DENVER | Transportation Thread

[TakeFive]

Roads, bridges and what else?

http://www.cpr.org/news/story/the-ex...09-or-prop-110

The transportation debate has reached a fever pitch in Colorado: What to do about worn-out roads, debilitating commutes and transit.

CPR held a debate between Props 109 and 110. The debate itself was rather lame but this is interesting.

In a recent national survey, more than a third of Denver respondents described their commutes as worse than they were five years ago. And 20 percent said they had quit jobs because of painful commutes. On Twitter, people told CPR News they had even turned down offers for good jobs because of the drive time.

In news out of Fort Collins:

Coloradoan editorial board endorsement: On transportation, yes to 110, not so fast on 109
Oct. 21, 2018 By Kevin Duggan, Fort Collins Coloradoan

The Coloradoan editorial board supports Proposition 110 even with its tax increase. It’s high time the state had a dedicated revenue stream to fund transportation in its many and evolving forms.

Nice articulation of their thinking:

As a state, we shouldn’t be pitting widening a highway against providing health care insurance to residents who need it most.

Proposition 109 would fund only roads and bridges: Multi-modal transportation would not be part of the mix. That’s a short-sighted approach to transportation, especially as the state’s urban centers grow and alternative transportation, such as transit, becomes increasingly relevant.

The Coloradoan editorial board does not support Proposition 109.

Playing the healthcare card, specifically, goes to something that voters care a lot about. It's worth noting that if Colorado were to cut $200 million from Medicaid costs then they would lose $200 million in matching federal funds. That $400 million hit to the "system" brings up other (not good) questions.

[TakeFive]

Clarence Falls in Love with Metromover

Pick your route running from Denver's Civic Center Station to Union Station.

• Video Link

How about Broadway to 18th Street to Wewatta Street?

Metromover
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metromover

The Metromover serves primarily as an alternative way to travel within the greater Downtown Miami neighborhoods. The system is composed of three loops and 21 stations. The stations are located approximately two blocks away from each other, and connect near all major buildings and places in the Downtown area. Together with Metrorail, the system has seen steady ridership growth per annum, with an average of 105,500 daily passengers in 2013.

Miami Metromover is 4.4 miles long.

[TakeFive]

One week to go

https://www.denvergov.org/content/de...t/transit.html

The three-month window for review and feedback is coming to a close.

DENVER MOVES: TRANSIT DRAFT PLAN

Next Steps

• August 6 - October 31, 2018: Public review of draft plan
• 2018-19: After the comment period, the input received will be used to inform finalizing the plan and next steps moving forward.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by mhays

Sea-Tac was more like 2010. Angle Lake was 2016.

Thanks; I made the mistake of being lazy. Among different key words there's a number of different Wikipedia 'pages' I could have used and obviously found the one that was most confused.

Central Link originally opened in July, 2009; the SeaTac airport extension opened in December of 2009. Finally, the 1.6 mile Angle Lake elevated extension opened in late 2016.

It's the University Link Tunnel extension that's most interesting


Photo per Sound Transit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Link_tunnel

The University Link tunnel is a 3.15-mile light rail tunnel in Seattle... The twin-bore tunnel ... carries Link Light Rail running from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel to University of Washington station via Capitol Hill station.

Seattle received a "High" grade from the FTA for their proposal and ended up securing an $870 grant towards the $1.9 billion estimate. Final cost came in at $1.7 billion. This segment opened in March, 2016.

Weekday Ridership History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Link

Ridership on Central Link has risen significantly from the beginning of service in 2009, when it averaged 15,500 per weekday.[103] In 2010... with 21,611 daily riders on the line.[104] Ridership increased significantly in the following years, surpassing 25,000 daily riders in 2012,[105] 30,000 in 2014,[106] and 35,000 in 2015.[107]

Then the University Link Extension went 'live.'

The opening of the University Link extension in March 2016 increased daily ridership by 66 percent in its first month of operation,[108] and averaged 66,203 daily riders during the last quarter of the year

Reported ridership was 72,000 in 2017 and is presently 80,000.

The history and story of light rail transit in Seattle is quite fascinating... and it's just getting started.

[TakeFive]

Just trying to keep Cirrus happy

Let's focus more on ridership for Urban Lines among peer cities. Per Wikipedia, they convert boardings to ridership per mile and I'm assuming these are more urban lines as opposed to suburb to city lines.

City, weekday boardings and boardings per mile

• Calgary ..................... 299,300 ...... 7,887
• Edmonton .................. 112,500...... 7,452
• Seattle ........................ 80,000 ..... 3,902
• Minneapolis-St. Paul ...... 71,900 ..... 3,344
• Phoenix ....................... 48,900 ..... 2,240
• San Diego .................. 112,100 ..... 2,140
• Portland ..................... 119,700 ..... 2,070
• Denver ........................ 75,900 ..... 1,297
• Dallas .......................... 98,700 ..... 1,091

While ridership per mile is a way of measuring efficiency it has it's shortcomings. For example with Denver's suburb to city system, stops are more typically spaced about a mile apart so you wouldn't expect ridership per mile to be near as high as an urban line running in denser areas with more frequent stops. For example, does anybody think that those who pull the funding strings in Dallas give one wit about ridership per mile? Not in the slightest.

In Portland the Blue Line which is also the longest at 33 miles carries 45% of the total ridership for all 5 lines. Not sure what a the most relevant urban line and ridership would be.

With respect to Denver RTD's current system, soon as the (airport) A Line grows some then Denver will have 4 corridors with over 25,000 boardings. That means over a 100,000 boardings into downtown and back.

[TakeFive]

Seattle's Light Rail Future

Thanks to Sound Transit 3 or ST3, Seattle has planned eleven light rail projects (several under construction) from extensions as short as 3.7 miles to three lines as long as 14-15.5 miles. Should they succeed in finishing all projects they'll presumably spend between $25 to $30 billion.

Denver/RTD could accomplish all the light rail bones they'll ever need by investing an additional ~$4 billion.

QUESTION: But how much would it cost the City of Denver?
ANSWER: $250 million, maybe a little more which assumes they utilize a P3 (and why wouldn't they?)

[TakeFive]

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Denver Moves - Transit and everybody agrees that Denver has five “high capacity” urban corridors:

• Colfax Avenue
• Colorado Boulevard
• Federal Boulevard
• Broadway/Lincoln Street
• Speer Boulevard/Leetsdale Drive

The city is also looking at a shorter segment in Park Avenue.

Remind me again... You are saying that for ~$250 million Denver could cover 60 percent of that landscape with light rail bones?
That's what I'm saying. Would you like to celebrate with a little Inner City Blues with it's awesome black and white visuals?

[TakeFive]

Creating the Frequent Urban Rider

Thinking again of this fine passenger coach:


Source

A) Along Downing from Colfax to Blake street
B) Along Downing/Corona and Downing/Marion Pkwy from Colfax to Virginia Ave.
C) Along 15th St from downtown into LoHi.
D) Along a Brighton Blvd/Blake St. loup into downtown.

It shouldn't be that hard to come up with a few fixed routes for frequent service that could better appeal to 'choice' riders with a bus that comfortably accommodates 35 riders. Could be just the ticket for inner city transit.

[TakeFive]

Ken/DenverInfill recently had an interesting discussion

It started as an update for DHA Headquarters and morphed into a discussion about 'all that parking' in that location.

Paul Gillis made this comment:

...but I work with many people who simply will not use transit even if it is a one seat shot (and a bus ride is totally off the table) and will pay the road tolls and $200 a month for parking. The reality is that this is still a western city with urban sprawl and transit is in most case not convenient or involves transfers. The transit statistics bear this out as the city is experiencing major population growth, but transit growth is flat at best and RTD continues to cut more than grow. A different approach to transit is needed or the cycle continues.

I've also read similar comments even on Streetsblog USA. Too many people have no interest in riding the typical transit bus. It's why I think that the above 'shuttle-style' buses may be able to overcome this. If your bus service only offers what people don't want to ride, that seems a bit silly. Frequent service won't help with these people.

Take residents of Highlands for example. They might jump at the chance to have a more 'custom' ride and be willing to pay more for this kind of service.

[TakeFive]

Enticing could-be transit riders


Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Times of San Diego

SANDAG, MTS To Waive Transit Fares In San Diego
October 2, 2018 By City News Service - KPBS

All Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District services will be free Tuesday as part of the San Diego Association of Governments' support of National Rideshare Week.

What's the thinking for this?

"We are hosting Free Ride Day to encourage San Diego residents to shake up their routine and choose transit," Jablonski said. "San Diego has a growing and thriving network of transportation options.

Trips on MTS Buses and Trolleys Spike by 47,000 on ‘Free Ride Day’
OCTOBER 4, 2018 BY CHRIS JENNEWEIN - Times of San Diego

Trolley (light rail) ridership was up by 19 percent, and MTS bus ridership by 12 percent.

Does anyone else think this is an obvious and smart way of promoting transit ridership?

[TakeFive]

Is transit losing its value and importance?

No, not exactly but Urban Land Institute has new take on what appeals most to investors.

Walkability Now May Outweigh Transit Access in Valuing Location
October 9, 2018 By Kevin Brass/ULI

Ride-hailing services and autonomous vehicles are already starting to change the economic formulas for transit-oriented development (TOD), a panel of developers and investors said during the ULI Fall Meeting in Boston. Public transportation ridership is declining in most major cities, holding negative implications for TOD projects, said David Bragg, managing director of Green Street Advisors...

What's considered important now?

“Access to transportation was more important a decade ago than it is today,” largely due to changes in the demographics of the workforce, said Doug Linde, president of Boston Properties. “Creating a place, not just a development next to transit, is growing more critical.”

The emphasis these days is more on walkability than a direct rail or metro connection, said Matt Birenbaum, chief investment officer at AvalonBay Communities... The ability to walk to shops and restaurants can add more value than proximity to a rail link, he said.

Ken and his friends wouldn't argue with this as 'walkability' is always 'top of mind' for them.

[TakeFive]

DIA just had its busiest August ever
October 16, 2018 By Alexander Kirk - 9News Denver

Denver International Airport recorded its 11th consecutive month of 'unprecedented' passenger traffic in August.

DENVER — August 2018 was the busiest August in Denver International Airport history. DIA says 246,170 more passengers traveled through the airport this August than the previous August, a 4.3 percent increase. This August was the second-busiest month ever for the airport.

While not quite as robust as last year's annual growth of 5.3%, the 4.3% growth in August passenger traffic is still impressive. Looks like DIA could approach 64 million passengers for the year.

[TakeFive]

Final Promise and Testament

To whom in may concern:

Word on the street is that come Halloween I shall turn into a pumpkin at which time this thread shall be turned over to any god-fearing souls who wish to find the way forward.

PLEASE, no cheering until you have finished all of your Halloween candy.

[bunt_q]

Has anyone seen any polling on 110?

[CherryCreek]

Wow! The shared economy continues to transform transportation.

Something long asked for, dreamed of, demanded on here, suddenly, out of nowhere, appears.

A free shuttle (for now) from downtown to Cherry Creek and surrounding environs. Bikes, scooters, and now an app share private bus. Very cool!

https://denverite.com/2018/10/25/a-f...-civic-center/

I love the route:

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Has anyone seen any polling on 110?

Only last weeks: Survey shows “Fix Our Damn Roads” favored by 52 percent while Proposition 110 was supported by just 35 percent



Source: Magellan Strategies. Deep dive here.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Wow! The shared economy continues to transform transportation.

I love the route:

Good move in the right direction. Always hard to make people aware of things so hopefully this takes seed.

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Has anyone seen any polling on 110?

No, nothing new since Magellan that I'm aware of. The one black hole area is C-Springs; if the politics weren't bad enough they recently raised local sales taxes to address their own crumbling roads. Support from Pueblo is mixed. There's been a lot of support from most areas of the state.

My own poll says 110 would pass If voters would think through the options. The concern has to be the cacophony from cluttered ballots as well as 109 being the easy option on the surface.

Consider this:

If Props 109 and 112 pass at least there will be political balance. Colorado will be the beneficiary of the absolute worst from both the left and the right. Shaun Boyd/CBS4 pulls no punches in bashing 112.

[TakeFive]

Ya think RTD spends too much?

I decided to take a flyover of Portland, long a poster child of good transit. While checking out "TRIMET at a glance" something jumped out at me so I took a closer look.

Checking Wikipedia for the MSA population of each metro I found where Denver has 18% more population. So how about their comparative bus services?

TRIMET - TRIMET plus 20% - RTD - Excess %

• #Bus Lines ......... 77 ......... 92 ........ 130 .... 41%
• #Buses ............ 659 ....... 791 ...... 1,035 .... 31%
• #Bus Stops .... 6,644 .... 7,973 .... 10,053 .... 26%

Let's say RTD has roughly 30% unnecessary bloat.

Nothing like running a tight ship.

Note
Okay, not totally fair as Portland reports a service area of 533 square miles while RTD reports a service area of 2,342 square miles. Regardless, these buses aren't out picking up turf, they're picking up people. No wonder they have a bus driver shortage.

How about this?
RTD could cut 15% of their service and reallocate 15% of their service to higher priority routes.

[TakeFive]

How do budgets for Denver RTD and Portland TRIMET compare?
That's a very fair question especially since both systems have a lot in common including a good mix of both bus and light rail operations.

Previously I posted RTD's total budget/expenditures being $1.3 billion.
Interestingly, TRIMET's current total budget is also $1.3 billion.

Also interesting:
TRIMET was able to bump up their budget due to new revenue.

Assault, vandalism and theft: Inside TriMet's dramatic crime spike
May 23, 2018 By Elliot Njus and Everton Bailey Jr. | The Oregonian/OregonLive

TriMet on Wednesday released new numbers that show a dramatic increase in reported crimes on the transit system in 2017.

That includes an increase in assaults as well as property crimes. The agency attributes some of the increase to heightened awareness in the wake of last year's deadly stabbing on a MAX Green Line train, resulting in some crimes being reported that might not have been otherwise. But it appears that there's been an increase in incidents, as well.

Unsurprisingly, part of the budget increase went to hiring 30 new security officers.

RTD's Operating Budget is $675.5 million.
TRIMET's Operating Budget is $710 million.

This would seem to put RTD in a more favorable light, no?
Eh, both agencies spend way too much.
Sheesh, everybody's a critic.

[DenverDave]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Wouldn't it make more sense to just run the 12 bus on downing more often for easy connections to the 10 and 83?