2012 apa colorado annual conference friday, october 5, 2012
DESCRIPTION
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. Outline. Denver Livability Partnership Background - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Leveraging the West Rail Line: Planning for Transit Changes
2012 APA COLORADO ANNUAL CONFERENCEFriday, October 5, 2012
Kyle Dalton, AICP, City of DenverCynthia Patton, City of DenverEric Miller, AICP, RTD
OutlineDenver Livability Partnership Background
RTD: West Line Process and Service Changes
West Side Transit Enhancement Study
Study Findings
Reflections
Agency Coordinati
on
PRESENTATIO
N
1. provide more transportation choices
2. promote equitable, affordable housing
3. enhance economic competitiveness
4. support existing communities
5. coordinate policies and leverageinvestment
6. value communities and neighborhoods
LIVABILITY PRINCIPLES
NEED
Simproved housing stock
better access to transit and jobs
opportunities for active lifestyles and access to healthy foods
increasing demand for housing near transit in metro Denver (40% of this demand low income HH)
housing jobstransportation
WEST SIDE STUDY
AREA
+ +=
RTD SLIDES
Regional Transportation District (RTD)Eric Miller
RTD Service Planner/Scheduler
West Line Process and Service Changes
• EIS Background and value engineering challenges• Service cuts prior to 2013
• Service changes study
• Normal efficiencies with rail line
• Public Outreach Process:
• Regular RTD hearings across service area
• West Denver Charrette in partnership with WSTES team
• Monitor and Adjust:
• Process of updating service after the opening
Coordination with CCD / Partnership –
Environment to make transit more convenient
RTD Next StepsChallenges/Reflections
Agency Coordination
Metro map
Region-wide: 122 miles of new rail18 miles of bus transit
West Corridor: 12.1 miles
DENVER METRO AREA
Denver west line map
FASTRACKS – WEST LINE
Denver west line map
WEST SIDE STUDY AREA
• 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
Phase I: Phase II:• Identify infrastructure
improvements that may be warranted around transit stops
Agency Coordinatio
n
PROJECT GOALS
WSTES Study Components:
Each component of the study process contributed to an understanding of the study area and informed
the findings
1. Market Conditions & Study Area Snapshot
2. Existing RTD Service3. User Trends and Behavior4. RTD Service Standards5. Coverage Analysis6. Findings
STUDY COMPONENTS
Market Conditions:
1. Population & Employment Densities
2. Median Household Income
3. Zero Vehicle Households4. Vehicle to Population
Ratio5. Existing Ridership6. Travel Patterns
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.
MARKET CONDITIONS
Market Conditions – Population and Employment Densities
Highest PopulationDensities (2010):
• Colfax Avenue• Broadway• La Alma/Lincoln Park• Baker
Greatest PopulationGrowth (2020):
• Colfax Avenue• La Alma/Lincoln Park• Sun Valley• Decatur-Federal Station
MARKET CO
ND
ITION
S
Median Household Income
• Mix of incomes throughout the study area
• Indicates both transit dependent riders and
opportunities to capture choice riders
MARKET CO
ND
ITION
S
Market Conditions – Zero Vehicle Households
Fewer VehiclesPer Household (2010):
• West Colfax• Sun Valley• La Alma/Lincoln Park
MARKET CO
ND
ITION
S
Neighborhoods with lower automobile access generally
correspond with areas where vehicle
ownership is either unnecessary or
financially infeasible.
Study area is covered by numerous routes – both limited and regular
EXISTING
SERVICE
Service Level by RouteCombined Peak
Frequency Route(s)
Better than 10 minutes
0, 0Ltd 16, 16Ltd
30, 30Ltd, 31, 36Ltd
10 to 15 minutes
3, 4, 34 1, 9
9 20
Greater than 15 minutes
1 52
8 14 11 51
• Routes operating along major corridors typically have longer service spans and provide all-day service.
Existing Service– Service Spans
• 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
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
CURREN
T RIDERSH
IP
0 31 16 30 3 11 20 51 16L 52 1 0L 9 8 14 36L
30L 4 34
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
Average Weekday Boardings
Route
Pass
enge
r Bo
ardi
ngs
Local Limited
Source: 2009 -2010 RTD Ridecheck Plus
8,425
CURREN
T RIDERSH
IP
• 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)
Travel Patterns in the Study Area
• 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
RTD Service Standards
COVERAG
E ANALYSIS
COVERAG
E ANALYSIS
COVERAG
E ANALYSIS
WALK D
ISTANCE
1/8 Mile Walk Distance - Weekday
¼ Mile Walk Distance - Weekday
Residents Employees
WALK D
ISTANCE
• 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 – Findings
COVERAG
E ANALYSIS
OU
TREACHPublic Outreach– Survey
Public survey provided online and hard copy in: • Vietnamese• Somali• Spanish• English
Public Outreach– Survey Results
OU
TREACH
Destinations %
Morning 61.6%
Noon 27.7%
Afternoon 53.2%
Evening 46%
Night 14.2%
OU
TREACHPublic Outreach– Trade-off Questions
73
54
All Respondents
More frequent service for a shorter duration of the day?Less frequent service for a longer duration of the day?
OU
TREACH
All Respondents
36
93
All Respondents
A longer walk to a stop and less time riding?A shorter walk to a stop and more time rid-ing?
Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions
OU
TREACH
5770
All Respondents
More routes running on more streets, with less frequent service?Fewer routes running on fewer streets, with more frequent ser-vice?
Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions
OU
TREACH
52
75
All Respondents
A more frequent route that requires a transfer?A less frequent route that does not require a transfer?
Public Outreach– Trade-off Questions
1. Westside Call-n-Ride (Daytime)Service Characteristics:3 square mile service area6:00 AM – 6:00 PM30 min. connection to LRT (Decatur/Federal)
2. Late Evening Call-n-RideService Characteristics:10.2 square mile service area1:00 AM – 4:40 AM30 min. connection to LRT (Broadway)
OU
TCOM
ESService Options–
*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
OU
TCOM
ESNext Steps and Takeaways
Funding for feasibility analysis and potential pilot program
• JARQ• CMAQ• CCD/RTD Partnership• Other
Benefits of partnerships:• Leverage staff and funding resourcesChallenges:• Service gaps vs. demand/ridership
OU
TCOM
ESWSTES: 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
Eric Miller - RTD SERVICE PLANNING(RTD)
Cindy Patton - PROJECT MANAGER(Denver Public Works)
Kyle Dalton - PROJECT MANAGER (Community Planning and Development)
www.denvergov.org/DLP