the design of the FasTracks transfer facility at Denver Union Station,a controversial element that has divided transit advocates and helped spawn a lawsuit.

The FrontRange Express commuter bus between Denver and Colorado Springs will continue running after all thanks to the sale of nine buses to provide funds. Officials cautioned, however, that the sale is only a temporary fix and they will still need to find funding for 2011 and beyond.

An RTD board committee gave preliminary approval Tuesday evening to a financial plan for FasTracks that keeps the option open of asking metro Denver voters for a second sales tax increase in November. But several members were clear they think that option is not realistic.

The Glenwood Springs Post Independent reports that President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal includes a $24 million grant for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s $45 million and $50 million plan for bus rapid transit.

Lakewood Edge reports that Colorado’s most active – and vocal – group of passenger-rail advocates is raising concerns over the federal government’s decision to guarantee more than $300 million in funding for Denver’s Union Station project, saying the money will go to build “a train station without trains.”

The Colorado Springs Business Journal reports that the city has sold nine surplus FREX buses to the York County Transportation Authority in Pennsylvania for a total of $1.44 million. The proceeds could be used to operate reduced FREX service for the rest of 2010.