| District | Name | 2. How would seek to you improve multimodal transportation systems in Denver while addressing climate goals and equity? |
| 1 | Amanda Sandoval | I believe Denver should buy up transportation lines along major corridors and buy a fleet of electric buses to create dependable public transportation for Denverites. |
| 1 | Sarah Truckey | Working with RTD to increase the number of stops as well as the frequency, and affordability. Ensure safer bike lanes and improve the sidewalks in District 1 to make rolling and walking more accessible. |
| 2 | Kevin Flynn | Increase funding to street designs that slow traffic in neighborhoods (diverters e.g.), expand micro-mobility programs like we started in Montbello to other outlying transit deserts, increase funding to ped, transit and bike infrastructure, a process which I led this past year as chair of DRCOG. |
| 3 | Jamie Torres | I would like to see DOTI and the new administration roll out neighborhood transit solutions more quickly. The transit pilot in Montbello has been a success and now we would like to see this in GES and west Denver (Valverde and Westwood) as soon as possible. These are the neighborhood identified for rollout in the next phase. I would also like us to consider simultaneously investing in transportation CoOperatives where the drivers and administrators are sourced directly from the community and have a stake in ownership and operation of the CoOp. |
| 4 | Tony Pigford | On council, I’ll seek improvements to District 4 connectivity in part by pushing for a city-wide network of protected bike lanes, giving people safer options to take climate-conscious modes of transportation like e-bikes. Additionally, we should be working with regional partners to add more routes of bus-rapid transit, prioritize traffic calming infrastructure projects, and to implement the Denver Deserves Sidewalks initiative effectively. |
| 5 | Amanda Sawyer | We need to move beyond RTD to add mass transit in Denver, but it needs to be done thoughtfully (which I’m not seeing now). We also need to build out protected bike lanes and implement the City’s plans to build out multimodal infrastructure. Residents won’t get out of their cars until it is safe and convenient to do so – which means we need to make it safe and convenient for residents to use multimodal transit options. |
| 5 | Michael Hughes | DOTI needs to step in to partner with CDOT and RTD to ensure that the transit routes that Denver needs have real service – timely and reliable; we need to use the new sidewalk ordinance to our advantage and fill the most significant gap for those who need real access to transit stops, to neighborhood services, and to the places they work; we need a bikeway system that gives riders the opportunity for safe and effective transportation – like the Garfield Neighborhood bikeway that links Cherry Creek to City Park, and unlike the ugly and unsafe Broadway bikeway |
| 6 | Paul Kashmann | Build out sidewalks and bike lanes that encourage walking and cycling. Increase micro-transit throughout the city similar to that now serving parts of northeast Denver and Globeville/Elyria/Swansea. Continue support of related programs like e-bike rebates. |
| 7 | Nick Campion | |
| 7 | Adam Estroff | The climate crisis looms over all of our policy decisions. City Council has power over the buildings we live and work in, as well as how we get between them. Buildings and transit are over 50% of CO’s emissions. I will work to create a green land use and building code. I will work to expand the city’s role in transit to improve frequency, as well as making it safe and dignified to get around our city without a car. I support efforts to electrify city vehicles, but that alone will not be enough to hit our transportation climate goals. I will move assertively to complete Denver’s bike network and buy up public transit service to increase frequency. West of the highway there is no bus that is more than 15 minutes frequency in D7. It must be safe and dignified to navigate our city without a car. This is an environmental necessity, transportation emissions and city budgets can’t be balanced without transforming transportation. Effective land use can help us fight climate change, preserve open space, manage water resources, and improve affordability. I would work to ensure that transit connections and new infrastructure is deployed to neighborhoods that have been left out. |
| 7 | Guy Padgett | In my opinion, improving public transit is one of the cornerstone policies when addressing both climate change and socio-economic disparity. That is why I fought so hard while I was a councilman and later mayor of Casper, WY to reestablish a fixed route bus system. As a general philosophy, I believe that when we are designing or redesigning our streets and roads, multimodal transportation should be the centerpiece of their design, rather than an afterthought. More specifically, the city must move aggressively to complete a citywide, high-comfort bicycle lane network working with the infrastructure we already have. This may mean that a bicycle arterial may not run on the same street as a bus route or as a car arterial. Longer term, and especially as we rebuild our streets as part of infrastructure upgrades, protected bicycle lanes should be part of these reconstructions. Furthermore, we must begin the implementation of the sidewalk ordinance passed by the voters in November. I believe this ordinance can and should be improved upon, for example, making sure that underserved neighborhoods and mobility improvements get high priority. Lastly, Denver needs to look towards its own public transportation needs. Ultimately, I would love nothing more than to see us reinstate the streetcar system that was torn out of Denver’s neighborhoods in the mid-20th century. But being a realist, I think for the near and medium term, our city should be focused on building neighborhood circulators that run through important commercial nodes and connect them to public transit hubs. Furthermore, we must examine the feasibility of starting Denver BRT along high-volume routes. Essentially, for public transit to be a tool that truly combats climate change and social injustice, we have to make transit an option the works with Denver’s residents, getting them to and from where they want to go. |
| 7 | Arthur May | Ensure our transportation systems are safe and reliable |
| 8 | Shontel Lewis | Along with the broader shift to multimodal transportation options and regulating industry to cut off major sources of pollution, Denver can also improve air quality within homes — and by extension, improve public health outcomes — by providing free HEPA air filters to underserved communities, preventing new fossil fuel infrastructure in new homes and major renovations, and assisting residential and commercial property owners in updating building ventilation systems. Improving ventilation systems has the added benefit of helping to combat the spread of viruses — a core recommendation by public health experts in the wake of COVID-19. Additionally, The city must recommit itself to Vision Zero policy, and move with swift urgency to install life-saving traffic calming infrastructure. City leaders can also work with businesses and cargo delivery services toward more innovative and safe methods of transporting goods throughout the city. |
| 9 | Candi CdeBaca | Prioritize complete and safe pedestrian connectivity FIRST and then figure out how to supplement RTD for public transportation. Hold developers accountable for building REAL transportation management into their plans for densifying especially in areas without adequate infrastructure. I think also figuring out how to publicly own last mile connectivity rather than farming it out into a duopoly would help. In every development we should be capturing through streets (regardless if intended for shared streets or not). |
| 10 | Margie Morris | I am committed to making Denver a more “walkable” city and will look for opportunities to support a robust public transit system, protected bike lanes, and fully navigable sidewalks. Let’s do everything we can to reverse the effect of climate change, and that means drastically reducing emissions from single passenger commuter cars. Universal public transportation needs to be a regional issue where Denver leads with a future-focused vision. Residents and visitors should have the freedom to choose what modes of transportation they want to use. Currently, if you want to walk, bike, or roll, you have to customize your route to what is safest or best paved rather than quickest. I believe the city can take on initiatives to improve sidewalks, protect bike lanes, and make alternative transportation modes more accessible to everyone. I would take every opportunity to find real solutions and put our current taxpayer money to work. |
| 10 | Noah Kaplan | I would focus on a comprehensive approach integrating multimodal options to create synergy. Re-establishing “Shared Streets” on 11th, 16th, and others, focusing scooter and bike infrastructure along these avenues, and linking those initiatives with Bus Rapid Transit and our rail system. To encourage ridership and to address the shift in transportation culture, I support making public transportation accessible and free of cost for all DPS students and their families and working with RTD and other regional transportation options to increase the frequency of rides. |
| 10 | Shannon Hoffman | Everyone deserves safe, accessible, sustainable transportation options whether they walk, bike, roll, or take public transit. I will support and pursue snow plow policies, ice removal policies, snowmelt drainage policies that do not just prioritize cars. This is not only a transit and climate issue, but also a disability justice issue. I am supportive of permanent shared streets, for example keeping 11th Ave in Cap Hill as a shared street. We must push for free RTD rides year-round and higher bus driver pay. And, we can expand programs like E-bike rebates, provide more protected lanes, and offer traffic calming solutions. |
| At-Large | Sarah Parady | We know how to move more people with less traffic and lower our emissions at the same time, and I hope to bring people across the city together toward that multimodal, electric future. Some of my top priorities are a city-wide network of protected bike lanes – and while we build that, a network of shared streets – a recommitment to Vision Zero that actually follows through on building life-saving infrastructure, working with regional partners like RTD and CDOT on bus rapid transit, and addressing the transportation inequities faced by underserved communities and people with disabilities. |
| At-Large | Marty Zimmerman | There are a number of steps I would like to take: 1) Move Denver Deserves Sidewalks from the Mayor’s Office (where it is stalling) to the implementation phase. 2) Create and implement a plan to plow snow on bike paths. 3) Create an action plan to implement the new Denver Moves plan that addresses the needs for more multimodal transportation systems. Some of the steps from this plan that I would want to expand are: a. Stop painting lines on streets for bike lanes and start using bollards to keep bikers separated from cars. b. Work with Bike Streets to complete the 400 miles of safe routes through the city and invest in the Vamos program and Wish For Wheels to provide bikes to those who cannot afford them and those in underserved or marginalized communities. c. Stop widening highways and use the money saved to build better paths. d. Reimplement the Shared Streets program that was used during the pandemic. All of these will help address our climate goals by encouraging people not to drive as much. |
| At-Large | Penfield Tate III | Multimodal transportation is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 65% by 2030. Our multimodal transportation systems are broken and need to be fixed. While RTD plays a central role to in regional public transit, it falls short in comprehensive multimodal transit planning, coordination, and development that is compatible with transit needs of area communities, including Denver. I will push for a series of meetings with all stakeholders within the regional transportation district to discuss climate goals, transit needs and the respective roles of the various city and county jurisdictions. Meanwhile, I will closely monitor and partner with the new administration’s efforts to build out sidewalks, improve cycling and pedestrian safety, and address the last mile. |
| At-Large | Jeff Walker | I would work to improve the sidewalk network on arterials and collectors to every bus stop in the city. Improving access to transit will improve access to housing diversity, employment options, healthcare and education. This should reduce reliance on single-occupant vehicles. This in turn will improve air quality and water quality. And most important, it will reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on Denver’s roads. I believe it is possible to eliminate traffic fatalities and improve quality of life through improved access to transportation options. |
