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The Regional Transportation District board will consider a staff proposal next week to cut a “significant amount of service for a temporary period,” to deal with ongoing bus driver and train operator shortages.
Currently, RTD is short about 100 bus drivers and 60 light rail operators. So current operators are often required to work six days a week to keep service levels up. Even so, RTD officials say more bus and train runs have been canceled in recent months.
“The labor shortage has dramatically impacted our employees and our ability to deliver reliable service to our customers,” staff wrote in a memo to the board.“This is eroding public confidence in our service.”
Spokeswoman Tina Jaquez said cuts would likely be focused on the agency’s least popular routes.
“We recognize that the challenges we’re having right now, keeping and having enough operators, is impacting both employees and our passengers,” she told CPR. “We want to make sure that we’re hopefully proposing an option that the board can look at that would help both.”
Jaquez couldn’t say what specific lines would be most affected, and how long cuts could last.
Staff have proposed cutting enough service to reduce the need for 58 train and bus operators. That wouldn’t end overtime requirements, but would allow the agency to spread out the mandates so the same employees don’t have to work them every week.
“In addition, this should significantly reduce any dropped service and provide more reliable service on the routes that RTD will be providing,” staff wrote. In short, they propose having fewer runs, but more reliable ones.
Board member Natalie Menten said overtime requirements are falling disproportionately on new employees, and lead some to quit shortly after finishing RTD’s training program.
“It’s very easy to see why they start to look for another job,” she said. “That’s not good for the taxpayers. It’s not good for the agency. It’s not good for the riders.”
RTD and the ATU Local 1001, which includes both bus and train operators, agreed to a new contract last year to raise pay to nearly $20 an hour. RTD staff say they’ll continue to look for new recruitment techniques.
But the union’s president, Julio Rivera, said RTD needs to focus on retention, not hiring. The problem is working conditions, he said.
“The biggest issue we have right now is still, believe it or not, restroom breaks,” Rivera said. “You cannot expect someone to operate a bus for eight hours a day, not knowing when he or she could utilize the restroom. In the 21st century, that’s still an issue.”
In an RTD survey, operators said that forced overtime has affected their health, relationships at home, and the safety of RTD’s services. Rivera said the union opposes the proposal.
Menten said RTD should look at cutting back on high-subsidy services to become more fiscally sustainable.
“I’m leaning towards supporting the motion [to formally cut service],” she said.
Board member Angie Rivera-Malpiede said she won’t be supporting the proposal. Too many people rely on RTD’s services for it to officially cut them, she said.
“We’re really trying to think outside of the box on what is it that we can do as an agency to get more folks to drive for RTD,” she said. “Right now I don’t know what that answer is. I really don’t know. But boy, I’m gonna do my damnedest to figure it out.”
The board’s Operations & Customer Service Committee will discuss the matter at a regular meeting on Tuesday.
Since voters approved a multi-billion dollar capital plan called FasTracks in 2004, the Regional Transportation District’s expansion efforts have been nearly all about trains — they’ve opened the four new rail lines since 2014, and there are plans for another next year.
Now though, the transit agency is exploring a new network that could have the speed of rail with much cheaper costs.
Yes, RTD is looking to get back on the bus.
Not just any old bus, though. RTD is putting the finishing touches on a study of busy arterial roads that are good candidates for bus rapid transit. Those lines would use rubber on pavement and have other premium characteristics that are more typical of rail. The most important are dedicated lanes so buses run independently of traffic and service as frequent as every five minutes.
The popular FlatironFlyer is a bus rapid transit-like route between Denver and Boulder. Separately, RTD is studying another route from Boulder to Longmont. Other cities, like Minneapolis, have launched their own fledgling bus rapid transit networks in recent years.
Perhaps most importantly, the idea is for these buses to appeal to people who aren’t currently riding. They’re designed in a way, said Brian Welch, RTD’s senior manager for planning technical services, that signals to riders that the lines are different.
“They can tell by the vehicle,” he said. “They can tell by the station. And they know that it’s going to be frequent and reliable and fast.”
RTD sees faster buses as a way to move more people through dense corridors in a more cost-effective way than building trains, Welch said. Boosting ridership is a top concern for RTD, which is facing financial headwinds as it tries to simultaneously finish billions of dollars’ worth of unfinished train projects. But the plan could prove unpopular with the thousands of motorists who would likely be forced into fewer lanes — unless they decide to get on the bus.
The most suitable corridors are mostly in and around the urban core.
RTD’s feasibility study started with 30 or so corridors from Longmont in the north to Parker in the south. That’s since been winnowed down to eight: I-25 north of Denver, Park Avenue/38th Avenue, Speer Boulevard/Leetsdale Drive/Parker Road, Broadway/Lincoln Street, Colorado Boulevard, Alameda Avenue, Havana Street/Hampden Avenue, and Federal Boulevard.
Estimated capital costs for those range from $25 million to $80 million, with costs per mile of about $4 million. The most popular routes could carry more than 13,000 passengers a day by 2040.
In contrast, RTD has spent more than $5.6 billion on FasTracks trains and supporting infrastructure since 2004. The four lines that were open by 2018 combined to carry about 38,000 passengers a day. The G Line to Arvada opened since then, and the N Line to Thornton should open next year.
Those rail projects took decades of planning and construction work, and could see ridership increase as development fills in around stations. But the impact of bus rapid transit lines down corridors like Federal could be felt far faster, Welch said, because they already cut through dense residential and commercial areas.
“We know that we’ll have to make decisions that involve resources where you’re choosing between A and B,” Welch said. “The future is to provide as much service throughout the district as possible at the best cost. And bus rapid transit has proven to be, around the United States and globally, a very good solution.”
But losing a lane of traffic is a tough proposition for people who use those streets every day. Saul Lopez, a house painter from Denver, said he often carried his materials in his van up and down Federal.
“You can’t really do that on a bus,” he observed from a gas station parking lot.
Eric Molina, a college student from southwest Denver, said he’s seen traffic on Federal get worse and worse in recent years. He’d rather Federal stay completely open to cars, though he’s open to change if it’s more efficient.
“I used to take the bus to school. I’ve seen some crazy stuff happen on the bus so I try to avoid it,” he said. “But if I need to, I’ll take it.”
There’s no set timeline for any of these projects.
RTD will wrap up its study in late 2019 and then start applying for federal grants. In order to take over traffic lanes, it’ll also need buy-in from local governments, or in the case of state highways like Federal Boulevard, the state of Colorado.
RTD said some cities like Westminster and Broomfield are very supportive, while others like Greenwood Village are less so. In a statement, CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew did not commit to handing over any lanes. But she called bus rapid transit an “effective option for providing efficient access along key corridors.”
“We look forward to seeing the results of RTD’s study, especially as it relates to putting ideas on the table for improving transit reliability on urban arterials roads in metro Denver that are within CDOT’s purview,” she said.
The other big fish is Denver. And as that car-centric city grows and densifies, it appears it’s ready to play ball.
“We have a finite system that has a limited amount of capacity and we can only move a certain amount of people,” said Ryan Billings, transit and corridors planning supervisor at Denver Public Works. “People movement is really the crux of the conversation.”
Billings cautioned that the city will need to do a variety of studies on each corridor before any major changes are made, though he said Denver is generally supportive of RTD’s plan for faster buses. It’s also moving forward on its own plan for BRT along Colfax Avenue. There’s a need now, he said, and it’s only going to get more pressing over time.
“I can either beat my head against the steering wheel in that traffic in 10 years,” he said. “Or I can make a decision, or a choice to, potentially get on that bus in that dedicated lane and get there a little bit quicker.”
Domino’s Pizza delivered a case to the US Supreme Court this summer and the justices rejected it on Oct. 7, the first day of the 2019 term. The court’s action was a refusal to consider website accessibility standards that would have affected many businesses working online.
The matter stemmed from a blind man being unable to order a pizza via the company’s website or app and involves the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a law designed to ensure equal access to all. When the measure passed in 1990, internet businesses were in their infancy. But it required all companies to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
How the ADA translates in today’s age is up for debate. Various organizations offer website accessibility rules, but the US government hasn’t dictated a specific set of standards associated with the ADA, which means liability for alleged violations is resolved in litigation—creating an uncertain legal landscape.
As Domino’s noted in its petition (pdf), some courts have held that the ADA applies only to online businesses with physical locations, others have decided it imposes requirements on all online businesses, and others still have found it doesn’t apply to the internet at all.
Domino’s wanted the justices to clarify how the ADA should be read with respect to websites and apps, warning of a “tsunami” of litigation if the high court declined to clear up the confusion.
Still, Domino’s might have dodged a bullet when its case was rejected, as the justices, upon review, could have clarified contrary to Domino’s liking, with nationwide implications.
Advocates for the disabled celebrated the high court’s rejection of the case. Now the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court, which decided the ADA applies to Domino’s online, is not up for review and is the law in parts of the US, including California. “This is a significant win for the disability community,” said Sean Bradley, co-founder of AudioEye, which helps websites be legally compliant with accessibility requirements.
And while the case is a US one, it could prove a source of inspiration elsewhere, and already has people abroad talking.
As we age, it’s harder and harder to get outside. And that’s a shame since getting out into nature has been linked to a significant increase in people’s health and happiness.
On top of that, one in three seniors in the United States reports being lonely. Loneliness has been found to increase the risks of heart attacks, strokes, depression, anxiety, and early death.
The benefits of getting out into nature and having someone to talk to can be numerous for the elderly. That’s why Ole Kassow from Denmark decided to start the Cycling Without Age project back in 2012.
Kassow started taking some elderly members of his local community on rides in a rickshaw and quickly saw the benefits.
“I saw an elderly gentleman sitting in front of a nursing home, Kassow explained in an interview with Generations Working Together. “As usual, I was on my bike and came up with the idea that maybe he wanted to join me and we could get to know each other. I rented a rickshaw and it took off from there. The man became my friend, his name is Thorkild.”
Kassow went on to explain the benefit of taking the elderly for a ride:
“Our modern fast-paced lifestyle means that we value youth and careers and sometimes forget to appreciate the older generation and their wisdom. That means many people become isolated and lonely as they grow old.”
Seeing the benefit in Thorkild, Kassow decided to start Cycling Without Age, which has since spread worldwide and has more than 1100 chapter locations, 1500 rickshaws, and 10,000 pilots.
Anyone can sign up to take an elderly person for a ride, but volunteers ride rickshaws that are empty to get them trained. They then take their team leader, known as a pilot, for a ride before they can start taking real passengers out and about.
Kassow explained how his idea spread so fast:
“Luckily the media have taken an interest in what we do and we see how the interest is often sparked by a story in the news. The first international interest came after my TED Talk in the autumn of 2014. Recently the BBC video ‘Amazing Humans’ about Fraser and Mary in Scotland was shown 26 million times. Cycling Without Age addresses challenges of loneliness and active mobility, which seem to appeal to everybody.”
A contentious 2017 decision by the Denver City Council has rippled into a new plan by the Hancock administration to make developers promote walking, biking and transit when they build stuff.
A quick rewind: Back in 2017 a split council voted to make homebuilders include parking with their projects where it previously wasn’t required. The electeds who won said they were simply responding to constituents who feared apartment buildings with no private off-street parking would squeeze them out of the available publicly owned curbside spots. Other council members said forcing developers to build expensive parking spaces — they can cost tens of thousands of dollars per stall — would raise housing costs and generate more driving trips.
Fast-forward to 2019: At the direction of council members who claimed Denver’s non-car options were too sparse to forgo new parking spots, Denver Public Works began developing a “transportation demand management” program. That’s a nerdy way of saying that if developers want to build places that will attract more people, they will have to promote other ways to move around than driving.
Incentives to finding sustainable transportation include things like providing RTD passes for tenants and condo owners or funding a B-cycle station onsite. Disincentives to driving include charging for parking.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that every single person needs to be on a bus or bike but if we offer better choices … then we can better use our existing infrastructure,” said Zach Wallace Mendez, who manages the program for Public Works. He spoke in front of the City Council’s land use and transportation committee on Tuesday.
Denver aims to drastically reduce the share of commuters who drive alone while drastically increasing the share of commuters who walk, bike and ride transit. By 2030 the city thinks it can take the 68 percent of solo car commutes down to 50 percent while raising the other modes from a combined 15 percent (approximately) to 30 percent.
Growth generates demand for our streets and pollution in our air. Influencing travel behavior with carrots and sticks is one tool in Public Works’ toolbox that can give people a way out of congestion while reducing harmful emissions, according to the streets department.
Still, Wallace Mendez said it’s a “mitigation tool” and “I certainly don’t want it to oversell itself.”
One potential hitch: ensuring developers make good on their end of the bargain.
The city’s strategy is still in draft form, but as of right now new buildings would have to build some type of sustainable transport infrastructure, onsite or off. Residential buildings with at least 45 homes and commercial buildings of at least 50,000 square feet would have stricter requirements — like commuter surveys to measure the program’s impact.
A website will take all the elements of a given project and spit out a non-single-occupancy vehicle commute rate that developers — and later property managers — need to achieve. Then they’ll choose from a menu of options. They will be responsible for managing their programs and reporting the results to the city government.
‘I still am really curious about whey we’re gonna let the developers do their own monitoring,” CdeBaca said, adding that the city needs ways to ensure compliance.
Government inspectors would perform spot checks, said Jennifer Hillhouse, Denver’s director of transportation planning.
But enforcement is a matter of resources, Wallace Mendez said: “Currently the program is me.”
Denver is behind peer cities, including the perennial urban transportation champions, Seattle.
“We’re not the only city doing this,” Hillhouse said. “A lot of other cities, peer cities, are quite ahead of us.”
Seattle and Washington state have had a transportation demand management program for decades. The city is growing at a rapid pace like Denver, yet even as it’s added thousands of people, Hillhouse said 90 percent of the city’s net gain in trips were made by walking, biking and transit.
Less than half of Seattle commutes, about 47 percent, are done solo in a car, according to 2017 census data. The city’s TDM strategy is only one reason for that figure — its density and robust transit system are bigger ones.
Public Works officials also cited Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco Fairfax County, Va., and Cambridge, Mass. as cities with similar programs in place.
If all goes according to plan, Public Works hopes to implement the program in spring 2020.
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