People clearly vote with their steering wheels for freeways. That is why freeways are so crowded. People have shown by their choices that they love freeways. The only thing they don't like about them is that freeways are too crowded during rush hour because everybody else loves freeways so much. Somehow the notion has taken hold that to relieve this crowding, we need to revert to a failed nineteenth century technology.
Light rail is only a trolley system, and trolleys died out a half a century ago.
Using the Regional Transportation District's own numbers, a light rail trolley line down I-25 will serve less than half as many people as a single freeway lane. But, as we have learned, Political Correctness doesn't have to make sense. Again using RTD's data, the present three lanes in each direction can be expanded to five. If Political Correctness forces us to reserve one lane for light rail, this permits one additional freeway lane in each direction. There could be two extra freeway lanes in each direction even if light rail is built, and three if it isn't.