DENVER | Transportation Thread

[Cirrus]

I admit I like the Austin cars, but I also like the Philly ones RTD will be using. They are no-nonsense. They say "I am a real train, not somebody's cute toy transit." They are the exact opposite of these, which I hate with a vengeance:


image by chanaher on flickr

[PLANSIT]

Yeah, I really like RTD's EMUs. Like Cirrus said, unapologetic, in-your-face, people mover.

[RyanD]

http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html?layer=0#12.00/39.7320/-104.9826
^ Check out this commuting map. It's interactive and shows the average commute time per zip code.

Mega-Commuters Take Manhattan

Do you travel at least 90 minutes and 50 miles to get to work? The U.S. Census Bureau calls you a "mega-commuter" — and you're not alone.

About 2 percent of workers in the New York Metro Area are mega-commuters, according to American Community Survey figures released Tuesday.

The routes into Manhattan have some of the highest number of mega-commuters in the country. The flow into the city from Suffolk County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut, are near the top of that list, behind two counties outside of Los Angeles.

Also in the top-ten for number of mega-commuters: Those who commute to New York from Pennsylvania's Monroe County — a 91-mile trip that takes about 2 hours each way.
http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2013/mar/05/mega-commuters-take-manhattan/

[Wizened Variations]

New York has had 90 to 240 minute commutes for years.

http://mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm

(Metro-North Railroad)

http://mta.info/lirr/Timetable/lirrmap.htm

(LIRR)

And the speeds have not increased since the 1920s or so, but a huge number of people STILL use these commuter lines.

What else was the bar car for?

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

I admit I like the Austin cars, but I also like the Philly ones RTD will be using. They are no-nonsense. They say "I am a real train, not somebody's cute toy transit." They are the exact opposite of these, which I hate with a vengeance:

[snip]
image by chanaher on flickr

Reminds me of wine retailers selling wine in a plastic bladder enclosed in cardboard...

[Cirrus]

Here's part 2 of the frequent bus network series on DenverUrbanism.

Originally Posted by me on DenverUrbanism.com

Advertise special buses with a special brand

RTD has a great network of frequent bus routes that are much more convenient than the average bus line. Unfortunately, most people can’t tell the frequent routes from the regular ones. A map highlighting the best lines can help, but combining the map with a special brand for the routes shown on it would be even better.

Something like this, perhaps:



read more

[Beastie Bern]

Hi all!

I love this forum and the thoughtful analysis that goes into many of the threads!
I'm a Denverite living in Grand Junction and i'm hoping to make a move back to my hometown.

I was wondering if anyone could offer some opinion and thoughts about light rail and the Fastracks project.

What do you like about Fastracks?
What are some of the liabilities of the project?
Where can improvements be made on RTD's part?
How do you feel RTD's public outreach and public information "dissemination" is?

[Cirrus]

Oh dear. Can of worms. OK.

>>What do you like about Fastracks?
Besides the obvious fact that it's a massive regional transit expansion, I assume? I like that they have figured out that EMU/DMU is better than light rail for the sort of long distance commute-based trips that FasTracks is mostly built around. I love light rail, but EMU/DMU is more suited to what Denver uses most of these lines for, so I am proud of RTD for not pre-supposing 1 single mode. I like that they put together a practical package that the voters in a politically balcanized region could support. And I like the architecture; they've done a great job with attractive stations & bridges.

>>What are some of the liabilities of the project?
Do you mean liabilities in terms of "future responsibilities" or in terms of "problems"? If the former, RTD will have a much larger operating bill every year once the trains start running, and in 30 or 40 years they're going to have a lot of maintenance work that will have to be done in order to keep the system running smoothly.

If the latter, there are 3 big problems with FasTracks:
1) It doesn't provide enough service to the most transit-ready and transit-supportive (but transit-lacking) places in the inner city, most notably Colfax, Broadway, Highlands, and Cherry Creek.
2) It terminates almost all transit trips at Union Station, which is not where most of the riders want to go. Shuttles can be provided, but even so that inconveniences riders, which lowers ridership.
3) The planning for the Boulder line was not done correctly. BRT was more practical but rail was what people wanted, so instead of biting the bullet and doing one of them correctly, RTD "compromised" by doing both, but neither of them well. As a result Boulder will get 2 transit lines, but neither will be very good.

Note that all of these are good problems to have, compared to no FasTracks at all.

>>Where can improvements be made on RTD's part?
The 3 problems listed directly above will have to be fixed eventually. In the short term they could manage the bus system better, so that people use it more. In the long term they'll need to find a way to extend the rail system from Union Station east through downtown. Eventually they'll have to decide which mode to do correctly in Boulder.

How do you feel RTD's public outreach and public information "dissemination" is?
Can't answer this. Not in Colorado, so I don't see it.

[PLANSIT]

System is not where the people are. Consequently, we are forced to plan for and implement TOD in places (most) we shouldn't be.

RTD is so consumed by FasTracks they are ignoring their bread-and-butter, bus.

[Cirrus]

RyanD posted this in the development thread. Looks like Denver is getting a bike station.

Originally Posted by RyanD

New triangle building rendering.. I like it a lot! And this is the first time we see the bike facility. Sweet!!

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

System is not where the people are. Consequently, we are forced to plan for and implement TOD in places (most) we shouldn't be.

RTD is so consumed by FasTracks they are ignoring their bread-and-butter, bus.

It could be a lot worse. I love criticizing RTD, but that's because from where RTD is I can imagine something better. Where I am now I can't really even see a functioning transit system from the reality of what it is now. Getting to the parks from downtown on bus is a 3 hour proposition at the very least. There is no connection from the airport to the parks or downtown and no plans to ever have them save for a hodgepodge of different entities building thrown together rail systems that even if built will require at least 1 transfer (on different systems) to get from the airport to downtown or the parks. The one rail system they are building now is akin to building a person with a spine only. It goes to a couple sorta important places but it doesn't really link any two large destinations in the city at all. (I have to add that this is my impression of pretty much every other city I've ever visited that isn't in the northeast or named San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago or Los Angeles.

RTD should be embarrassed, ashamed, held accountable and should, more than 10 years ago, have fixed not having a 20th century method for people to pay fares. I can only assume that this will be fixed by the time coastal elites who already mock Denver visit and try to take the train without cash or meticulous planning before they arrive. It would really 🞵🞵🞵🞵 for their derision and smug haughtiness to actually be appropriate for once. Same for RTD's treatment, fear, and accommodation to the People's Republic; it's a joke.

But again, viable, great and not perfect is still viable and great which is a lot more than any other city of Denver's size (and a great many larger cities)
can boast.

[Cirrus]

^
I took a city bus from the airport to downtown Orlando a couple of years ago. It wasn't super convenient, but it wasn't terrible. I didn't have to transfer. And don't the parks themselves provide a TON of buses from the airport? Certainly looked that way from the airport bus terminal. Not saying Orlando doesn't have terrible transit (it's terrible), or that Denver isn't way better (it's way better), just that my experience wasn't quite what you describe.

[Cirrus]

New b-cycle stations announced:


image from @Denver_Bcycle on twitter

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

^
I took a city bus from the airport to downtown Orlando a couple of years ago. It wasn't super convenient, but it wasn't terrible. I didn't have to transfer. And don't the parks themselves provide a TON of buses from the airport? Certainly looked that way from the airport bus terminal. Not saying Orlando doesn't have terrible transit (it's terrible), or that Denver isn't way better (it's way better), just that my experience wasn't quite what you describe.

I haven't done the airport to downtown bus trip yet. And certainly if you pay Disney for a vacation or a hotel room there will be a big bus waiting for you and a bunch of other vacationers when you land. If you live here and work at Disney, and aren't housed by Disney with dedicated similar transportation, you're destined to waste huge blocks of time getting to and from work or getting a car. And if you're not going to Disney trying to get around you're in real trouble as well without a car or living extremely close to work. And even then there are maybe 2 or 3 neighborhoods here where the development model doesn't all but obviate the possibility of walking even if you DO live near work.

BUT your point about visiting Orlando and getting to Disney is definitely true.. that's probably one reason nothing is being done... the city certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of visitors dumping their money here. And Disney has 0% interest in investing in anything outside of their property boundaries (and nor should they - if it is to happen it has to be legislated more). Quite the contrary actually, the worse International Drive, downtown and the surrounding areas become the more likely it is that anyone visiting town will stay at Disney where the development, transit, sight lines from the roads, chipper friendly cast members etc is absolutely, completely and in all other ways controlled.

[PLANSIT]

Re: 15th St. Protected Bike lane.

The City has committed to using full vertical separation (bollards). The first phase (striping, green paint, bike box, lead interval, signage, non-vertical buffer) will go in this year. The separation portion (bollards, etc.) will go in Spring 2014 (there needs to be a some work done for design).

[awholeparade]

Finally, a Bcycle station in South Broadway.

[Cirrus]

In other big bikesharing news, your b-cycle membership will soon work in any city in the US with a b-cycle system.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

In other big bikesharing news, your b-cycle membership will soon work in any city in the US with a b-cycle system.

[snip]

Is SLC's different somehow? Or was the ad from SLC?

[Cirrus]

It hasn't opened yet, and it's not using the b-cycle name (it will simply be called "GreenBike"). Could be either of those, but I'm guessing it's the latter since they colored it green.

The ad is from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

[DenverInfill]

I see Hawaii is now located off the coast of Florida. Convenient!