DENVER | Transportation Thread - Page 457

The Dirt · #**9121** Posted **Dec 21, 2015, 9:26 PM**

I kind of rely on that shuttle when I park at one end of the mall and need to get to the middle or opposite end in a hurry. Also, I take my daughter downtown to walk around every couple of weekends, and she absolutely adores the shuttle. We'll usually walk up the mall and then catch a quick ride back. I guess we won't be doing that anymore.

I'm really puzzled by the notion that the buses somehow impede the mall. People that linger will linger. People that just need to get someone quick will take the shuttle. They won't suddenly start lingering. They'll just go to Cherry Creek, now.

comoneymaker · #**9122** Posted **Dec 28, 2015, 2:51 AM**

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/12/27/north-interstate-efforts-get-organized/77881632/

UrbanBrandon · #**9123** Posted **Jan 1, 2016, 1:48 PM**

Happy 2016 everyone. Excited to see what the year has in store for our big-medium-little city. I'm curious if anyone has an idea of how the RTD B-Line will operate at the 41st/Fox and Pecos Junction stations. Is there a passing track?

Denver Dweller · #**9124** Posted **Jan 3, 2016, 5:41 AM**

http://www.denverpost.com/aurora/ci_29322386/aurora-will-extend-6th-avenue-straight-e-470

Cirrus · #**9125** Posted **Jan 5, 2016, 2:05 AM**

Flatiron Flyer launched on Sunday. Streetsblog Denver live-tweeted riding a roundtrip today. The express line took 42 minutes Denver-to-Boulder, and 55 minutes back to Denver. Also, RTD's website has this nifty service diagram:

Cirrus · #**9126** Posted **Jan 5, 2016, 2:05 AM**

In other bus news, Bustang ridership between CoS and Denver is 145 per day, which is low but does show healthy growth from its initial 45/day the first week.

Zmapper · #**9127** Posted **Jan 5, 2016, 4:41 AM**

I took Bustang today, onboard the 11am trip from Fort Collins and the 6pm trip from Denver Bus Center. Some thoughts, in no particular order.

1. CDOT and/or Ace Express Coaches requires their operators to wait three minutes past the official departure time before leaving. (Wouldn't this just encourage people to show up three minutes later than they would have otherwise?)

2. The 11 am trip from Fort Collins had 18 people onboard, of which 15 boarded in Fort Collins ($10 fare) and 3 boarded in Loveland ($9 fare). Assuming no discounts, this works out to $177 in fare income. At a 100 per hour operating cost applied to the 1.5 hour trip, this would mean that in theory the bus made a slight profit! (That run would theoretically be profitable down to a .85 discount ratio).

3. The real Bustang success story is the West Route. According to the operator, they now schedule tandem buses to accommodate the ridership, which has hovered at about 60 or so per direction per day.

4. The lack of a full operating base in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, combined with the peak-oriented schedule results in a high pay to platform ratio (a measure of driver productivity). The operator told me that he was on the clock for about 13 hours per day, but only drove about 7.5 per day (of which he was counting deadhead time, so in reality the amount of actual service hours would be three runs, or 4.5 to 5 hours). Right now, Bustang coaches are serviced at Ace Express's garage near Golden; the driver is paid while their bus is serviced. While buses are parked overnight at all three route ends, a small base with fueling and daily cleaning abilities in the three cities would improve driver pay productivity.

5. Service expansions are limited until Bustang receives new coaches, which will likely be Summer 2016.

Alchemist · #**9128** Posted **Jan 6, 2016, 4:11 PM**

Long time lurker, first time poster. My favorite transit app, Transit (if you don't have it, then get it), just released an update today. The most important part: it now has real-time information for RTD! I just checked and it's there for the majority of the bus lines.

PLANSIT · #**9129** Posted **Jan 6, 2016, 7:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemist

Long time lurker, first time poster. My favorite transit app, Transit (if you don't have it, then get it), just released an update today. The most important part: it now has real-time information for RTD! I just checked and it's there for the majority of the bus lines.

This can not be overstated. RTD rolled it out very quietly on third party apps and it's great.

DenverRider2 · #**9130** Posted **Jan 6, 2016, 8:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zmapper

3. The real Bustang success story is the West Route. According to the operator, they now schedule tandem buses to accommodate the ridership, which has hovered at about 60 or so per direction per day.

The definition of insanity- expanding bustang service to the weekends and running it EAST in the morning and WEST in the evenings. It's almost as if they don't want this thing to be successful because paying for more buses would take money away from highway widening.

Cirrus · #**9131** Posted **Jan 6, 2016, 9:11 PM**

streetsblog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streetsblog Denver

Flatiron Flyer Is an Upgrade, But Don’t Call It “Bus Rapid Transit”

Mexico City, Bogota, Brisbane, and Curitiba in Brazil — these are the cities with BRT systems worth copying. Buses travel in dedicated lanes that don’t mix with general traffic. The boarding process is fast, like rail — you pay before you get on the bus and board at any door, from a platform that’s level with the floor of the bus. Traffic signals hold green lights for approaching buses to minimize time stopped at intersections. Those are the types of features that Denver should put to use on Colfax Avenue.

A spoiler: The Flatiron Flyer is not BRT. It lacks almost all of these key elements. Still, it will run much more frequently than the services it replaces, with 4-15 minute headways much of the day instead of a schedule where gaps in between service could stretch up to an hour. The Flatiron Flyer also has some significant upgrades over RTD’s old service.

So what’s the verdict? The bus-only ramp, express lane on the highway, and streamlined stops should shave a few minutes off the old run times. Combined with the increases in frequency, the Flatiron Flyer will make bus trips faster and more reliable.

As for showing Denver what BRT is all about — that’s not what this project does. To make buses a first-rate travel option inside the city, we’ll need to change our surface streets too. Denver needs to claim that space from cars and give it to transit riders.

CastleScott · #**9132** Posted **Jan 9, 2016, 3:32 AM**

^ Another opportunity missed by RTD on this one..

bunt_q · #**9133** Posted **Jan 9, 2016, 4:17 AM**

The reviews so far are surprisingly negative. To the point of a few mass-emails at work with people complaining and trying to kickstart a complaint petition to the RTD Board. Hopefully just start up hiccups.

Cirrus · #**9134** Posted **Jan 9, 2016, 4:51 AM**

What are people complaining about?

I mean sure, I get the big picture complaints. It's not a train and it's not really BRT. But anyone who was paying attention knew that a long time ago. Are there a lot of delays?

Zmapper · #**9135** Posted **Jan 9, 2016, 6:15 AM**

From what I've seen on RTD's Facebook page, the complaints seem to be that RTD didn't schedule enough service on the FF4 (via Civic Center) route; customers are complaining of overloaded buses.

RTD went through a similar case in 2014 when Union Station Bus Concourse opened and passengers switched from the 120x, which went to Union Station, to the 122x, which went to Civic Center Station. RTD had to reshuffle buses in the service change periods afterwards to the 122x accommodate the change in customer behavior.

This is the concept promoted by Alon Levy of Pedestrian Observations that transit customers are less willing to accept transfers on the destination end of their commute.

bunt_q · #**9136** Posted **Jan 9, 2016, 1:22 PM**

That is definitely one criticism. There are also more forced transfers now - basically RTD is rolling this out as they've rolled out rail lines in the past, which also received criticism from folks accustomed to one seat bus rides. Except this isn't a train, so what folks see is their old bus service being replaced by another, less nimble, bus service. One guy who lives in Boulder put it this way - "They slapped a big yellow bird on my bus and used it as an excuse to cut service." There have been lots of delays too, and supposedly the much-touted in-seat USB ports don't work.

I've no idea myself. But the Boulder buses were always great service - nobody complained. So I was surprised to hear complaints from those people, who were arguably the best-off commuters in the whole system. I think a lot of it is related to them rolling this out, and adjusting other services, as if it was a train... except it's not.

The note about Civic Center is true. Nobody - NOBODY - buys this notion that Union Station is just a short hop from the other end of downtown. And that pathetic circulator on 18th/19th is no answer. It easily adds 20 minutes-plus to my own commute if I go through Union Station. Basically doubles it. So I can see why any reductions in direct service to Civic Center Station would be poorly received.

bunt_q · #**9137** Posted **Jan 11, 2016, 9:20 PM**

The cost of the EcoPass program for our office is going up by 23% for next year! That's worth at least taking another look monthly parking rates around downtown. RTD really should've looked outside for its new GM - somebody with fresh eyes. Looks like we need fresh eyes on the Board instead. Service gets worse, prices go up...