RTD Bus & Rail

RTD Bus and Rail (branded as TheRide) is a transit system in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area. Operated by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), it currently runs 86 local, 23 regional, 14 limited, and 3 skyRide bus routes plus some special services. It also includes 8 light rail lines and an additional 4 commuter rail lines with 78 stations and 113.1 miles (182.0 km) of track.[3]

RTD

RTD's three modes of public transit
Overview
Owner	Regional Transportation District
Locale	Denver Metropolitan Area
Transit type	Bus Commuter rail Light rail
Number of lines	127 (Bus) 4 (Commuter rail) 8 (Light rail)
Number of stations	57 (Light Rail) 21 (Commuter Rail) 10 (Bus Rapid Transit [BRT])
Daily ridership	209,100 (Bus)[1] 86,900 (Rail)[1]
Headquarters	1660 Blake Street Denver, CO 80202
Website	RTD Denver
Operation
Began operation	1969 (Bus) 1994 (Light rail) 2016 (Commuter rail)
Reporting marks	RTDC, RTDZ
Number of vehicles	1026 (Bus) 267 (Rail)
Technical
System length	113.1 mi (182.0 km) (light & commuter rail) (60.1 miles of light rail) (53 miles of commuter rail)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead lines, 25 kV AC 60 Hz (commuter rail)[2] Overhead lines, 750 V DC (light rail)

Light rail at 16th and California in downtown

16th Street Mall shuttle bus

History

RTD Rail
System diagram
G  Wheat Ridge/Ward Arvada Ridge Olde Town Arvada 60th & Sheridan/Arvada Gold Strike Eastlake/124th  N  Clear Creek/Federal Northglenn/112th  B  Westminster Thornton Crossroads/104th Pecos Junction Original Thornton/88th Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility Commerce City/72nd 41st & Fox 48th & Brighton/ National Western Center 38th & Blake  L  30th & Downing 40th & Colorado 29th & Welton closed Central Park 27th & Welton Peoria  R  25th & Welton 40th Ave & Airport Blvd –Gateway Park 20th & Welton 61st & Peña Denver Airport  A   A   B   C   E   G   N   W  Union Station  D   F   H  18th & California 18th & Stout  D   F   H   L  16th & California 16th & Stout  L  Pepsi Center-Elitch Gardens Fitzsimons Empower Field at Mile High Theatre District- Convention Center Auraria West Colfax at Auraria Colfax Decatur-Federal 13th Avenue Knox 2nd Avenue & Abilene Perry Aurora Metro Center Sheridan Florida  H  Lamar Iliff Lakewood-Wadsworth 10th & Osage Garrison Alameda Oak I-25 & Broadway Federal Center Nine Mile Red Rocks College Dayton  W  Jefferson County Government Center-Golden Louisiana-Pearl Evans University of Denver Elati Light Rail Maintenance Facility Colorado Englewood Yale Oxford–City of Sheridan Southmoor Littleton-Downtown  C   D  Littleton-Mineral Belleview Orchard Arapahoe at Village Center Dry Creek County Line Lincoln Sky Ridge Medical Center Lone Tree City Center RidgeGate Parkway  E   F   R
RTD parking Non-RTD parking

Bus

Bus service in Denver dates back to 1924, when Denver Tramway began the first bus between Englewood and Fort Logan. Buses had completely replaced the previously expansive streetcar system in metro Denver by 1950. However, cars were becoming a larger part of life, and ridership was declining. From 1969 to 1971, Denver Tramway required the sponsorship of the City and County of Denver to continue service. In 1971 with aging equipment, low revenues and lackluster ridership, the Denver Tramway Company transferred all of its assets to city-owned Denver Metro Transit.

In 1969, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) was created in the 47th session of the Colorado General Assembly to provide public transportation to five additional counties in the metropolitan area. It acquired privately owned companies, improved service frequency, and expanded to routes that commercial carriers previously operated such as airport buses.[4]

In July 1974, Denver Metro Transit became part of RTD, and under the new banner, ridership began to increase.

Light rail

RTD's first light rail line, a 5.3-mile (8.5 km) section of what is now the D Line, opened on Friday, October 7, 1994. It operated with free service for that half day and the first weekend, with revenue service starting on October 10.[5] It was estimated that more than 200,000 passengers rode the new system during its two-and-a-half-day opening weekend, when the fleet comprised only 11 Siemens SD-100 rail cars.[5]

Since that time, several additional light rail lines have been opened. An 8.7-mile (14.0 km) southwest extension to Mineral Avenue in Littleton opened in July 2000, and the 1.8-mile Platte Valley extension to Denver Union Station opened in April 2002. An additional 19-mile (31 km) Southeast Corridor extension along I-25 to Lone Tree and a branch along I-225 to Parker Road were completed in November 2006 as part of Denver's T-REX project.

As of April 2013, the system had 170 light rail vehicles, serving 47 miles (76 km) of track.[3]

Commuter rail

With the passage of FasTracks, RTD began planning for a series of commuter rail lines. The first 23.5 miles (37.82 km) of which, the A Line servicing Denver International Airport, opened on April 22, 2016.

As one of the first new commuter rail systems in the country planned after enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, positive Train Control (PTC) and vehicle monitoring system technologies are implemented along the system's commuter train lines. After the A Line opened between Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport, it experienced a series of issues related to having to adjust the length of unpowered gaps between different overhead power sections, direct lightning strikes, snagging wires, and crossing signals behaving unexpectedly.[6] In response to the crossing issues, Denver Transit Partners, the contractor building and operating the A Line, stationed crossing guards at each place where the A line crosses local streets at grade while it continues to explore software revisions and other fixes to address the underlying issues.[7] The FRA is requiring frequent progress reports, but allowed RTD to open its B Line as originally scheduled on July 25, 2016,[8] because the B Line only has one at-grade crossing along its current route that is not designated to be a quiet zone.[7] However, FRA previously halted testing on the longer G Line to Wheat Ridge – originally scheduled to open in late 2016 – until more progress could be shown resolving the A Line crossing issues.[9] On April 26, 2019, the G Line opened to the public.

Current services

Primary services

The primary RTD services are scheduled bus and rail routes.[10] Most bus routes are divided into Local and Regional service levels. Light rail and commuter rail services are divided in four zones: A, B, C and airport. Local service is travel within two consecutive lettered zones, and regional service is within all three lettered zones. The airport zone applies for bus or rail travel into and out of Denver International Airport.

The current commuter rail lines are:

• A Line: Union Station to Denver International Airport
• B Line: Westminster to Union Station
• G Line: Wheat Ridge/Ward to Union Station
• N Line: Union Station to Eastlake/124th

The current light rail lines are:

• C Line: Littleton/Mineral to Union Station
• D Line: Littleton/Mineral to 18th/California & 18th/Stout
• E Line: RidgeGate to Union Station
• F Line: RidgeGate to 18th/California & 18th/Stout
• H Line: Florida to 18th/California & 18th/Stout
• L Line : 16th/California & 16th/Stout to 30th/Downing
• R Line : RidgeGate to Peoria
• W Line : Denver Union Station to Jeffco Government Center-Golden

With the opening of the Southeast Corridor, many regional bus routes that provided service from the North Metro to Denver Tech Center were replaced by service to Union Station and light rail from Union Station to the Belleview light rail station. Several regional bus routes to and from the South Metro were also eliminated by the openings of the Southeast & Southwest Corridors, replaced by feeder routes to light rail.

Former services

• G Line: Running from Nine Mile station to Lincoln station, this line was suspended May 3, 2009. With the completion of FasTracks I-225 corridor, the route resumed service as the R Line in 2017.[11]

Special services

Special bus services are offered for various purposes.[12] Some of the more popular special services are:

• "FlexRide", which provides curb-to-curb service in specific areas. This is similar to taxis.[13]
• "access-a-Ride", which provides transportation for disabled people.[14]
• "Free MallRide", the 16th Street Mall shuttle; as its name implies, rides on this service are free. The shuttles are BYD ebuses.[15]
• "Free MetroRide", a specialty shuttle operating along 18th and 19th street between Denver Union Station and Civic Center Station.
• "skyRide", which provides direct service to Denver International Airport from various locations around the metro area.[16]
• Sporting events service:
  • "BroncosRide", which provides direct service to Broncos Stadium at Mile High from various locations around the metro area.[17]
  • "RunRide", a similar service which provides direct service to Boulder during the Bolder Boulder 10K road race.

Stations

Littleton-Mineral light rail station

Bus stations

Major bus stations provide termini for express and regional routes. Many local and limited routes stop near these stations, making transfers between routes relatively easy. Of the three major bus stations in the RTD system, only one—Union Station—is also served directly by light rail trains. None of the three major bus stations is a Park 'n' Ride facility.

Interior of a RTD light rail train.

Station Name	Address
Civic Center Station	1550 Broadway, Denver
Union Station (rail and bus)	1701 Wynkoop Street, Denver
Downtown Boulder Station	1400 Walnut Street, Boulder

Civic Center Station is connected to Union Station via the Free MallRide and Free MetroRide shuttle services.

Market Street Station (16th and Market Street), a major bus station in the RTD system, was closed permanently on May 11, 2014, after thirty years of continuous use. All bus routes that formerly served Market Street Station were re-routed to the renovated Union Station, four blocks to the northwest.

Rail stations

Many of the Light Rail and Commuter Rail stations have gates for various bus services. As of 2018, there are 55 stations on the eight lines in the RTD Rail system. RTD has adopted specific design standards that are incorporated into its station design, with a specific emphasis on the platform, its transition plaza and the multi-modal access provided at the facility.[18] Platforms are designed to accommodate four or three car Light Rail trains in addition to two car or four car Commuter Rail trains and may be in either a side, island or side center style.[18] The transition plaza is the area where tickets are purchased and passenger services can be found.[18] Additionally, all stations include works of public art as part of RTD's art-n-Transit program. These works include independent works or as pieces incorporated into the canopies, columns, pavers, windscreens, fencing and landscaping present at all stations.[19]

Park-n-Rides

A number of rail stations in the RTD system, as well as a number of bus stops located away from the three major bus stations, are attached to dedicated RTD parking facilities. These are the Park-n-Ride locations. As of 2014, there are more than 70 RTD Park-n-Ride facilities with an aggregate total of more than 30,000 parking spaces.[20]

Future services

Extensions to the Southwest Light Rail Corridor, the L Light Rail Line, and the B and N Commuter Rail lines are planned via the FasTracks project.[21]

Art on the light rail system

In 1977, Colorado passed the Art in Public Places bill which required that 1 percent of all state-funded construction budgets be used to purchase art.[22] About $1 million from the T-REX contingency budget was dedicated to art projects at each of the 13 new southeast corridor light rail stations as part of RTD's art-n-Transit program.[19]

• Ira Sherman, "Stange Machine," Louisiana/Pearl Station
• Ries Niemi, "Big Boots," Colorado Station
• John Goe, "Reflective Discourse," University Station
• Gregory Gove, "Connected," Yale Station
• Chris Janney, "Harmonic Pass: Denver," Southmoor Station
• Richard Elliott, "Thunder Over the Rockies," Belleview Station
• Christopher Weed, "Windswept," Dayton Station
• Dwight Atkinson, "Yet Another Way To Know That Nature Will Eventually Win," Nine Mile Station
• Wopo Holup, "Orchard Memory," Orchard Station
• Michael Clapper, "Nucleus," Arapahoe at Village Center Station
• John McEnroe, "Fools Gold," Dry Creek Station
• Emmett Culligan, "Plow," County Line Station
• Ray King, "Sun Stream," Lincoln Station

Design team artists who worked on windscreen benches, railings, bike racks and canopy columns at all stations were Susan Cooper and Rafe Ropek.

References

1. "APTA Transit Ridership Report" (PDF). APTA. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
2. "Commuter train testing begins on G Line". RTD FasTracks. Regional Transportation District of Denver. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
3. "RTD - Facts and Figures". RTD. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
4. Gutfreund, Owen (2004). Twentieth century sprawl : highways and the reshaping of the American Landscape. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195141412.
5. Pacific RailNews, January 1995, p. 68. Pentrex. ISSN 8750-8486.
6. "What's Causing Delays With RTD's A Line To DIA?". Retrieved 2017-02-27.
7. "RTD gets 90-day extension from feds to fix airport-train crossing gates". Retrieved 2017-02-27.
8. "B Line to Westminster opens July 25". Retrieved 2017-02-27.
9. "RTD G-Line to Arvada, Wheat Ridge will be delayed — again". Retrieved 2017-02-27.
10. Routes Archived 2007-01-08 at the Wayback Machine
11. "RTD - I-225 Rail Line". Regional Transportation District. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
12. Special Rides Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
13. call-n-Ride Archived 2006-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
14. access-a-Ride
15. "Denver RTD to purchase 36 new BYD electric buses for mall service". Metro Magazine. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
16. skyRide
17. BroncosRide Archived 2006-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
18. "Station design criteria" (PDF). RTD Design Guidelines & Criteria, Light Rail Design Criteria. Regional Transportation District. November 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
19. "art-n-Transit: A rider's guide to public art on RTD's transit system". Regional Transportation District. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
20. "List of Park-n-Ride locations". Regional Transportation District. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
21. "RTD". www.rtd-denver.com. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
22. Kyle MacMillan (2010-01-28). "Lawmaker working to patch hole in "1 percent for art" statute". Denver Post.

External links

• Rachel Mendelson, Marta Ivanek (2014-10-02). "How Denver's mile-high ambition is a road map for Toronto transit". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Not a year earlier, Denver voters had rejected a tax to fund a major light-rail expansion, but business leaders were determined to try again. They believed the so-called Mile-High City would need more than buses to lift it from middling to world-class, and efforts to rebuild the campaign were already underway.
• "ICYMI People are talking about Denver transit". Toronto Star. 2014-10-06. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Metro Denver Small Business Development Center shared the story with its readers. RT @MetroDenverEDC Metro #Denver's #transit gets global attention this week, serving as a blueprint for #cities...CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)