INC Transportation Committee Meeting Notes – May 14, 2015
Minutes contributed by Geneva Hooten
Denver’s New Bicycle ParkIng Program – Robert Ferrin, Manager on On-Street Programs, Denver Public Works
Public Works received $90,000 for the current fiscal year to purchase and install 10 new bike corrals, 50 inverted U-racks, and off-street secure parking. Interested in bringing on-street bike parking near you? Complete this form and email it tobikeparking@denvergov.org. Staff will review applications for conformance with design standards and location. Eligibility for city-funded bike parking is based transportation system needs and parking demand, both existing and forecasted. Top priority locations are those:
- Adjacent to existing or planned bike facilities (like bike lanes, multi-use paths, etc.)
- In partnership with organizations (districts, associations, other non-profits)
- That offer geographic equity to balance meeting demand and encouraging new bike trips.
Applications for city-funded bike parking are due by the end of this month. The City will hold a public hearing on rules and regulations on June 12th at at 11:30 A.M. in Room 1.B.6 (Clerk & Recorder’s Office) of the Webb Building, 201 W. Colfax Avenue. If approved, the first bike racks and corrals will be installed in August.
More detail and great photos are available in Robert’s presentation slides. More about the Bike Parking Program can be found on the Public Works section of DenverGov, including objectives, standards, the application form, and contact information.
Parking, Neighborhoods, and Area Management Plans – Cindy Patton, Principal City Planner for Parking Operations
Cindy Patton, a Principal City Planner with Denver Public Works Transportation and Parking Operations, provided an overview of parking Area Management Plans (AMP) introduced in the Denver Strategic Parking Plan. AMPs are processes to create customized, contextual strategies to address parking concerns while leveraging the existing on- and off-street parking in better, more productive ways. They bring together the patchwork of former parking decisions (some meters here, some time restrictions there), and allow for the creation of a cohesive strategy.
The AMP process begins with the community, an evaluation of stakeholder areas of concern, issue definition and data collection, and confirmation of area-specific parking goals. The final step is the development of a management program that may include some or all of the following tools:
- Demand management (car share, bike share, walking, biking, etc.)
- Location (improving wayfinding and information about underused parking areas)
- Pricing
- Time limits to encourage turnover
- Supply (e.g., evaluating availability of existing off-street parking lots that can be used during off-hours.
AMPs are an exciting new tool for neighborhoods to voice their concerns and work with the City to devise the best strategies to address parking and mobility needs. Two AMPs — one in the West Highlands and the other for Broadway/Baker — are nearing completion, and had significant neighborhood collaboration.
What’s next? Cindy and her team will implement the Broadway/Baker and West Highlands AMPs while taking parking inventories at:
- Five Points/Curtis Park/Welton
- RiNo
- Capitol Hill (Broadway to Cheesman Park)
- Prospect
- Areas along the future RTD East Corridor commuter rail line
Stay tuned for the results of their parking inventories, and talk with your residential, business and institutional neighbors to see if your neighborhood is ready for an AMP process.
We applaud the City’s efforts in devising creative solutions to address mobility concerns related to parking, while modeling a comprehensive and collaborative decision-making process that seeks to engage stakeholders and neighbors in meaningful ways.
See the full presentation deck for more details. Please visit the Denver Public Works Traffic Counts and Parking Studies site for up-to-date information on study areas. Contact Cindy and her team at parkingoperations@
Denver City Council Budget Priorities for Transportation in 2016 – Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman
Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman has been a long-time supporter of healthy, complete streets that provide for people who walk, bike, and take transit.She went car free for a week last year to learn first-hand the challenges and opportunities in traveling the city without a car and has become a major supporter of multimodal transportation in Denver.
In a wide-ranging discussion, we learned about how Council budget priorities are used by City departments in developing their proposals, as well as insight into the transit infrastructure and transportation proposals themselves. Here are some key points from the talk:
- It’s a bold statement for a council person to acknowledge that Denver is currently “not a pedestrian-friendly city. We are a city built for cars.” But Councilwoman Susman’s frankness about the state of our infrastructure and transportation policies serves as a means to galvanize Council and the Mayor’s office to make transportation funding a bigger priority.
- City Council wants to “Dramatically improve the level and safety of Denver’s multi-modal transit options that connect the four quadrants of the City to the urban core.” As such, transportation featured very highly as a City Council budget priority for 2016. Of the 13 priorities discussed, seven were transit-related and were combined to become Council’s top priority for the next fiscal year.
- We should expect to see an accelerated implementation of Denver Moves, funding for infrastructure that supports walkability and bikeability city-wide, and improved measures to make streets safer, particularly at intersections.
- Councilwoman Susman wants to make Denver a “transit city.” She will continue to push for on-demand bus services, such as Bridj and its competitors, while investing in innovative and on-demand transportation infrastructure throughout the city.
Dave Sachs with Streetsblog Denver, attending his second INC Transportation Committee meeting, posted a very positive summary of Councilwoman Susman’s presentation which is well worth reading.
See Councilwoman Susman’s presentation deck for a summary of City Council’s budget priorities for 2016. City Council also issued a press release regarding the 2016 Council Budget Priorities on April 14th, which provides some more background on the process of setting these annual priorities.
Update on RTD Fare Changes for 2016
by Joel Noble
On Tuesday, May 26th, the RTD Board of Directors approved a new fare structure for rail and bus services effective January 1st, 2016. The new fare structure was developed with a lengthy study and extensive public input, as we heard in our previous meeting.
Based on public and RTD Board feedback, the final fare structure is simpler than the existing structure in many ways, including the combining of Regional and Express into one fare category (called “Regional”), providing a day-pass option at each price level, and reducing the number of rail zones from four today to three in the new structure (meaning fewer trips will cross through three zone boundaries and require a higher fare).
Note that the public and Board feedback on the proposal came after our last meeting, sothe final fare structure is different than what we were shown. Most notably, rail zones had been proposed to be eliminated, but instead have been retained and simplified. The Airport trip has also been reduced in price from the earlier proposal.
In the next phase, RTD will continue working with Mile High Connects on discount passes for low-income residents, and will make a recommendation for pass program changes.
For more detail about the new fare structure for 2016, see RTD’s detailed fare update page.
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
The INC Transportation Committee’s upcoming meetings for 2015 will all be at 1201 Williams St., 19th Floor:
- Thu. Jul. 9th 2015, 6-8 p.m.
- Thu. Sep. 10th 2015, 6-8 p.m.
- Thu. Nov. 12th 2015, 6-8 p.m.
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