2012 apa colorado annual conference friday, october 5, 2012

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)

service.changes@rtd-denver.com303.299.2480

Cindy Patton - PROJECT MANAGER(Denver Public Works)

cindy.patton@denvergov.org720.865.3157

Kyle Dalton - PROJECT MANAGER (Community Planning and Development)

kyle.dalton@denvergov.org720.865.2972

www.denvergov.org/DLP