This is听a banner year for the Denver metro transit system, with the opening of four rail lines serving places from听Wheat Ridge to the airport and the Flatiron Flyer rapid bus route to Boulder.
But don’t听call Denver a transit-rich city 鈥� not yet.听Beyond听the shiny trains that ferry suburban commuters to downtown and听Tech Center jobs,听and听sports fans to games, the core city itself still struggles with transit gaps.
Largely rooted听in a听bus network that is听spread too thin, those shortcomings听make travel between some of Denver’s most urban neighborhoods, job centers, recreation spots and nightlife districts cumbersome听or downright听unmanageable. Closer to the city limits, especially in east Denver neighborhoods that are miles from new and upcoming听rail lines, transit access flickers.
Transit advocates point to Cherry Creek, home to high-paying desk jobs and even more听lower-paying restaurant, hotel and retail jobs,听as a big missed opportunity for a transit hub. Instead, it’s an area where several听bus routes simply pass through. Many of those employees live in northeast Denver, notes Stuart Anderson of the nonprofit group Transportation Solutions.
“If you look at transit from there to the shopping center, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “You’ve got to take the 15听(on Colfax Avenue) to the 40, and then you’re stuck on Colorado Boulevard, and you’ve still got to get听to Cherry Creek. It just isn’t served very well.”
Connections between Cherry Creek and downtown’s Union Station, where most of the rail lines go, similarly frustrate potential riders, despite years of pushing from Cherry Creek business leaders for a direct downtown听shuttle.
Several riders who contacted听The Denver Post for this story also cited myriad transit frustrations extending to most听parts of the city: the need for more frequent service; lower fares; more routes designed on a grid instead of being geared to feed into downtown or rail lines; and circulator buses connecting common destinations听in neighborhoods.
But public听transportation advocates and riders see promise in recent moves by Denver city officials to take the reins 鈥� or at least share the wheel with the Regional Transportation District 鈥� when it comes to the city’s transit destiny, even if the question of how to pay for more expansions remains unanswered.
This summer, city officials听kicked off , which officials say will draw on traditional听and innovative ideas.听That听follows on groundwork Denver听has laid for its first project: the potential transformation听of Colfax Avenue by 2022听into a bus rapid transit corridor, with more frequent and faster streetcarlike service in听dedicated lanes during rush hour and fewer set stops.
Technological advances听also give hope to some that Denver can improve transit access within the city. In some听U.S. cities, especially those with cash-strapped transit agencies, partnerships with private companies are testing out听dynamic routing. That technology relies on computer algorithms to build听customized routes for smaller buses or vans听based on where passengers need to go.
Such progress has听been a long time coming, both for听those who depend on transit to get around the city and a potential legion of听would-be riders who want to ditch their cars more often. The latter group includes the and some empty-nesters who have been flocking to the growing city, drawn by the appeal of an urban lifestyle.
After Kathryn Cuddihee, 28,听moved to Denver three years ago with her husband, she gave听transit a go to get to her social work job in Centennial. The Uptown resident听stuck with it for a year and a half, she said, walking to a light rail stop downtown and then schlepping a mile on Arapahoe Road after getting off on the other end.
But she gave up and began driving, in part because听fares shot听up to $9 roundtrip, making transit听less economical. Closer to听home,听she’s frustrated at the hassle and transfers involved in what she thinks should be easy听trips by听bus to Cherry Creek or even nearby Capitol Hill.
“The buses are inconsistent, infrequent and limited, and it would听be nice to feel like we are living in a city that had rail dispersed throughout the various neighborhoods,” Cuddihee said.
Admittedly, she’s influenced by her experience: “Having lived in places like D.C. and Boston, it just does not compare to the systems there.”
Streets at capacity
Denver isn’t as big as those cities, and its rail听system is a newer, largely suburban commuter-focused system borne of RTD’s setup: It serves听2,340 square miles in eight counties.
But as the city absorbs , many of them attracted to its听booming economy from larger cities on the coasts, it听can’t help but invite such comparisons.
Advocates note that having the听single regional agency carries听benefits, particularly when it comes听to听marshaling the听ambitious听$5.3 billion听 鈥� which听 鈥� and balancing transit needs in disparate places.
RTD , including the Free MallRide and newer Free MetroRide that traverse downtown.
But the metrowide system “has听always been geared toward middle-class white听workers,” in the view of听Angie Rivera-Malpiede, a former RTD board member. She now is director of Northeast Transportation Connections, a Denver group that mostly focuses on helping low-income workers. “That was before millennials moved in. And the communities of the working poor got no incentives and were never looked at as a population to try to lure on the bus system.”
Officials听including Mayor Michael Hancock acknowledge that streets such as often-choked Colorado Boulevard can’t absorb much more traffic.
In his July 11 State of the City address, which ,听he said his goal was听that every resident would have听“mobility freedom,” whether that meant听access to more听robust transit options, bike- and car-sharing systems such as , or other alternatives to driving.
Amid 听鈥� worsening traffic congestion everywhere 鈥� state and regional transportation planners, as well as RTD officials, also long have cited听the same听imperative.
“Do we need more bus service? Yes. Do we have the money to do it? No,” said Rivera-Malpiede, who also is vice president of the Stapleton Foundation. “I think that’s the crux that we have at this point.”
Denver city officials 鈥� and participants in its 18-month 听planning process 鈥� hope to face that challenge head-on.
The marks the first time in the modern era the听city has taken听the lead on a major transit project. For now, even as engineering is underway,听funding for the $125 million to $135 million听project isn’t pinned down. The city is听working with RTD and Aurora on financing, which will include seeking federal funds.
The plan calls for听reconfiguring听Colfax for bus rapid transit, from the Auraria Campus through east Denver and possibly to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.听It听 about the reduction of automobile capacity on Colfax that will result from the new bus line, which would supplant much of RTD’s 15 Limited route.
While the citywide planning effort begins, smaller studies are听examining the potential for improved bus access on several major streets in a more modest way, public works听officials say.
Those include , along with possible tweaks to its rush-hour transit lane. Multimodal studies are looking at听potential improvements for Federal Boulevard from the north to south city limits and at Speer Boulevard/Leetsdale Drive through central and southeast Denver.
Figuring out costs
So far, the city is still grappling with听whether 鈥� and how 鈥� it听might step up to pay for transit system improvements benefiting its neighborhoods.
RTD welcomes any increased involvement from Denver, spokesman Nate Currey said. The transit agency’s focus in the near term, as it works to find ways to finish unfunded portions of several lines 鈥� including the $110 million central corridor light rail extension in Denver 鈥� will be on seeking听public input and using its own analysis to improve the way the听current system works, he said. The goal: to attract more riders to what RTD has.
That听will happen largely within RTD’s听operating budget, which was $467 million last year.
Upcoming听initiatives should improve riders’ experience, Currey听said, including a full rollout of its听 on all services, years after other big transit agencies began offering it.
Denver city听officials, including transportation director听Crissy Fanganello, say the citywide transit planning effort will consider potential ways to foot the bill, but first its participants must听set priorities.
One option would be听to听follow听in the footsteps of Boulder, which for two decades has “bought up” additional local bus service from听RTD as it built ridership for branded lines with names including HOP, SKIP, JUMP and BOUND. Last year, that city paid RTD about $500,000 to partially subsidize two routes, while Boulder County and the University of Colorado also bought up service. Englewood contributes to听a circulator shuttle connecting businesses and hospitals to the Englewood light rail stop.
Or Denver听could, as ,听create its own transit authority to supplement RTD听service. Independent of that, the city could seek voter approval for a supplemental transit sales tax on top of RTD’s 1 percent rate.
Fanganello is听skeptical of the need for a city transit authority. Meanwhile, she and transit advocates 鈥� as well as council members 鈥� are big on exploring potential alternatives to new bus lines, especially options听enabled by technology.
The city made one offering this year when it rolled out a new smart phone app, called , that allows users to compare routes and costs using public transit, driving, taxis, car-sharing services, bicycling and other modes of getting around.
“We’ll look at all the options” to pay for any potential听transit initiatives, Fanganello said. “We need to identify what the problems are. What are the potential solutions, and what needs to be part of that conversation?”
Narrowing transit听gaps
Nonprofit transit groups already have begun exploring ways to reduce gaps by providing transportation to and from light rail stations. In central Denver, Anderson’s group,听Transportation Solutions,听has pilot programs in the works that include providing subsidized rides on Lyft Line, a version of the听ride-sharing service that pools riders going the same way. The targets in one,听a partnership with the University of Denver, will be students traveling to campus; and in another, people听who work a mile or two from听the Colorado and I-25 station.
And the group听is working out a program with another provider to set up shared rides to the Cherry听Creek area, using pickup meeting points near where workers live in other parts of Denver, Anderson said. Elsewhere, Northeast Transportation Connections and Mile High Connects are among nonprofits similarly听working on “first-mile/last-mile” transit solutions.
Another model that uses technology has been pursued by companies including Boston-based startup . It听explored a launch in Denver but has held off amid uncertainty about听RTD’s involvement and other logistics. In听Boston, Washington and Kansas City, Mo., Bridj vehicles听shuttle听customers between听set service zones based on dynamic routes that a computer builds as users reserve听rides.
Soon Bridj听will expand to Austin, Texas.
“We’d been holding open a launch slot for Denver, but ended up deciding to use that launch slot in Austin due to the difference in expressed attitude towards mass transit innovation,” said Bridj CEO Matthew George. “We’re optimistic that we can work to change that in the coming months. We’d听be in Denver in a heartbeat if invited in by RTD and the city.”
For听now,听Robby Long, a 27-year-old resident of City Park West, relies more on his bike than the bus. He recently completed听a master’s听program听in urban and regional planning and works as a fellow at Transportation Solutions.
While he credits听the architects of RTD’s FasTracks plan听with听having the right vision to serve听metro growth in the next 20 years, he says Denver is right to take on the听Colfax corridor plan and chart out a听citywide听transit strategy.
“I don’t know what will come out of the plan,” he said, “but I听think that’s a recognition that RTD听is not going to provide the level of service that’s necessary to fill in the transit gaps in the city. Another entity will need to take that on in order to make it practical for the听densifying听urban cores.”
About the transportation series
This is听the final installment in a听Denver Post series examining the ways that increased traffic congestion is affecting drivers and residents 鈥� as well as plans and potential changes that could ease the crunch and expand transportation options. Previous stories explored听 to the metro area in coming decades; emerging technologies, including self-driving vehicles, ; and听the Colorado Department of Transportation’s .
