DENVER | Transportation Thread

[twister244]

Do those protestors really have nothing better to do with their time? They had their time in court, they tried.... and lost. Time to move on.

[TakeFive]

Oh Boy, I found me a new way to have some fun

Transforming Mobility in Downtown Denver (pdf)
Produced in March 2018 by the Downtown Denver Partnership

There's a lot of good statistical data in this. There's also the standard pablum of talking points. To a point it's well taken; but not all points are spot on. It's the typical hazard of 'assuming' or connecting dots that seems logical - if you don't have a good or full context to compare it to.

For starters, I'd recommend reading this report as it is well done and well intended. It's fairly easy to scroll through and read.

Downtown Denver is a distinct and diverse urban center that provides employment, entertainment, retail, and
educational opportunities for over 130,000 employees, 22,000 residents, 45,000 visitors, and 58,000 students, daily.

In the past five years, Downtown Denver’s population has increased 30%, and has more than tripled since the year 2000. Employment growth has also been strong, up 12% since 2012. Much of this employment and population growth has been driven by highly-educated, urban-minded millennials.

This is all good data and in addition to sounding great, important for context purposes. The conclusion is drawn that better mobility options are important especially as Denver continues to grow. Wholeheartedly agree.

[TakeFive]

Data taken from DDP Mobility Report.

Commute Mode Share Change 2012-2017

• Bicycled.......... 4.3% - 8.3%
• Drove alone... 38.7% - 39.0%
• Used transit... 44.6% - 39.3%

So in the last five years, a period of high growth, the percentage of commuters that drove alone remained essentially the same while the percentage of commuters taking transit dropped a bit over 5%. Not good. What to do, what to do.

Meanwhile commuting by bike nearly doubled in percentage. Some context:
Men are more likely than women and the younger by age are more likely to commute by bike:

• Under 30.... Men - 20% ... Women - 8%
• 31-50........ Men - 14% ... Women - 6%
• Over 50....... Men - 6% .... Women - 2%

Given that in the last 5 years the population of downtown has grown by over 6,500 new residents and that millennials make up the majority of that growth, a doubling of bicycle commuting is easily understood. Citywide Denver's commute bike share is a little over 2% and comparing that to other cities it's possible to double that over time. At that point, growth will likely stagnate. It's easy to increase something by percentage starting from a low base.

In any case
Bicycle commuting is growing and important enough to continue to build better infrastructure to accommodate this mode-share. That said, it's the other 90% of commuters that I'm more interested in.

[TakeFive]

The First Nit I'll Pick

Commuter Survey Trends

1. The greatest increase in commuter mode share over the past 5 years is among bicycle use. In the same
period, the City of Denver has added almost 6 miles of bicycle facilities in downtown.

I've already addressed this.

2. Transit ridership into downtown has remained relatively constant, despite the FasTracks’ build out of regional
transit infrastructure.

I don't know who thought that statement was significant?? Who done it? Fess up!

First Point
Transit commute share dropped by over 5% over the last 5 years but that includes BOTH bus and light/commuter rail transit and we know bus ridership has been dropping like a rock.

Context Point
There's over 130,000 employees and 58,000 students downtown for a total of 188,000.

How Many Downtown Commuters Take Light and Commuter Rail?
Forget FasTracks for the moment; how many light rail commuters come via the SW and SE Corridors? Those two corridors includes the D, C, E, F, and H lines. Thanks again to Cirrus for taking the time to give us a good idea. According to 'Method Two' daily ridership numbers come to 71,131.

[TakeFive]

With respect to FasTracks lines into downtown

Cirrus came up with ridership numbers for the A and W lines of 34,619. Add those into the previous total and that comes to a grand total of 105,750. The R line I figure is counted in the A line and while there's a lot of commuters into downtown from Aurora most all come via the H line which is not a part of FasTracks.

I'm pretending (for now) that the B Line is a part of the G Line and there's a good rationale for doing that. That means that the 2 current Fastrack lines into downtown bring a third of the rail commuters; the 2 lines represent 28.5% of the total of 7 lines so they're batting over their weight.

Lastly, dividing the ridership numbers in half suggests that 52,875 commuters into downtown are riding the rails. With lots of rail ridership upside ahead that seems solid to me. What's everybody complaining about?

Rockies game over (they lost again) so I'm outta here.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by twister244

Do those protestors really have nothing better to do with their time? They had their time in court, they tried.... and lost. Time to move on.

Hoping this works - not sure if photobucket still allows hosting. Here’s a photo of mine from yesterday. They were staging “lay down in front of the excavator” photos. I’m sure it’ll get great Facebook traction. In real life, nobody even paid attention.

[mhays]

"There's over 130,000 employees and 58,000 students downtown for a total of 188,000."

I would assume a lot of those students are also in the job numbers, but the numbers suggest everyone is one or the other.

[TakeFive]

We Got Plans
Transit plans and lots of plans

Denver, population 900,000: Here’s how the city envisions the year 2040
Aug 06 2018 by Andrew Kenney/Denverite

The new “Denver Moves” plan calls for the city to strengthen its transit system along key corridors. They represent the city’s “first ever city-wide transit plans,” said Eulois Cleckley, the new head of the Department Public Works.

The strongest focus would be along Federal, Broadway, Colorado and Colfax and Speer for “high-capacity” transit, but the city has identified 19 corridors in all

Okay, this was pretty much a given. Any visionary plans?

The plans lay out options ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion. At the highest end, the city envisions building out six rail corridors and seven new BRT lines. Of course, RTD doesn’t have that kind of money in its accounts.

From Denver's website there's four individual component plans:

• Blueprint Denver
• Game Plan for a healthy city
• Transit
• Pedestrians and Trails

Additionally there's Comprehensive Plan 2040, an over-arching or master plan I guess.

Haven't yet had the chance to read it but there's an Executive Summary (pdf) for Transit.

[TakeFive]

That was Quick

Other than for curiosity or if you just moved to Denver or maybe you're one of those who still isn't sure what a Bus Stop is or why they have them then the Executive Summary is a bunch of nothing.

It is a beautiful document, well organized, a list of goals and ideals etc. Essentially it an obligatory review of what Denver Moves did which is an intellectual exercise of recommended practices. If you're looking for meat, forgetaboutit; if you're looking to induce sleep then it should be GREAT.

[TakeFive]

I Found Some Meat

Unfortunately, it's a slow-loading, long pdf but the Denver Moves Transit Draft Plan has some fun stuff - if you scroll all the way down to APPENDIX D.
They list 6 corridors as "High-Capacity Transit" with potential for rail at the high end. They are:

• Colfax - 9.0 miles
• Broadway/Lincoln - 6.3 miles
• Speer/Leetsdale - 8.9 miles
• Park - 1.4 miles
• Federal - 9.5 miles
• Colorado - 9.5 miles

Looking at the Speer/Leetsdale they have the east end at Parker/Mississippi while the west end is at Federal Blvd. The light rail costs are estimated at $720 million and essentially all light rail level improvements were estimated at ~$81 million per mile.

The Colorado Blvd corridor is from Hampden to 52nd Ave; Federal is also from Hampden to 52nd Ave; Park Ave goes from Colfax to Brighton Blvd; South Broadway looks to be from Park to Yale but the emphasis is from Colfax to I-25. Obviously this is sort of a Big Picture look at different key corridors.

[PLANSIT]

Any mention of rail outlined in the plan is considered Streetcar, not LRT.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Any mention of rail outlined in the plan is considered Streetcar, not LRT.

Interesting... A Streetcar might work well on Park Ave or if they want to upgrade Colfax from BRT.

Eh, it's a starting point and I appreciate that the City's capacity to fund a smorgasbord of transit improvements is much more limited than say if a much larger plan was approved by RTD voters.

It just very difficult (for me) to believe that Denver doesn't 'deserve' some urban light rail like in peer cities of Phoenix, Minneapolis, Portland (Seattle) etc. I still would prefer 'my' Urban Signature Line which I was thinking more about of late. If grade separations were made at Colfax, University, Colorado and Monaco I'm now thinking a cost closer to $175 per mile but at 8 miles (which includes So. Broadway down to I-25) that's 'only' $1.4 billion.

[TakeFive]

If you're at Coors Field right now you're getting wet.

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Hoping this works - not sure if photobucket still allows hosting. Here’s a photo of mine from yesterday. They were staging “lay down in front of the excavator” photos. I’m sure it’ll get great Facebook traction. In real life, nobody even paid attention.

Pretty hokey.

It's at least nice to know Denver has one much-needed transportation project that is funded and has broken ground.

[CurtisParkChris]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

It just very difficult (for me) to believe that Denver doesn't 'deserve' some urban light rail like in peer cities...

I wish some attention was given to funding in order to advance and complete the L Line - formerly known as Central Extension under FasTracks from 30th and Downing to 38th and Blake. I found nothing in the report referencing the project and it possible contribution to the city's newly defined transit goals.

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by CurtisParkChris

I wish some attention was given to funding in order to advance and complete the L Line - formerly known as Central Extension under FasTracks from 30th and Downing to 38th and Blake. I found nothing in the report referencing the project and it possible contribution to the city's newly defined transit goals.

Will be a subject of Denver Moves: Downtown. It needs a much deeper dive.

[TakeFive]

Rhetorical Question of the Week

What's the best way to accelerate light/commuter rail ridership

1. Incentivise TOD - especially where needed most
2. Offer two-night's Free lodging in Limon
3. Create better (first-last mile) accessibility
4. Offer Gift Cards for local Cannabis retailers
5. Build a couple of URBAN light rail lines
6. Offer All-expense paid trip to Eldora Ski Resort
7. Improve bus route connectivity to rail
8. Offer one month's Free Rent in Aurora
9. Start Young?

Could it be that the best idea was saved for last?

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Will be a subject of Denver Moves: Downtown. It needs a much deeper dive.

Glad we will have the plans done in time for my grandchildren to start talking about implementing them. Makes total sense that downtown gets planned separately from the rest of the City. Because Lord knows, two years has not been enough time for a deep dive.

[TakeFive]

For the sake of argument...

Let's assume everybody's onboard with building light rail along South Broadway to Cherry Creek along Speer and then extending along Leetsdale to Parker and Mississippi.

What's the next best light rail corridor?
Is there a corridor that would intersect with say three LRT lines like maybe the E, F and H Lines, intersect with the new Speer/Leetsdale line, the new East Colfax BRT line and lastly the A Line?

Welcome to the Boulevard Line
running along Colorado Blvd from I-25 up to the A Line, possibly extending up to 52nd Ave.

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

For the sake of argument...

Let's assume everybody's onboard with building light rail along South Broadway to Cherry Creek along Speer and then extending along Leetsdale to Parker and Mississippi.

What's the next best light rail corridor?
Is there a corridor that would intersect with say three LRT lines like maybe the E, F and H Lines, intersect with the new Speer/Leetsdale line, the new East Colfax BRT line and lastly the A Line?

Welcome to the Boulevard Line
running along Colorado Blvd from I-25 up to the A Line, possibly extending up to 52 Ave.

If you really wanted to build rail (outside of streetcar), you wouldn't constrain yourself with existing road or rail corridors.

[TakeFive]

What about access to Denver's cultural facilities?
Who visits cultural facilities?
EVERYBODY!

Generally speaking the various metro cities have chosen Not to compete with but instead support City of Denver having the biggest and best cultural attractions. Tourists and visitors including convention attendees, people from all over the metro area especially children take advantage of these various and wonderful facilities.

Far and away the most visited 'cultural' attractions are the Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Also notable is the cluster of cultural attractions near Colfax and Broadway, including the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Pubic Library, the State Capitol, the Clifford Still Museum, the U.S. Mint, the History Colorado Center to name most.

One particular demographic has piqued my interest.