CDOT is Holding Public Meetings on its Transit Plan

None in the Denver area. Or in Boulder. Or anywhere near Fort Collins. Or Grand Junction. These are supposedly upcoming, but nothing seems to be scheduled.

So for what it is worth, here are the announced meetings:

Tuesday, October 1 at 4 - 6 pm
La Junta Senior Center
102 E. 2nd Street
La Junta

CDOT Region 10 Office
300 North Cascade Avenue, Suite 1
Montrose

Wednesday, October 2 at 4-6 pm
Summit County Senior Center
0083 Nancy's Place
Frisco

Monday, October 7 at 4-6 pm
Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments
3224 Independence Road, Suite A
Cañon City

Tuesday, October 8 at 4-6 pm
City Council Chambers
101 West 8th Street
Glenwood Springs

Tuesday, October 15 at 4-6 pm
Washington County Fairgrounds
551 East 2nd Street
Akron

Wednesday, October 16 at 4-6 pm
Steamboat Springs Community Center
1605 Lincoln Avenue
Steamboat Springs

Thursday, October 17 at 4-6 pm
Grand Park Community Recreation Center
1 Main Street
Fraser

Monday, October 21 at 4-6 pm
Buena Vista Community Center, Piñon Room
715 E. Main Street
Buena Vista

Limon Community Center, South Room
477 D Street
Limon

Tuesday, October 22 at 4-6 pm
Alamosa Recreation Center
866 Road 109 South
Alamosa

Wednesday, October 23 at 4-6 pm
La Plata County Fairgrounds
2500 Main Avenue
Durango

Here's a question: The only really well placed meetings are those in the Intermountain Region. They are going to be in Frisco and Glenwood Springs, as they should be. I wonder why.

The transit plan website is http://coloradotransportationmatters.com/other-cdot-plans/transit/public-involvement/ which includes a powerpoint of the plan and an online comment form.

(I did miss tonight's meetings in Lamar and Gunnison. Sorry. I only got the announcement today.)

Transfort is holding a public meeting on proposed 2014 service changes

Meeting on Proposed Transfort Service Enhancements for May 
Wednesday, September 25, 4:30 to 6:30 pm
Community Room
215 N. Mason (Is this City Hall?)
Fort Collins
Bus: Across the street from the downtown transit center, so every bus that goes downtown.

Here are the proposed changes:

Proposed Routes (PDF)

Proposed bus frequencies (PDF) No info on when they run at these frequencies.

Summary of where service is being added and where it is being cut. (PDF) It looks like as much service is being cut as is being added, but that more routes will see increased service as only two are seeing decreases.

If you cannot attend a meeting, you can send comments to Jerediah Burianek at jerediah@fcgov.com or 970-224-6195. You can also mail comments to Transfort, P.O. Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522.

What if you live in a flood area and don't have a car?

Starting Monday, September 23, Via Mobility Services is offering van service to Boulder County's disaster assistance centers. Via is also offering van service to work, school, healthcare, food and any other essential services for all flood victims. To schedule a trip, please call 303-447-9636 Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. The service does operate on the weekends, but those trips must be booked before Friday at 5 pm. This service will continue (for free) until Thursday, October 17.

In fact, the service is theoretically working today, but there does not seem to be anyway to actually book a ride.

The Climb, the Boulder to Gold Hill bus resumes with a modified route on Monday. The link will also take you to information about the midday roundtrip that Via is also running. From Monday, September 23 until Friday, October 11, a four-wheel drive van will leave from Nederland at 10 am to arrive in Boulder at 11:30 am. The return trip leaves Boulder Transit Center at 2 pm and arrives in Nederland at 3:30 pm. I am assuming that this bus has the same fare as the N, but costs is not mentioned in any of my sources of information.

Regular paratransit service within Nederland starts on Wednesday, September 25.

RTD will start running a modified N route on Monday also. Using the regular N buses, the route will run from Boulder to Nederland via Highway 119 and Black Hawk. You may want to contact RTD on Monday to confirm, as this information is not on their website yet.

Bus passes and tickets are available at disaster assistance centers. The Longmont Disaster Assistance Center is at Twin Peaks Mall, 1520 S. Hover Street. This is on the BOLT route. The Boulder Disaster Assistance Center is at 5495 Arapahoe Road. This is on the JUMP, next to Premier Credit Union.

Good luck to everyone who was in the flood. Please do not hesitate to ask for the help that you need.

Meetings on January Service Changes

Wednesday, September 18, noon and 6 pm
RTD Administrative Offices, basement meeting room
1600 Blake Street
Denver
Bus: 0, 1, 6, 20, 28, 32, 44, MALL RIDE, 120X, AF, B, L

Thursday, September 19, noon
Civic Center Plaza
1560 Broadway, Room 1940
Denver
Bus: 0, 6, 15, 15L, 16, 16L, 79L, 83L 

Thursday, September 19, 7 pm
Central Park Recreation Center, Rooms A&B
9651 E. Martin Luther King Boulevard
Denver
Bus: 89

Thursday, September 19 at 7 pm
Boulder YMCA, Blue Room
2850 Mapleton
Boulder
Bus: 205, BOLT
The 205 is going to get a name; I wonder what it will be.

Saturday, September 21, 9 am
Chaffee Park Recreation Center (Is this location losing service?)
4580 Tejon Street
Denver
Bus: 52

Saturday, September 21, 1 pm
Green Mountain Rec. Center
13198 W. Green Mountain Drive
Lakewood
Bus: 21

Thursday, September 26, 6 pm
Glenarm Recreation Center
2800 Glenarm Place
Denver
Bus: 12, 28
Light Rail: D
This location may not be handicapped accessible from transit.


It is time for fall service change public meetings. Fortunately, it looks like there are more service additions than cuts. Unfortunately, there are some very important areas that are still not getting their service back. Also, RTD is getting even worse at describing service changes. As always, I am watching what happens with the 225, and I still can't tell what is happening.

Transit Advocates Coming Together in Fort Collins

Wednesday, September 4, 7 pm
Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship
300 East Oak
Fort Collins
Bus: Within far walking distance of downtown transit center.

The organizers may be providing rides to people.

Not only does Fort Collins need better transit, the residents of that city are in danger of losing the buses they have. So BB/PFLAG, an already existing group of bus riders, is hosting a meeting for people who live or work in Fort Collins to discuss this issue.

Here is the invitation:

Dear Transportation Advocate,

As many of you know, Barrier Busters/Public Transit Action Group has been  working hard to promote a community that is transit friendly and accessible to all people. 

While there is much excitement about the construction of the MAX, we feel as though it concentrates too much on facilitating shopping and a fun night out, and too little on actually moving people around our City.

We feel the time is now to assess what different transportation groups are working on, assess the city's plan and progress, and educate ourselves about what can be done. Our collective energy can do amazing things.

We would like to engage all local transportation advocates and activists to start an ad hoc group that serves to research, design and implement a plan that will move us forward. The ad hoc group may be ongoing, or we may simply take ideas back to our own groups. We can all benefit from knowing what each other is doing!

Perhaps this means a Transit District or perhaps it means a dedicated income stream while keeping transit within the City's budget. Much of this depends on our bandwidth and energy, but it is up to us to educate ourselves, reach out to the community, and determine the best method to create a stellar transportation system in Fort Collins. 

Please join us at an organizational meeting:

Wednesday, September 4, 7pm
Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship, 300 East Oak
Please bring all interested friends and community members, although at this point it is probably premature to bring in city officials or elected officials.

Please let us know if you are able to attend. We want to have enough yummy (yet simple) snacks. To RSVP or if you have any questions, please contact Cheryl at FCCAN info@fccan.org or 970.419.8944.Thanks to all,
Barrier Busters/PTAG

RTD is taking comments about the placement of light rail along Fitzsimmons Parkway

RTD is changing where they are going to build the light rail along Fitzsimmons Parkway in Aurora as part of the I-225 line. The realignment powerpoint ( PDF) and the preferred alignment webpage can be accessed through the underlined links although the powerpoint PDF may not be completely visible. You can comment until August 30 through the FasTracks website or by sending an email to I-225@rtd-fastracks.com.

RTD still does not know where Fitzsimmons Station is going to be.

Please note that the website link will work for any comments on the I-225 light rail projects, so it can be used after August 30 for other subjects.

Social Action for Transit is meeting in Denver

Wednesday, August 28 at 6 pm
Peppers
3500 Morrison (Morrison and Alameda)
Denver
Bus: 3

We are going to be discussing past cuts to bus service in southwest Denver, and ways to bring those bus route(s) back. I am interested to hear what people say are their concerns. We may be discussing a bus route that used to run down Morrison.