DENVER | Transportation Thread

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

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

Now I know what you were thinking about... rail transit on grass, right?

• Video Link

This would be a great look along Speer Blvd and 1st Ave thru Cherry Creek.

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Now I know what you were thinking about... rail transit on grass, right?

This would be a great look along Speer Blvd and 1st Ave thru Cherry Creek.

No. Something more like this subway Cirrus put together for another thread:

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

No. Something more like this subway Cirrus put together for another thread:

Ahhh, sweeet; that would be so cool and great for those neighborhoods/streets.

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

August changes are now final. So, next one is this winter sometime.

More than a dozen RTD service cuts go into effect, 16th Street Mall Ride reductions included
Aug 26, 2018 by Connor Wist/The Denver Channel

DENVER – More than a dozen RTD bus routes will be running less often starting Sunday. The 16th Street Mall Ride shuttle will also see reduced services starting this coming week.

The RTD Board of Directors approved the changes in June citing low ridership system wide and bus driver shortages as reasons for the decision.

Riders Affected As RTD Consolidates Bus Stops
August 27, 2018

DENVER (CBS4)– RTD is consolidating bus stops across the Denver metro area to improve service. The changes took affect Monday morning and impacted hundreds of riders during their morning commute.

Some stops are being eliminated from certain routes. RTD says this strategy will make public transit easier to navigate and more efficient.

[Darius C]

From The Denver Post:

...according to an internal RTD email obtained by The Denver Post on Monday, the Federal Railroad Administration took note earlier this month when a G-Line test train reached a crossing ahead of the safety gates’ minimum 20-second warning time. The incident triggered the agency to order reinstatement of flaggers at three A-Line crossings — York/Josephine, Steele and Holly streets — and the lone crossing on the B-Line, which serves Westminste

http://https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/27/a-line-flaggers-return-g-line-quiet-zones-delays/

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Darius C

From The Denver Post:



http://https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/27/a-line-flaggers-return-g-line-quiet-zones-delays/

So why did a gate failure during testing on the G Line cause the FRA to reinstate guards on the A Line? Was this a total system failure? Isolated hardware failure at this station? Or is the FRA overreacting due to RTD operating under an exception?

Also, did the gate fail totally or did it go down at 15 seconds instead of 20 seconds?

[TakeFive]

With an abundance of caution...

Flaggers Back On The A Line But RTD Says Not For Long
August 28, 2018/CBS4 Denver

DENVER (CBS4)– Flaggers are back at some A Line crossings after testing on the G Line northwest of the Denver metro area revealed a glitch.

RTD says a software bug discovered during testing of the still unopened G Line meant the flaggers would have to be back at certain A Line crossings once again.

WTF?

The software bug was discovered during testing on the G Line in Arvada last week. Because of that glitch, the Federal Railroad Association required that RTD put flaggers back at the affected crossings, three along the A Line and one along the B Line.

The crossings at Steele, York and Clayton Streets will have flaggers as a precautionary measure while RTD investigates the problem and conducts a software upgrade.

[TakeFive]

Can History Repeat Itself?


Courtesy of DIA via Mile High CRE

DIA Celebrates 25th Anniversary of World-Renowned Pedestrian Bridge
June 26, 2018 By Nicole C. Marshall, MBA/Mile High CRE

Denver International Airport (DEN), and its design team, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the construction of its Pedestrian Bridge, one of only two of its kind that are built in the world today.

“This free-span pedestrian bridge was incredibly sophisticated. This was the first time a passenger structure had been built large enough to allow for planes to travel underneath, and at a length of 365 feet, we designed it so two planes could pass under it side-by-side,” said Luis O. Acosta, the architect of record who led the project’s design.

Two Questions
1. Can this bridge possibly survive another 25 years with all that (ahem) body weight?
2. Do you have any more cool pics of this bridge?
Two Answers
1. Doubtful
2. You bet


Courtesy LOA Architecture via Denver Post


Photo courtesy Mortenson/Denver

[mhays]

Interesting. Seattle will install one in a year or so (?) to connect the south satellite to the new international arrivals terminal which adds to concourse A. I didn't know DIA had one.

[CameraShy]

The bridge has two decks. The upper deck is for international passengers (arriving). The lower deck is for domestic passengers (departing/arriving), and international passengers (departing).

[TakeFive]

Is CDOT in the transit business?
Hell yeah, and even better they know how to work the system.

Per the Federal Transit Administration: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/...ogram-projects

• $1,300,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and infrastructure for the Eagle County Regional Transportation Authority.
• $1,000,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and charging stations for Breckenridge, CO - supporting the "Electric Breck" plan.
• $1,200,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and charging stations to replace aging buses in Summit County, CO.
• $403,266 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and infrastructure to support service in Estes Park, CO.

[TakeFive]

CDOT is getting better at breaking things


Photo courtesy Foz31

Ground broken on accelerated I-25 South Gap Project
AUGUST 30, 2018 BY JIM HOOLEY/KVDR

The project will rebuild and expand Interstate 25 between Castle Rock and Monument, a stretch of the highway that is in desperate need for an update.

The Gap will add one Express Lane in each direction. The two general purpose lanes will remain free.

[TakeFive]

Wait... what is this?



That would be new LRT cars with a new seat configuration


Photos courtesy RTD/Denver

RIDERS WILL SEE CHANGES ON NEW LIGHT RAIL CARS
08.22.18 by by Michelle Brier/RTD

RTD has purchased 29 new light rail cars to meet the needs of its growing light rail system. The second shipment came in last month. The agency has taken delivery of nine vehicles so far this year. All of the light rail vehicles are scheduled to be delivered by the end of Spring, 2019.

How about those seats

Light rail riders will see changes in these new cars. Instead of the old knee-to-knee seating layout, they will notice more conventional knee-to-back seating. The District decided to change its seat orientation in the new vehicles because of input provided by you, RTD’s riders, as well as RTD’s Senior Leadership Team

More seats, oh boy

Passengers will also see ADA-compliant space for wheelchair parking, similar to the retrofit on the current light rail vehicles. However, the new cars will have eight more places to sit due to the new seating layout and a new type of flip seat.

[TakeFive]

Almost understandable

Ashley Dean/Denverite has the gate crossing glitch update from Scott Reed. https://denverite.com/2018/08/31/g-l...ugh-hourglass/

The software fix was something that was determined by one activation sequence — the gates coming down and coming back up. There was one instance out of literally thousands that the gate activation did not comply with the federal and Colorado Public Utilities Commission requirements.”

How does the system work

There’s a window for how long the crossing bars can stay up or down longer than than they’re supposed to. Each gate has its own individual timing, and one gate did not work within those standards.

“So we went back and took a look at what caused that and it turned out there was glitch in the software that only affects grade crossings were the station is relatively close to the next grade crossing,” Reed said.

Well that's clear as mud

“So in other words, the train pulls up, stops at the station and the wireless grade crossing technology communicates with the gate at the next grade crossing. ‘OK now I’m leaving the station, based on my travel speed, I’ll be there in 30 seconds. I’m picking up speed, I’ll be there in 25 seconds. I’m picking up more speed, I’ll be there in 20 seconds.’ That one instance it did not complete that whole link to get the gate to activate in he prescribed activation time. That’s what’s being changed and that’s why there are crossing attendants or flaggers.

[DenverDave]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Is CDOT in the transit business?
Hell yeah, and even better they know how to work the system.

Per the Federal Transit Administration: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/...ogram-projects

• $1,300,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and infrastructure for the Eagle County Regional Transportation Authority.
• $1,000,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and charging stations for Breckenridge, CO - supporting the "Electric Breck" plan.
• $1,200,000 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and charging stations to replace aging buses in Summit County, CO.
• $403,266 - The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive funds to purchase electric buses and infrastructure to support service in Estes Park, CO.

Brilliant CDOT. So the mountain towns have an awesome bus system, but there is no way to get there from denver without driving your own car. Bustang is a joke. CDOT really needs to step up and provide affordable bus trips to the ski areas. $10 each way from the Morrison park and rides would sell out as many as they could run. Who knows, maybe we could even save a few billion on the next highway widening project.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DenverDave

Bustang is a joke. CDOT really needs to step up and provide affordable bus trips to the ski areas. $10 each way from the Morrison park and rides would sell out as many as they could run. Who knows, maybe we could even save a few billion on the next highway widening project.

Not a joke, I rode Bustang in June and thought it was terrific; best way to enjoy the mountain views along the way.

Depends where you want to go I assume. I took Bustang from DUS up to Summit Co and regular fare is only $12 from Denver. My senior discount made it $9. It does get more expensive the further you go - of course. Compared to other private carrier options it's is a real deal. Just curious what would you calculate (just) your gas costs to be? You could also use the 53 cents per mile the IRS calculates your costs at.

[DenverDave]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Not a joke, I rode Bustang in June and thought it was terrific; best way to enjoy the mountain views along the way.

The main problem is that it runs east in the morning and west in the evening so is useless to skiers trying to avoid I70 traffic and does nothing to reduce congestion. It's almost as if they don't want the program to be too successful. Otherwise it would be clear that spending $500 million on new buses could be a better use of funds than $5 billion on new toll lanes.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by DenverDave

The main problem is that it runs east in the morning and west in the evening so is useless to skiers trying to avoid I70 traffic and does nothing to reduce congestion. It's almost as if they don't want the program to be too successful. Otherwise it would be clear that spending $500 million on new buses could be a better use of funds than $5 billion on new toll lanes.

THIS. I remember first looking into Bustang as a great alternative to getting out to the mountain towns for skiing during the winter.... only to be severely disappointed when I saw the schedule. I also hypothesize that Bustang would be wildly successful if they added more buses out to the mountains in the Winter. If the Winter Park express train can make it, Bustang would be packed each time a bus left Union Station in the morning to Breck/Copper/Vail. And I promise most people would rather pay $10-$15 to get out there on a bus rather than having to deal with the increasing congestion on 70.

[Zmapper]

Bustang now has a 0645 trip departing Denver for the mountains and a return trip arriving in Denver at 1835.

[DenverDave]

Originally Posted by Zmapper

Bustang now has a 0645 trip departing Denver for the mountains and a return trip arriving in Denver at 1835.

Wow. Could be a game changer if it's the same price. I think they tried this before and tickets were twice as expensive.

[twister244]

Ask and you shall receive I guess?.......

That's pretty cool actually. Hell, I could ride my bike down to Union Station, hop on a bus at 7 AM, enjoy free wifi on my laptop, get off, rent skis, ski, and be back in the evening. Seriously, that sounds so much more appealing then hauling crap into my car at the crack of dawn, and trying to drive out to the mountains in my Honda Civic with traffic.