Gov. Jared Polis released guidance on Sunday, April 26, for reopening just before the statewide stay-at-home order lifts. Read more here. Read more
*Information from an RTD news release:
DENVER (April 24, 2020) – In accordance with Gov. Jared Polis’s recent order that everyone wear a mask or face covering when out in public, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) is calling on its riders to take responsibility for the safety of themselves and others by wearing a mask or face covering. All of the agency’s bus and rail operators are now required to do the same, under a new RTD policy that takes effect today.
“Personal safety is everyone’s responsibility,” said Mike Meader, RTD’s chief safety and security officer. “To slow the spread of the coronavirus, all of us must do our part. With this new policy, our agency is demonstrating a continued commitment to the health and safety of our employees and our patrons. We take these measures seriously. We will continue to weather this pandemic together.”
RTD’s policy directs employees to wear face coverings at all times when in hallways, walkways and common areas at RTD facilities, and anytime a distance of 6 feet from other people cannot be maintained. Employees are being asked to continue to limit close social interaction with others. The agency has several variations of face coverings available for employees and is now in a position to offer cloth face coverings to employees who need one. Employees may continue to wear their own homemade or purchased face covering should they choose to do so.
RTD is asking the public to be its partner in safety in several ways, in addition to wearing a mask while riding transit. People should take only essential trips, practice good hygiene and respect social distancing by keeping at least 6 feet away from others. If a vehicle appears to be full, they should not board and either go to the next train car or wait for the next bus. On routes that are serving more riders, another bus isn’t far behind.
To ensure the safety of employees and passengers, RTD continues to follow the provisions of the Guidelines for Public Transportation Providers issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The agency has taken several steps to encourage social distancing to keep employees and passengers safe, including:
Implementing rear-door boarding and exiting, and suspending fare collection, to create another layer of social distance between operators and riders and eliminate the need for contact with the farebox.
Roping off the area behind the operators and wheelchair securement area, to ensure social distancing and protect our operators and customers from crowding.
Limiting vehicle capacity to approximately 15 passengers per bus, 20 on larger buses and 30 on train cars. Bus operators seeing larger crowds forming along their route have been asked to call bus dispatch, to deploy additional buses as they are available.
The recent service reduction, which provides flexibility of the staff and fleet to respond to more utilized routes.
For the latest updates about how RTD is addressing the pandemic, visit https://www.rtd-denver.com/coronavirus.
DENVER (KDVR) – The Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments announced on Thursday that this year’s annual Bike to Work Day will be rescheduled.
Originally, Bike to Work Day was scheduled for June 24, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 22. Read more
The Town of Castle Rock will be further exploring 3 transit service options as part of the transit feasibility study. The recommendations went to Town Council earlier this week as part of a Council update. Here is a little summary from the presentation at Council.
Town Council received an update on the Transit Feasibility Study. The study began in 2019 to identify transit needs and assess the feasibility of different transit service models that could best serve the Town. The goal of the study is to identify practical transit options that are flexible enough to grow with the Town’s needs while considering a resource constrained environment. The future implementation of any options would need to be considered in future budget years along with all transportation needs.
The practical options identified for future study are:
- Point to point on-demand service – similar to the current taxi voucher services operated by the Town, it is intended to serve the vulnerable population
- First/last mile service – this service could include rides to the Ridgegate RTD station and address most of the transit need categories
- Microtransit – this service would primarily provide rides within Town and meet three of the four transit needs (serve vulnerable populations, provide regional connectivity, enhance economic sustainability, support population growth)
If there are members of the public that want additional information to please go to the project webpage for more information. New updated information will be posted next week.
We went down the line and took the temperature of your city representatives, most of whom aren’t thrilled with the pressure being put on Denver by the governor’s decision. Read more
Mile High Connects, a transit advocacy group in the Denver metro area, has delivered 2,000 surgical masks and 240 face shields for the Regional Transportation District’s operators. Read more
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