2012 APA COLORADO ANNUAL CONFERENCE Friday, October 5, 2012

1. Leveraging the West Rail Line: Planning for Transit Changes 2012 APA COLORADO ANNUAL CONFERENCE Friday, October 5, 2012 Kyle Dalton, AICP, City of Denver Cynthia Patton, City of Denver Eric Miller, AICP, RTD

2. Outline • Denver Livability Partnership Background • RTD: West Line Process and Service Changes • West Side Transit Enhancement Study • Study Findings • Reflections Agency Coordination PRESENTATION

3. provide more transportation choices promote equitable, affordable housing enhance economic competitiveness support existing communities coordinate policies and leverageinvestment value communities and neighborhoods LIVABILITY PRINCIPLES

4. increasing demand for housing near transit in metro Denver (40% of this demand low income HH) • improved housing stock better access to transit and jobs opportunities for active lifestyles and access to healthy foods NEEDS

6. housing jobs transportation

9. WEST SIDE STUDY AREA

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12. Regional Transportation District (RTD) Eric Miller RTD Service Planner/Scheduler West Line Process and Service Changes RTD SLIDES

13. EIS Background and value engineering challenges • Service cuts prior to 2013

14. Service changes study • Normal efficiencies with rail line

15. Public Outreach Process: • Regular RTD hearings across service area • West Denver Charrette in partnership with WSTES team

16. Monitor and Adjust: • Process of updating service after the opening

17. Coordination with CCD / Partnership – • Environment to make transit more convenient • RTD Next Steps • Challenges/Reflections

18. Agency Coordination

19. Metro map DENVER METRO AREA Region-wide: 122 miles of new rail 18 miles of bus transit West Corridor: 12.1 miles

20. Denver west line map FASTRACKS – WEST LINE

21. Denver west line map WEST SIDE STUDY AREA

22. Phase I: Phase II: • Assess the feasibility of improved transit service and connections for West Side neighborhoods. • Assess current RTD services and identify opportunities to improve or enhance connections and access • Identify infrastructure improvements that may be warranted around transit stops Agency Coordination PROJECT GOALS

23. WSTES Study Components: Market Conditions & Study Area Snapshot Existing RTD Service User Trends and Behavior RTD Service Standards Coverage Analysis Findings • Each component of the study process contributed to an understanding of the study area and informed the findings STUDY COMPONENTS

24. Market Conditions: Examining current and future market conditions of the West Side provides a market context for the performance of existing RTD services within the study area and highlights opportunities for potential transit investment and ridership growth. Population & Employment Densities Median Household Income Zero Vehicle Households Vehicle to Population Ratio Existing Ridership Travel Patterns MARKET CONDITIONS

25. Market Conditions – Population and Employment Densities • Greatest PopulationGrowth (2020): • Colfax Avenue • La Alma/Lincoln Park • Sun Valley • Decatur-Federal Station • Highest Population • Densities (2010): • Colfax Avenue • Broadway • La Alma/Lincoln Park • Baker MARKET CONDITIONS

26. Median Household Income • Mix of incomes throughout the study area • Indicates both transit dependent riders and • opportunities to capture choice riders MARKET CONDITIONS

27. Market Conditions – Zero Vehicle Households • Fewer Vehicles • Per Household (2010): • West Colfax • Sun Valley • La Alma/Lincoln Park Neighborhoods with lower automobile access generally correspond with areas where vehicle ownership is either unnecessary or financially infeasible. MARKET CONDITIONS

28. Study area is covered by numerous routes – both limited and regular EXISTING SERVICE

29. Existing Service– Service Spans • Routes operating along major corridors typically have longer service spans and provide all-day service. • Major routes with service spans of nearly 24 hours: • South Broadway (Route 0) • West Colfax Avenue (Route 16) • Major routes with at least 18 hours of daily service: • Alameda Avenue (Route 3) • Mississippi Avenue (Route 11) • Sheridan Boulevard (Route 51) EXISTING SERVICE

30. Existing Ridership • Routes generate 62,499 average weekday boardings • S. Broadway, Federal Blvd. Cross-Town, West Colfax, and S. Federal Blvd. routes each experience more than 5,500 weekday boardings • Ridership concentrated at major transfer locations CURRENT RIDERSHIP

31. CURRENT RIDERSHIP

32. Travel Patterns in the Study Area • Data suggest that most trips that start within the study area, end outside the study area. • Limited neighborhood to neighborhood travel. • More than 89% of person-trips made in the West Side Travel Shed are pass-through trips. (Denver Strategic Transportation Plan, 2008)

33. RTD Service Standards • RTD currently utilizes area coverage standards, providing guidelines for tailoring service to the needs of the communities within the District. • Area coverage standards used • Density is used as a measure to help determine potential demand for transit to and from a particular area • Walk distance thresholds for different transit users (1/4 mile for the study area’s population and employment densities) • Network relies on directing users to routes that operate at spontaneous use frequencies

34. COVERAGE ANALYSIS

35. COVERAGE ANALYSIS

36. COVERAGE ANALYSIS

37. 1/8 Mile Walk Distance - Weekday WALK DISTANCE

38. ¼ Mile Walk Distance - Weekday WALK DISTANCE Residents Employees

39. Coverage Analysis – Findings • The majority of the study area is covered by RTD services during the peak time periods • An exception is a corridor along Perry St. south of Colfax Avenue and north of Alameda Avenue where some residents/employees are more than ¼ mile away from the system • Another service gap emerges in the center of Morrison Road in Westwood (former Route 4) COVERAGE ANALYSIS

40. Public Outreach– Survey • Public survey provided online and hard copy in: • Vietnamese • Somali • Spanish • English OUTREACH

42. Public Outreach– Survey Results OUTREACH

43. Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions OUTREACH

44. Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions OUTREACH

45. Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions OUTREACH

46. Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions OUTREACH

47. Service Options– • Westside Call-n-Ride (Daytime) • Service Characteristics: • 3 square mile service area • 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM • 30 min. connection to LRT (Decatur/Federal) • Late Evening Call-n-Ride • Service Characteristics: • 10.2 square mile service area • 1:00 AM – 4:40 AM • 30 min. connection to LRT (Broadway) OUTCOMES • *Next steps: conduct a more detailed feasibility analysis including ridership estimates, a more detailed examination of the services areas, and a cost and performance assessment

48. Next Steps and Takeaways • Funding for feasibility analysis and potential pilot program • JARQ • CMAQ • CCD/RTD Partnership • Other • Benefits of partnerships: • Leverage staff and funding resources • Challenges: • Service gaps vs. demand/ridership OUTCOMES

49. WSTES: Phase II • Ridership numbers can be influenced by the way users physically access bus stops • Study will look closely at improvements to better physically connect West Side stakeholders to transit services • A combination of adequate way-finding aids, lighting, sidewalk and infrastructure, and stop amenities provide customers with a high-quality “portal” to transit services. • October kick-off will leverage CU Denver student work OUTCOMES

50. Eric Miller - RTD SERVICE PLANNING (RTD) service.changes@rtd-denver.com 303.299.2480 Cindy Patton - PROJECT MANAGER (Denver Public Works) cindy.patton@denvergov.org 720.865.3157 Kyle Dalton - PROJECT MANAGER (Community Planning and Development) kyle.dalton@denvergov.org 720.865.2972 www.denvergov.org/DLP