David Sachs
David cut his teeth covering transportation, development, politics, education, and art in D.C. He's covered sustainable transportation for Streetsblog since 2015 and has lived in Denver's Cheesman Park neighborhood since 2012.
Recent Posts
RTD Will Need Federal Clearance to Operate A and B Lines Past November 5
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The Regional Transportation District’s A and B lines are on thin ice with the Federal Railroad Administration. If RTD and Denver Transit Partners, the consortium of companies that designed, built, and operate the A and B lines, don’t make “significant progress” on the commuter rail’s defective crossing arms by November 5, the FRA could shut […]
Meet RTD District I Candidate Véronique Bellamy: Not a Fan of Public-Private Partnerships
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Even people who use Denver’s transit system daily might be surprised to find out that a publicly elected board of directors oversees the Regional Transportation District. It’s true. The 15-member RTD Board of Directors reps constituents from all over the map, literally, and makes decisions that affect Coloradans — in some ways more directly than […]
WalkDenver Wants to Help Residents Take First Step Towards a Car-Lite Life
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How easy is it to walk a mile? Bike to the store? Take transit to work instead of driving? If you live in West Denver, probably not as easy as it should be. Still, if you drive most places, it might be easier than you realize. That’s why WalkDenver just launched Project Shift. It’s a […]
Meet District E Candidate JM Fay — “Fighting for the Little People”
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Even people who use Denver’s transit system daily might be surprised to find out that a publicly elected board of directors oversees the Regional Transportation District. It’s true. The 15-member RTD Board of Directors reps constituents from all over the map, literally, and makes decisions that affect Coloradans — in some ways more directly than […]
Hancock Wants an Infrastructure Bond in 2017. What Would It Pay For?
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Mayor Michael Hancock and the Denver City Council will ask voters to finance a package of projects through a bond in 2017, but it’s unclear how much money will go toward safe, sustainable transportation. The bond would cover “overdue and upcoming capital asset and infrastructure needs,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. That […]
Meet RTD District E Candidate Claudia Folska, a Transit Rider for Life
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Even people who use Denver’s transit system daily might be surprised to find out that a publicly elected board of directors oversees the Regional Transportation District. It’s true. The 15-member RTD Board of Directors reps constituents from all over the map, literally, and makes decisions that affect Coloradans — in some ways more directly than […]
Volkswagen Lied, So CO Could Get $61 Million to Electrify Transit and Roads
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Remember that time Volkswagen cheated American consumers’ wallets and lungs by rigging its “clean diesel” cars to falsify emissions data? Now Colorado will probably get $61 million from the car company in a settlement. A federal judge is “strongly inclined” to approve the settlement, according to Reuters. About $10 billion will go to fleeced consumers, […]
Why Parking Policy Matters for Equitable Neighborhoods: A Lesson for Denver
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What do parking spots have to do with equity? A lot. I was at last week’s Rail~Volution conference in the Bay Area, where “building livable communities with transit” was the topic of conversation. It was striking how some of the country’s leading urban planners talked about transit, not in terms of buses and trains, but […]
Meet RTD District “A” Candidate Kate Williams: “More Rides for More People”
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Even people who use Denver’s transit system daily might be surprised to find out that a publicly elected board of directors oversees the Regional Transportation District. It’s true. The 15-member RTD Board of Directors reps constituents from all over the map, literally, and makes decisions that affect Coloradans — in some ways more directly than […]
Get Ready for a Much Better Brighton Boulevard
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Mayor Michael Hancock got his hands a little dirty Thursday in River North when he fiddled with some levers on a bulldozer that, eventually, dug up the ceremonial dirt for a major transformation of Brighton Boulevard. “I travel Brighton Boulevard every day,” Hancock said. “And I have not been shy about the fact that I […]
Meet RTD District “A” Candidate Aaron Goldhamer — Transit Is “Freedom”
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Even people who use Denver’s transit system daily might be surprised to find out that a publicly elected board of directors oversees the Regional Transportation District. It’s true. The 15-member RTD Board of Directors reps constituents from all over the map, literally, and makes decisions that affect Coloradans — in some ways more directly than […]
Does WMATA Have Enough Credibility to Avoid Doomsday Service Cuts?
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WMATA, the DC region’s transit agency, is in crisis. DC is a rarity among major American cities, with transit mode share declining over the last decade. In the past year, the federal government took over WMATA’s safety oversight authority after a number of embarrassing failures, culminating in the whole Metro being temporarily shut down. Confidence […]