INC Transportation Committee – March 11, 2021

Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) Transportation Committee met on March 11, 2021 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The meeting was held virtually via Zoom. Agenda covered:

1. Bikes on Broadway – James Colbert, DOTI Senior Engineer & Gaby Serrado, DOTI Project Manager 
   • The Denver Moves: Broadway projects have hit an important milestone, with the recently-presented near-final design for the Broadway South segment, its two-way cycle track, redesigned connections to the Cherry Creek Trail and to 7th Avenue, and safe connections in and out of the I-25/Broadway Station.
   • Community input received wants raised concrete buffer; have used community input to inform design of the bike infrastructure.
   • Bike lane was designed with CDOT and allows for special snow removal equipment to access bike lane.
   • While DOTI has tried to speed up implementation of bike lanes in the City, Broadway is complicated due to reconfiguration of 10+ signals.
   • Timeline: Final design anticipated to be complete mid-2021; construction design through late 2021; construction to start in 2022.
2. Introducing DOTI’s New Director of Transit – David Krutsinger 
   • Denver is moving forward on transit efforts, including the 16th Street Transit Mall, in-progress BRT efforts on East Colfax and Federal, planning the overall capital improvements called for Denver Moves: Transit, targeted circulator service for underserved communities, micromobility implementation and working with RTD on Reimagine RTD.  To focus on this work, DOTI has created a Transit Director position, and just this week has brought on board David Krutsinger to head the new division.
   • Looking at enhanced bus networks and enhanced operating services complimenting RTD service for future planning (2040). Planning for transit will include a holistic view of the network, including complete streets for all modes and all users.
   • Includes DOTI participation in micromobility and microtransit.
3. Denver’s Micromobility Program – Nick Williams, DOTI Acting Chief of Staff & Stephen Rijo, DOTI Senior City Planner 
   • Last year, DOTI announced that they would be transitioning from the scooter- and bike-share pilot program with five micromobility providers to qualifying and selecting one or two licensees for the city. Under the new program’s goals, a higher level of geographic availability would be ensured, and provisions for ensuing low- or no-cost access to qualifying residents would be included.
   • Anticipated launch date of April 2021 – want this to be a partnership with micromobility companies and DOTI; DOTI is viewing this a key connection to other modes of transportation.
   • Operators are required to put 30% of vehicles everyday in Equity Areas of Need– operators share GPS information with DOTI to ensure compliance.
   • Free rides and subsidies given to Denver residents.
   • Operators are required to have at least 20% of fleet comprised of bikes. This balance was created with operators who are market driven. Bike are shown to have longer rides than e-scooters.
   • Micromobility (i.e. e-scooters) are treated as bikes on where they can ride (not on sidewalks, in bike lanes, etc.)
4. Bike Streets Project: 2 Mile Pledge & Stay Sane Loop Routes – Avi Stopper, Bike Streets Founder  – bikestreets.com
   • INC endorsed the Bike Streets map of existing comfortable neighborhood bikeways for all ages in 2019, and more recently heard about the app-based version of the map that is now available.
   • Crowd-sourced map identified several nice loops of neighborhood bikeways for getting out and staying healthy and sane during the pandemic, when you have no destination but “out for a ride”.
   • Launched the “2 Mile Pledge”, asking people to commit to an easy two miles worth of riding every week.  Goal is to create behavior change towards cycling.
5. 2050 Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan – Lisa Houde, DRCOG –  https://drcog.mysocialpinpoint.com/2050-rtp
   • As the Denver region continues its rapid growth, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) is updating its Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan (MVRTP), a comprehensive vision for improving how we get around. Updated every four years, the plan includes:
     • The region’s long-range vision for regional transportation through 2050
     • Identification of transportation infrastructure and services needs based on population and employment projections
       • Information on how federal, state and local funds will be spent on transportation modes, projects and services
     • Details on projects across all modes of transportation projects including safety, active transportation, air quality, multimodal mobility, freight, and regional transit.

Next meeting:

Thursday, May 13th, 2021 — 6-8pm

Virtual Meeting via Zoom