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Regional Transportation District Denver: First and Final Mile

Challenges and Opportunities

Genevieve Hutchison – RTD Senior Transportation Planner/Bicycle Program Coordinator

RailVolution – September 22, 2014

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Denver Regional Transportation District

• Regional taxing district operating transit in eight counties/40 municipalities

• 2,340 sq. mile service area

• 102 million annual boardings

• Funded by 1% sales tax

• 15-member elected Board

• 132 fixed route bus services; 48 miles of light rail

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FasTracks Program

• In 2004, Denver region voters passed a 0.4% tax increase to fund regional transit expansion

– 93 miles of commuter rail

– 28 miles light rail

– 18 miles of bus rapid transit

– Denver Union Station

– About 50 new stations with 21,000 new parking spaces

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US 36 Corridor: Denver-Boulder

• Bus Rapid Transit corridor set to open in 2016

• 18 miles between Denver Union Station in downtown Denver to Table Mesa Park-n-Ride in Boulder

• Six stations

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Customer Bike Access

• Customers accessing transit via bike:

– Light rail: 1.7%

– All bus services: 3.0%

• Of patrons parking cars at Park-n-Rides:

– Over 50% live or work within three miles of a transit stop or facility

– About 16% live within two miles of a Park-n-Ride

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US 36 Corridor: Denver-Boulder

• Bike-to-bus access in the US 36 corridor is higher than the region-wide 3% average

– Boulder Local bus service: 4.7%

– Boulder Regional bus service: 7.7%

• In this corridor about 20% live within two miles of a Park-n-Ride

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•System-wide counts show weekday bike-on-bus boardings are increasing– In 2013, about 4,500

summer weekday bike-on-bus boardings

–136% increase between 2000 and 2013

•Bus routes serving Boulder seeing biggest increases

Bikes on Bus : Capacity vs. Demand

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Bike Parking and Accessibility Plan

• Define strategies to increase the number of transit patrons bicycling to and parking at RTD transit facilities

– Facility Visits: Assess existing RTD-provided bike parking and bicycle connectivity at transit facilities

– Customer Survey: Discover customer preferences for and satisfaction with RTD bike parking

– Research: Best practices in bike parking around the US

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1 mile buffer access map

Need for secure bike parking (most important factor in deciding to ride to RTD stop or

station)Need for bike lanes or trails

(#2 and #4 most important factors in deciding to ride to RTD stop or station)

Need to have bike to complete commute or take trips during day

(84% bring bike on bus for commute, 67% for other trips)Need for secure bike parking

(59% bring bike on bus because concerned about theft)

No lockers or racks available at facilityPerceived as not secure enough

Racks too crowdedUnsure of how locker system works

(top reasons given as to why cyclists are dissatisfied with racks and lockers)

Customer Survey Outcomes

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Barriers to Leaving Bike

Behind

Barriers to Riding to RTD

Stop or Station

Barriers to Using

Racks/Lockers

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US 36 Corridor Cyclists Ride More

Bike More Often US-36 Cyclists Other Cyclists

Ride every day 21% 12%

Ride every day in each season Spring – 34%Summer – 48%

Fall – 32%Winter – 12%

Spring – 23%Summer – 32%

Fall – 23%Winter – 6%

Ride to or from school ever day 8% 3%

Ride several times a week – commute 39% 32%

Ride several times a week – social/entertainment 32% 24%

Ride several times a week – personal business 37% 24%

Ride several times a week – shopping/eating out 33% 22%

Bike with bus behaviors

Use own bike to access RTD several times a week 33% 26%

Bring bike on bus or train every day 11% 6%

Lock to bike rack when parking at RTD 77% 68%

Neutral feeling about bus-bike shelter 15% 11%

Significant differences among cyclists with origins or destinations at one of the US 36 Park-N-Rides include:

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Types of Bike Parking RTD Provides

• Racks– Inverted “U”– Circle– Wave– Art

• Lockers– Standard lockers – Vertical lockers

• Bike Trees

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Secure Bike Parking Opportunity

•Bus-then-Bike Shelters

•Secure, swipe-card entry

•Free to use

•Currently owned and administered by Boulder County

•Three shelters in operations all at transit stops/facilities in Boulder

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Secure Bike Parking Opportunity

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Secure Bike Parking Along US 36

•RTD working with corridor TMO to site Bus-then-Bike shelters at each of six future BRT stations

8’ connection to US 36 Bikeway and setback for door swing

Broomfield Lane and Arista Place Bike Lanes

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Questions

Genevieve Hutchison

303-299-2054

Genevieve.Hutchison@RTD-Denver.com