Quote:
Originally Posted by Wizened Variations
This gets interesting when one looks at other source points:
Say 10-15 minutes from home to Mineral station
Say 5- 10 minutes from Bus (or parked car- a no no) to platform
(a longer walk)
Say a 1-15 minute wait for a train
Say 5 to 15 minutes as all trains northboard from Mineral go through Broadway
Say 22-27 minutes from Mineral to LODO light rail
Say 10 minutes to exit train and walk via Underground to commuter rail
Say 15 minutes (optimal) for train, then boarding
Say 35 minutes to DIA
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111- 146 minutes
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This is generally my route, so let me clean it up, make it a little more realistic. This is for me, from Englewood.
5 minute drive to station.
1 minute walk to platform.
7.5 minute average wait.
10 ride to Broadway.
5 minute (maximum) wait for transfer to Union Station - I do this a lot, it's never a long wait.
12 minute ride to Union Station.
5 minute walk to transfer.
7.5 minute average transfer wait.
34 minute ride to DIA.
Total time from my door (yes, assuming park-n-ride) to DIA is 87 minutes - roughly an hour and a half.
That's about what I would expect... double the typical drive time, excluding parking at DIA, which adds 30 minutes and significant cost. From downtown, of course, it's much much easier.
Now, I will say, if I wasn't driving to the park-n-ride it gets much worse. I do this sometimes... and the buses are terribly timed, so oftentimes it's faster to walk 30-35 minutes. In any case, add a full 30 to this (20 on a good day, but it's unpredictable) for a bus connection to the train.
So actually, Wizened is probably only exaggerating by about 15 minutes. I typically leave my house 1 hour 15 minutes before I want to be at DIA if I am parking there. With the train, I will probably leave 15 minutes later if I am driving to the station, 15 minutes earlier if I am talking a bus. And let's be honest, I don't live in the most-transit friendly corner of the City of Denver. My experience is probably typical of people who will live somewhat close to a Fastracks line, but not close enough to get to it conveniently without driving.