July 2018 Meeting Notes
by Geneva Hooten

But how do I get there by transit? A look at RTD’s First and Final Mile Strategic Plan

RTD is very early in the development of a regional “First and Final Mile Strategic Plan,” that aims to close the gaps in station accessibility while making RTD more accessible to more people. RTD is accomplishing this bold goal through a careful analysis of 15 representative stations. These stations, which are primarily suburban in context, and their subsequent recommendations, will provide a roadmap for how RTD can improve accessibility elsewhere.

Thank you to Paul DesRocher, Manager of Planning Coordination, for providing a progress update on this plan.

The full presentation deck is available here.

Those are great goals, Denver, but we need to fund them. An overview of the $40M annual transportation funding gap.

Jill Locantore, Executive Director of WalkDenver and co-founder of the Denver Streets Partnership, provided a concise call to action: Denver needs to fund its promises. Want safe streets for everyone? Want a full pedestrian network? Safe bikeways? We gotta pay for it, and we need to pay for it now.

The Streets Partnership is asking Mayor Michael Hancock, City Council and the Director of Public Works to consider the following funding requests for Denver’s 2019 budget:

• $10 million for sidewalks and $5 million for bicycle facilities

• $5 million to improve safety on Federal Boulevard – the city’s deadliest corridor

• $1 million for interim design treatments like paint, epoxy, and plastic bollards to make designated lanes clearer and safer

• $1 million for updating Denver’s Street Design Standards to improve safety for all

But the Streets Partnership isn’t only about money. They’re also focused on policy development, vision zero, and critical corridor transformations for the Broadways, Colfaxes, and Federals of the city. Feeling inspired? You can quickly advocate to your elected offici here: https://act.yourethecure.org/6QgcD6a

The full presentation deck is available here.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a scooter!

The last two presentations of the evening provided a hearty update on dockless mobility in Denver. What in the world is dockless mobility? Under this umbrella are all vehicles that use an onboard technology to allow someone to remotely check out the [bicycle, e-bikes, e-scooter, etc.] from the public right of way.

Sam Sadle, with Lime, was one of the scooter companies that landed in Denver, was removed while the City developed a pilot program (explained below), and is now back in action.

During their first run, Lime found that for 40% of survey respondents, the scooter replaced a car, Lyft, or Uber ride. That means that scooters are not just a lot of fun, they’re serving as a viable transportation option. Most of the scooter trips are between 1 and 1.5 miles long, providing a quick option for short trips.

The advantage to Lime and other scooter technologies is that they’re flexible (no stations), provide a fare structure that benefits one-off trips rather than many trips within a 24-hour time frame (much different from Denver B-cycle), and essentially free for the city (Lime covers all costs of equipment, operations and rider outreach).

Just how popular were Lime scooters? When they launched over Memorial Day weekend, Lime boasted a staggering 18,000 rides within the first four days. That’s a lot.

Here are some cool features of Lime scooters:

• Small business partners have opted into serving as “Lime hubs” and are requested by businesses as a location for morning set-up.

• The Lime app provides areas of restricted parking and recommended parking locations, making it easier for riders to figure out the best place to park.

• In the future, fare for riding Lime scooters will be integrated with Uber.

The full presentation deck is available here.

Acting fast: the City’s approach to scooters and other dockless mobility options

Let’s take a minute to applaud the City for rolling out a pilot program for an entirely new mode of transportation in six weeks. Six! “That’s unheard of for the speed of government,” says Parking and Mobility Services Manager Cindy Patton.

So, how to build a pilot program for a brand new mobility option whose use increased exponentially over the period of just a few weeks? Cindy turned to the City of Seattle, the first US city to grant permits to dockless mobility. She also turned to other partners in the city and found an existing program could be leveraged to serve Denver’s needs, the Transit Amenity Program (TAP).

The TAP permits the placement of amenities at transit stops to encourage transit ridership. Through it, a dockless mobility pilot was born. This pilot provides an opportunity to permit e-scooters and e-bikes, while retaining the freedom to adapt the program along the way.

Each of the permits is fully revocable and can be adapted to meet the program’s evolving needs.

But where will they go?? When ridden, scooters are to be ridden on sidewalks per a city ordinance that will take much longer than 6 weeks to change. (An ordinance change in the future is being explored.) When parked, they should stay out of the main pedestrian path, preferably being left near transit stops.

The operators are expected to rebalance vehicles back to transit stations continuously. A “hard reset” is required prior to each morning so that all scooters and bikes will start the day at a transit stop.

Many thanks to Cindy Patton and Nicholas Williams, the Public Works Deputy Chief of Staff, for their presentation. Have comments? Concerns? Questions? Write docklessmobility@denvergov.org.

The full presentation deck is available here.

2018 Meeting Schedule
The INC Transportation Committee’s meetings throughout 2018 will be held at 1201 Williams St., 19th Floor from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Thank you to Michael Henry for the wonderful space!

• September 13th, 2018
• November 8th, 2018

Call for Topic Suggestions
Do you have a topic you’d like the INC Transportation Committee to consider or to find a speaker to discuss with us? Please send your ideas to Joel and Geneva at transportation@denverinc.org!