Recent Streetsblog DENVER posts about RTD

RTD’s Quest for a Modern Fare Payment System Is 7 Years Long and Counting

By David Sachs | Aug 25, 2015 | 1 Comment

It’s been about seven years since RTD set out to provide its passengers with what the agency calls a smart card — a modern, streamlined way to pay for transit. At least the idea was modern in 2008, when the strange, long trip began. It’s 2015 and Denver transit riders still can’t add, store, and spend money for fares […]

West Colfax Demo Proves Neighborhood Needs, Deserves Complete Street

By David Sachs | Aug 19, 2015 | 1 Comment

West Colfax Avenue suffers from an identity crisis. It was designed to move motor vehicles in and out of the city as fast as possible, but it’s also a neighborhood street where bus riders, families, and shoppers abound. The result is a thoroughfare that caters to motorists, but not to the people who actually live, work, and walk there. […]

RTD Hopes to Raise Funds By Selling Naming Rights to Stations and Lines

By David Sachs | Aug 6, 2015 | 5 Comments

Casa Bonita Station? The Colorado Rapids Line? These names are completely speculative, but maybe not far from reality if RTD gets its way. The transit agency is trying to lure corporate sponsors to buy naming rights as it prepares to open four new rail lines next year. Each sponsorship could haul in as much as $1 million a […]

Actually, Cheaper Parking at RTD Stations Will Hurt Ridership

By David Sachs | Jul 24, 2015 | 5 Comments

The Aurora Sentinel published an editorial yesterday that missed the point on parking rates at RTD stations. The Sentinel claimed that charging $3 to park at Iliff Station will make transit inaccessible to lower income residents, which in turn will diminish ridership: Redrawn zones mean that if you board Aurora’s R Line at the Iliff station, a […]

How RTD’s Suburban Politics Hamper Denver’s Investment in Transit

By David Sachs | Jul 17, 2015 | 3 Comments

For the most part, Regional Transportation District’s board members are politicians, not transportation planners. And when they have to make important decisions about transit, it shows. Those decisions aren’t always based on what’s best for transit riders or the region. The RTD Board’s leadership has produced a system where rail lines cater to suburbanites and exurbanites more than Denver residents. But when it comes […]

How Not to Treat Street Design Near Transit Stations

By David Sachs | Jul 9, 2015 | 4 Comments

The Denver Post published a story today by Megan Mitchell that depicts an uprising of sorts against smart street design near the Iliff Avenue Rail Station, which will open next year. Some residents, including Albert Melcher, president of the local neighborhood association, want to nix a planned bike lane and widen a nearby street to handle traffic from the […]

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