It is hard to tell if RTD is using the new light rail line to get rid of bus service or reorganize it. Almost all of Lakewood's bus service is going to be replaced with Call-n-Rides.
Now, this is not going to work for multiple reasons.
First, Call-n-Rides are invisible on the RTD website. You can't find out where they go or how to use them. If they are going to be how everyone in western Lakewood and Golden is supposed to get to the light rail, this has to change.
Second, there is not going to be enough space. The Applewood Call-n-Ride is going to replace three bus routes that together have at least 114 seats an hour. More when those buses run more than once an hour. They also have room to stand. There are going to be two Call-n-Ride buses with a total of 30 seats. I have heard of Call-n-Ride buses filling up with only eight people. Last week after rush hour ten people from my neighborhood got on a single bus. At least two or three got on the 28. That means that my neighborhood would have taken an entire Call-n-Ride bus. What about all the other neighborhoods?
However, things may not be so bad. Bus service west of Wadsworth needs to change, but RTD's planners need more information about where people want to go. The purpose of the Call-n-Rides may be to determine where bus service should go. They may evolve in a couple of different directions. New fixed routes could be created from the data collected by the Call-n-Rides. They may become flex routes which are routes that do have set stops, although fewer than fixed routes, and that have the ability to stop at other places within their service area. In Longmont, they are thinking of creating a circulator that picks up and drops off people within two blocks of its route. It is possible for a flex route to change during the day. It could have stops in front of schools only when students need those routes. Those buses could stop at work places during rush hour, stop at grocery stores and shops in the evening, etc. If this works, people could be picked up at work, taken to where they shop, and then go home by bus or taxi.
There are a couple of things that we need to do to make this work. The capacity issue is a major one. Fortunately, this is fixable. We can get more Call-n-Ride vehicles or we can use the kind of small buses that most people think of when they think of circulators. Examples are the HOP and BOUND in Boulder. These buses don't have a lot more seats than the Call-n-Rides, 20 or so, but people can stand if the bus is briefly overbooked, and they don't feel as crowded when full.
We also need to make sure that people know how to use the new system. Information about Call-n-Rides needs to be easily available on the RTD website, on the Google trip planner, and anywhere else that people get information about how to get around. We need to help people who use the present system sign up for the new one. And we need to do this as early as possible so that we can make sure that there is a spot for everyone, and that we know where people want to go as quickly as possible. We especially need to make sure that people who have difficulty calling for service get assistance.
We also need to be prepared to take action if RTD does not take action to make sure that everyone who wants to use transit is able to do so. The fact that only half of the public meetings were accessible by transit is a bad sign. This is an opportunity, we need to make sure that we take this opportunity to change things for the better.
4 comments:
Going off of what you say, and what RTD has proposed, it does look like the Applewood Call-n-Ride service will be inundated on the day it opens. Approximately 50 riders per hour use the 20, 28, and 32 combined. Some will use routes 16 and 38 instead, some will drive to the Park-n-Rides, though a good amount would like to use the Call-n-Ride. Even with the planned 15 minute peak service there may not be enough capacity to handle everyone.
The park in the middle limits productivity of the existing 28 and 32, because they can only service half of their potential demand. While some form of fixed-route service is needed, routes every 1/2 mile is a bit excessive considering the limited demand potential.
It appears that two fixed routes are needed west of Wadsworth. One route would run from Wadsworth/13th, north to 20th, west to Kipling, north to 26th, before terminating at the Applewood Village stop and doubling back again. The purpose of this route is to preserve a fixed-route through the high demand areas, while supplementing the planned Call-n-Ride.
Another route, preferably an extension of the 17, would be extended from Red Rocks Community College, north and then west to Colorado Mills Blvd, along the north access road of Colorado Mills Mall, east and then north along Youngfield, before terminating at the Applewood Village stop and doubling back. The purpose of this route is to provide a crosstown connection between Applewood Village and the Federal Center, while allowing people destined for Colorado Mills to have a decent transit option.
Thank you for your comments? Could you send them to service.change at RTD-Denver.com so they can be part of the official record? You are right that we can cut the number of fixed routes west of Wadsworth, but we still need some.
You also need to remember that the 17 is also going away. There are going to be at least four new Call-n-Ride areas that replace at least two fixed routes each.
It is my understanding that Lakewood may be funding a shuttle that will connect the Federal Center and Colorado Mills. Also Golden will be funding a flex route of some kind. But we need to get some actual money out of the FasTracks budget, something we have not been able to do yet.
(Edited to change the email to send comments to RTD.)
I think the 17 is still staying, just instead of taking the scenic gerrymandered route all the way around Jeffco it will only run between Federal Center Station and Red Rocks Community College.
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