DENVER | Transportation Thread

[TakeFive]

New Views, Brews For Winter Park Express Ski Train
December 20, 2018 By Laura Phillips/DENVER (CBS4)





Images credit: Winter Park Express via CBS4

Rumor has it the inaugural trip will be promoted as: "bunt at the bar" and during the season you can expect to hear people proclaim:
"Don't bypass bunt's bar" (Say that fast 10X)

[CastleScott]

Rumor has it the inaugural trip will be promoted as: "bunt at the bar" and during the season you can expect to hear people proclaim:
"Don't bypass bunt's bar" (Say that fast 10X)

Now this sounds FUN!!!

[TakeFive]

The Good News is

that Denver is proceeding with planning the East Colfax BRT. This includes planning the station locations and conceptual design of station 'areas.'

The Bad News is

that Denver is planning on planning for two more years.


Source

[LooksLikeForever]

There was an article in the latest 'Front Porch NE' that detailed the familiar issues with the A Line. However, one new piece of information (at least to me) caught my eye:

“Starting in January, we are doubling capacity on the University of Colorado A Line. This means we are adding cars to each train, so what previously had been two-car trains will become four-car trains." - https://frontporchne.com/article/ne-news-updates-13/

It looks like the A Line might start looking more and more like a big city train sooner than I thought. Sounds like ridership has been enough to justify the additional cars.

[CastleScott]

It looks like the A Line might start looking more and more like a big city train sooner than I thought. Sounds like ridership has been enough to justify the additional cars.

That's great!!

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeForever

There was an article in the latest 'Front Porch NE' that detailed the familiar issues with the A Line. However, one new piece of information (at least to me) caught my eye:

“Starting in January, we are doubling capacity on the University of Colorado A Line. This means we are adding cars to each train, so what previously had been two-car trains will become four-car trains." - https://frontporchne.com/article/ne-news-updates-13/

It looks like the A Line might start looking more and more like a big city train sooner than I thought. Sounds like ridership has been enough to justify the additional cars.

Great, now if only they can extend the 15-minute headways beyond 7:30pm.

[TakeFive]

According to CDOT

A buffered bike lane costs about $125,000 per mile, while a barrier-protected bike lane costs approximately $200,000 per mile, CDOT said.

That was in 2015 so add accordingly.

Portland is going through the process of 'standardizing' protected bike lanes.

The cost of construction ranges from $70,000 per mile for parking-protected bike lanes on a one-way street to $2.8 million per mile for concrete-protected bike lanes on two-way streets, Maus reports.

Point; counterpoint.

The dangers of protected bike lanes
December 21, 2017 By Philip Montoro

This is a bait and switch: I'm a cyclist, and I support bike infrastructure. I use and mostly appreciate protected bike lanes. But the way Chicago lays out its protected lanes sets traps for cyclists.

Cyclists traveling at cruising speed thus ride directly across the path of drivers turning onto the side street—and when traffic is light, drivers often make these turns with little to no warning. This wouldn't be worse than biking on any other two-way road, except that the protected bike lane is usually separated from the street by parking spaces—and when they're full, drivers and cyclists can barely see each other until it's too late. Even an attentive driver can be taken by surprise when parked cars conceal nearly all of a cyclist's approach to the intersection.

[TakeFive]

Transportation and Transit for 2019 and Beyond


Los Angeles’s Metro plans to build 100 new miles of rail — essentially doubling the system, which first opened in 1990.Credit: Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Why the West Coast Is Suddenly Beating the East Coast on Transportation
Jan. 1, 2019 By Emma G. Fitzsimmons/NYT

“It is an incredibly exciting time to be in urban transportation,” the commissioner, Polly Trottenberg, told a breakfast gathering of powerful New Yorkers, pointing to California’s progress.

The Los Angeles area, the ultimate car-centric region with its sprawling freeways, approved a sweeping $120 billion plan to build new train routes and upgrade its buses. Seattle has won accolades for its transit system, where 93 percent of riders report being happy with service — a feat that seems unimaginable in New York, where subway riders regularly simmer with rage on stalled trains.

https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news...-transpor.html

Thorny transportation issues loom ahead for the Portland region as a whole ... In some ways, 2019 may feel like a year of transition... Here’s what to expect in the transportation world.

Lynn Peterson ... will be one of the central figures driving the region toward a mega transportation package in 2020. That’s still far away but expect to see and hear more in 2019 about what may be included in that package and what dollar figure might be sought. It’s believed to be in the $20 billion ballpark, which would fall well short of transportation bonds in the Seattle area.

Portland which already has a well-regarded transit network and an MSA population about 12% less than Denver is planning to add more transit heft.

Even compared to Portland my suggested $15.5 billion metro transportation/transit plan seems modest by comparison.

Although Denver/RTD love to "Slow Jam" their planning, RTD should finish their BRT study by the summer of 2019 and Denver Moves downtown transit analysis is on a similar path. As RTD goes about reimagining their strategies along with the City of Denver's planning, 2019 would be a good time to start floating specific proposals.

[jbssfelix]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeForever

It looks like the A Line might start looking more and more like a big city train sooner than I thought. Sounds like ridership has been enough to justify the additional cars.

I commute on the A Line from Stapleton to downtown. Even by the time it gets to Stapleton, it's often already standing room only. Adding car capacity is definitely welcome.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by jbssfelix

I commute on the A Line from Stapleton to downtown. Even by the time it gets to Stapleton, it's often already standing room only. Adding car capacity is definitely welcome.

It's always a good sign when new transit infrastructure is significantly outpacing projected ridership. This is pretty good news all around. I wonder how the B line has been fairing as well.

If the G line opens, and ridership there significantly exceeds expectations, there might be more of a case to make for conjuring up the funds to get the B line to Boulder and Longmont.

[TakeFive]

Link

Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes and bicycle share programs
Jan. 2, 2019 By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

Nationally, the percentage of people who say they use a bike to get to work fell by 3.2 percent from 2016 to 2017... In some cities, the decline was far more drastic. In Tampa, Florida, and Cleveland, cycling to work dropped by at least 50 percent.

Besides the one-year drop in Seattle, the city saw a 19 percent drop-off from 2011 to 2017, according to the league's report. In Austin, Texas, there was a 24.1 percent drop in bike commuters from 2016 to 2017 and a 38 percent decline from 2011 to 2017. Long Beach, California, saw a 23.1 percent increase in the number of bike commuters from 2016 to 2017, though it was down 19 percent from 2011 to 2017, the league's report says.

Given the profile of those who bike to work being somewhat limited I've assumed there was a ceiling on growth. I've also wondered how permanent the more recent popularity of biking to work might be?

That said where it's easy to paint a bike lane on existing roads I figure 'no harm, no foul.' They have these lanes all over Phoenix - but nice wide roads made this easy to do. To what extent better, protected bike lanes should be adopted in and around downtown I'll assume that it's a good idea -- within reason. I wouldn't want to discourage biking to work and doing so safely is a reasonable expectation -- within reason.

Certainly I've always been a Big Fan of recreational biking and fully support continuing improvements on the High Line Canal Trail.

[jbssfelix]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Link

Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes and bicycle share programs
Jan. 2, 2019 By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

Given the profile of those who bike to work being somewhat limited I've assumed there was a ceiling on growth. I've also wondered how permanent the more recent popularity of biking to work might be?

That said where it's easy to paint a bike lane on existing roads I figure 'no harm, no foul.' They have these lanes all over Phoenix - but nice wide roads made this easy to do. To what extent better, protected bike lanes should be adopted in and around downtown I'll assume that it's a good idea -- within reason. I wouldn't want to discourage biking to work and doing so safely is a reasonable expectation -- within reason.

Certainly I've always been a Big Fan of recreational biking and fully support continuing improvements on the High Line Canal Trail.

As someone who has bike commuted in the past (in Indianapolis), there's three main factors I consider (that I think others do as well):

1. Proximity to destinations.
- aka density. If the city is dense enough, greater numbers of folks can be within that magical 0-3 mile range where biking works best and attracts more than just the "spandex warriors".
2. Terrain
- Is it super hilly (i.e. SF)? If so, getting grandma to hop on a bike is a non-starter.
3. Other transportation options available.
- If transit works really well, it might be cheaper/faster/easier to hop on a bus or train even to jump over 8 blocks...especially on crap-weather days, reducing the potential numbers of folks who would bike.

[Agent Orange]

Those are some surprisingly large drops and leaps. 20% plus drops in the Bay and Seattle, but 20% growth in Philly and Long Beach? 50% drop in Tampa (though as a former Tampa resident, that may mean they went from four bike commuters to two). I’m suspicious of this data. One thing I could see having a large effect on bike commuter share is scooters replacing short bike commutes, but that doesn’t explain all of the volatility.

[Cirrus]

Yeah anything with that huge a change in that short a time, for seemingly no reason, raises questions about methodology.

It wouldn't surprise me if scooters have displaced a noticable number of bike trips, but anybody should be skeptical of numbers like those. Including the ones like Philly that are way up.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Yeah anything with that huge a change in that short a time, for seemingly no reason, raises questions about methodology.

It wouldn't surprise me if scooters have displaced a noticable number of bike trips, but anybody should be skeptical of numbers like those. Including the ones like Philly that are way up.

I was curious as well but it's a part of the U.S. Census Bureau Community Survey which has been ongoing. If you consider the modest base it's not necessarily that dramatic. For instance if the percentage of bike commuters is say 5% then it would only take a 1% swing to create a 20% change.

It's also why I quoted cities where the change from 2011 thru 2017 was given.

[mhays]

I assume it's about small sample size. All anecdotal signs point to bike trips being on a continued gradual increase.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by mhays

I assume it's about small sample size. All anecdotal signs point to bike trips being on a continued gradual increase.

So we offer anecdotal in place of a sss. Is a political poll a sss or just about right or do you rely on feedback from those you know? I assume Seattle for example means the whole city and not just the downtown/neighborhoods.

I didn't try to dig into either the survey or the League of American Bicyclists assessment. In sports like the NBA or MLB drawing conclusions from half dozen or even 10 games is definitely too sss but I'm not aware of how the census bureau conducts their surveys. I wouldn't automatically assume the sample size is faulty though. It's possible given the modest percentage of bike commuters a survey for one year is vulnerable to more variance.

For commuter breakouts into downtown Denver afaik they utilize a volunteer survey which means if you want to participate you click on the site. Is that a sss or is it even representative of what a scientific poll would show? I assume it's a guestimate which is better than nothing but might skew to those who are more passionate about being counted.

[CastleScott]

Just a simple rule: most folks won't bike in the rain or snow but once the sun is out and the rain has passed or snow is gone it's a different story...

[TakeFive]

Speaking of a small sample size


Photo courtesy City of Denver

But... if you're a sharp-eyed observer you can see two bikes chained up on the sidewalk so one could reasonably deduce that at least those two bikes likely used the protected lane at some point. It's also easy to observe that it's a warm weather season day. It's amazing what one can observe with a sharp eye.

[seventwenty]

Chariot shuts down: https://denver.streetsblog.org/2019/...HEN1xC-56-7_Kg