Voters picked at least four new RTD board members - and maybe five when the counting is done - at a time when the transit district is wrestling with a grossly over-budget FasTracks program and less money to pay for an increasing demand in transit service.

Continuing a pattern of candidates winning if they get top-line billing on the ballot, one incumbent, Barbara Yamrick of Aurora's District F, was running slightly behind challenger Tom Tobiassen. Yamrick drew second line on the ballot.

For the four other open seats, the candidates listed first were running comfortably ahead in partial returns.

If they are re-elected in four years, these new members will serve through the heart of the biggest decisions RTD will be making on the $7.9 billion FasTracks program.

Daunting? Nah. In fact, the field of candidates is the largest it's been in 10 years. Seventeen people went after eight seats. Three incumbents were unopposed. But don't expect drastic changes in direction. All want FasTracks built in some form.

RTD, however, also is struggling to maintain existing service with the conundrum of growing demand from increasing ridership and fewer resources to provide it from a shrinking sales tax pool and higher fuel costs.

Four of the eight seats were open because of term limits or an incumbent stepping down after one term.

Just four years ago, RTD was riding high on voter approval of FasTracks and a dramatic turnaround for a board that was regarded as dysfunctional in the 1990s. Transit advocates recruited candidates for key seats and focused the agency on a new version of rail-transit expansion that met public approval.

Since then, much has changed. Within a year, construction costs saw an unprecedented increase, and the nation's economy began to sour. RTD was hit with a double whammy of soaring costs and lower sales tax collections to pay for them. What had been a $4.7 billion price tag turned into $7.9 billion. Worse, the tax to support it would support a capital budget of only $5.6 billion.

The agency is looking at several strategies: building only what it can afford by the 2017 deadline, extending construction up to 17 more years or asking voters for another tax hike to build everything on the original timetable.

Some of the RTD candidates would consider asking the legislature for permission to approach voters with a bailout sales tax increase. RTD staff has estimated it would take another 0.2 or 0.3 cents to fully fund the cost increases. That translates to an additional two to three cents on a taxable $10 purchase.

flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247

Contested races for RTD

Seventeen candidates are competing for eight RTD board seats. Five races are contested:

* District A: Bill James, a commercial appraiser from Denver, opened a comfortable lead over three challengers to replace term-limited Bill Elfenbein in this district, which takes in most of downtown, central and southeast Denver. Running second with half the votes counted was grants administrator Laura Yribia. In third place was investment manager John Maslanik, and software developer Peter Lorenzen was fourth.

* District F: Tom Tobiassen, an assistant engineer for a defense contractor, opened a lead over incumbent Barbara Yamrick, a teacher from Aurora, in the contest for the only seat for which an incumbent faced a challenge. Jerry Staples, a retired Air Force veteran, was a distant third.

* District G: Former Lone Tree Mayor Jack O'Boyle was comfortably ahead of Justin Herrera, a teacher and law student from Centennial. The winner will replace term-limited O'Neill Quinlan.

* District H: Real estate consultant Kent Bagley of Littleton had a comfortable lead over former state Rep. Joe Stengel and transportation engineer Arthur Miller of Centennial. The winner will replace Daryl Kinton, who didn't seek a second term.

* District M: Matt Cohen, a Lakewood real estate broker, had a comfortable lead over former state Rep. Ramey Johnson, also of Lakewood, to replace term-limited Dave Ruchman. The district is the focal point of the first FasTracks rail project .