DENVER — Public transit advocates on Tuesday pitched a $4.2 billion plan they believe will turn more people to buses and trains in lieu of cars.
The plan is simple, according to advocates: have all Denver metro buses and trains run every 15 minutes.
“If you ask people what they want in their transit system, they want a bus to come so often they don’t even need to look at the schedule,” said Jill Locantore, executive director of Denver Streets Partnership.
Julie Callender takes the light rail a few times a month from Denver to Arvada.
“I’d like to see more people ride the light rail because I think it’s a great thing,” she said.
But if Callender misses her train, the next one comes in 15 minutes — if it’s on time.
Elizabeth Ige told Denver7 she’s frustrated with RTD’s frequent delays and even cancellations.
“I hope there is some improvement,” Ige said.
The Alliance to Transform Transportation is pushing Colorado lawmakers to embrace their plan for investing $4.2 billion over the next decade to help RTD more than double the number of routes where buses and trains arrive at a 15-minute frequency.
Alliance to Transform Transportation | TPIN
According to an RTD spokesperson, buses along Colfax and Broadway in the middle of the day run at 15-minute frequencies along some routes. But when it comes to trains, RTD said the N, G, and R lines run every 30 minutes, while the B line has an hour wait between trains.
“If a bus or a train only comes once an hour, it’s kind of the equivalent as if you had a gate at the end of your driveway and you could only leave with your car once an hour,” said Locantore.
Locantore is just one advocate calling on lawmakers to embrace the plan. The pitch also calls for expanding public transit hours on nights and weekends.
“Our current transit system is more oriented around commute trips, traditional nine-to-five jobs, but that accounts for actually a small minority of the trips that people are making every day,” said Locantore.
But with the federal government cutting back, Locantore said paying for these frequency improvements could come down to raising taxes or other fees.
For now, advocates are testing out routes to find out what’s working and what’s not before taking the vision to local leaders for funding solutions.
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