{"id":1902,"date":"2022-11-07T17:08:58","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T00:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/colorado\/foundation\/?post_type=article&p=1902"},"modified":"2022-11-07T17:08:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T00:08:58","slug":"rtds-fare-free-august-was-a-big-success-giving-us-momentum-to-improve-transit-across-the-denver-region","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/colorado\/foundation\/articles\/rtds-fare-free-august-was-a-big-success-giving-us-momentum-to-improve-transit-across-the-denver-region\/","title":{"rendered":"RTD\u2019s fare-free August was a big success giving us momentum to improve transit across the Denver region"},"featured_media":44914,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[136],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"person_tax":[187],"region_tax":[],"state":[8],"topic_tax":[129,112,109],"class_list":["post-1902","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[129,112,109],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":false,"event_type":false,"campaigns":136,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[8],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":129}},"featured_image":44914,"caption_override":"","excerpt":"With a big increase in ridership, I look back at RTD\u2019s Zero Fare August and all the work that went into making it a success so we can make even bigger improvements\r\n","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":[1818],"hide_hero_image":false,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":[{"type":"dynamic","dynamic_person":{"site":79,"people":"113"},"information":{"name":"","image":null,"role":"","biography":"","contact":{"twitter":"","facebook":"","email":"","phone":""}}}]},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"The initial data is out and RTD\u2019s Zero Fare August saw a 22% ridership increase<\/a> from the previous month and a 36% ridership increase from the previous year.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s huge. We\u2019re talking over 1 million more boardings.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThis is a moment to celebrate.\r\n\r\nEnsuring everyone has options to get around, so they don\u2019t always have to drive to complete every trip, improves our quality of life by cutting climate change and ozone pollution, saving lives and saving money.\r\n\r\nBut we need more people to climb aboard.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEliminating the cost of transit for a month is one strategy. While we know a month without fares will not transform our transportation system, it clearly had a pretty big impact in August.\r\n\r\nAnd more importantly, the Zero Fare for Better Air<\/a> program gave the whole region a chance to use the month to unify around our transit system, building momentum for the more significant increase in services, safe stops, and reliability that we need to make buses and trains a good option for everyone.\r\n\r\nDozens of organizations, businesses. local governments, community leaders and transit riders came together to help maximize the impact of the month.\r\n\r\nFollow me on a tour of the successful Zero Fare August in the Denver metro area.\r\n\r\n ","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

RTD Kicks off August\u2019s Zero Fare for Better Air Program<\/h3>\r\nWhile the Legislature and Governor Polis stepped up to cover most of RTD\u2019s zero-fare program, RTD still had to allocate some of their limited dollars. More importantly, they had to implement the program and they had very little time.\r\n\r\nSB22-180<\/a> was signed on May 26, 2022. That gave RTD just over two months to roll this program out to the millions of potential riders in the Denver metro region.\r\n\r\nOh yeah - and their service area is one of the largest in the country. It was no small task.\r\n\r\nRTD put together a website, a communications toolkit, and a lot of different advertisements on buses, billboards and via streaming services to get the word out.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_44915\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"300\"]\"\" RTD's Zero Fare for Better Air logo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBut with limited time and limited budget, traditional news sources, social media and word of mouth were key.\r\n\r\nAs a first step, on July 28, RTD leadership gathered with state legislative champs like Senator Faith Winter and Representative Matt Gray to officially kick off the month.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_44916\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"\" CoPIRG staff join State Senator Faith Winter and State Representative Matt Gray at the Kickoff to RTD's Zero Fare for Better Air August[\/caption]\r\n\r\nCoPIRG staff were there to celebrate this clean air strategy - by July 28 our region had already suffered from 21 ozone alert days<\/a>.\r\n\r\nI was glad to join members of other groups like the Denver Streets Partnership, GreenLatinos, SWEEP, and Conservation Colorado to cheer on the launch and the month.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1554486925083299840","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

A Team of Transit Riders Raising Awareness<\/h3>\r\nAll through the month, I had the pleasure of working with a team of transit riders (we called them the Transit Champs) who stepped up to educate everyone about the fare-free program and the opportunities transit affords.\r\n\r\nWe had a central website - www.freetransitdenver.com<\/a> - complete with a calendar of actions and events. There was a spanish version too - www.tr\u00e1nsitogratuitodenver.com<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Transit Champs fanned out and recruited.\r\n\r\nFrom offering to guide individuals through their first experience to shepherding groups to Rockies games or the Santa Fe Art District\u2019s First Friday\u2019s event, the Transit Champs left it all on the field - or bus routes in this case.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/hjones7311\/status\/1557024394349666309\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/nicholas__garza\/status\/1555776550766649344\r\n\r\nSome hosted pop-up tables at transit stops offering free water, lemonade, coffee, donuts and even books (thanks to Book Give and the West Colfax Business District for that partnership).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_44917\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"\" Distributing free books and donuts at a transit stop on Colfax in Denver during RTD's fare free August 2022[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThese events helped make riding transit a little less intimidating and a little more welcoming.\r\n\r\nOne Transit Champ<\/a> continued his nationally recognized<\/a> work to build and place benches at the all-to-frequent stops and shelters that are missing a simple, safe, comfortable place to sit and wait.\r\n\r\nAnother Transit Champ organized a news event highlighting the role carshare programs can play to further support transit ridership. Some of the people he recruited spoke about how, between carshare and transit, they no longer even need to own a car.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1563246969065054210\r\n\r\nOne of the Transit Champs made news<\/a> with their RTD Challenge - racing to see how fast they could ride every rail line to every station in the system. 8 hours, 30 minutes and 34 seconds is now the record.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562513155376369664\r\n\r\nThese kinds of events shone a spotlight on all the places you can get to via transit and reminded people that riding transit can just be fun.\r\n\r\nI had a similar experience teaming up with my daughter on a Scavenger Race through Denver<\/a> via transit. It was an adventure as we navigated multiple lines to take pictures of stained glass windows and street performers.\r\n\r\nThanks to RTD Board member Kate Williams for kicking off that community event.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1556047634971901955\r\n\r\n ","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Clean Air Colorado<\/h3>\r\nOne of the main reasons the state invested millions in RTD\u2019s Zero Fare program was to reduce air pollution.\r\n\r\nTransportation is one of the largest sources of the pollutants that form dangerous ground-level ozone.\r\n\r\nThe Denver\/North Front Range region has exceeded health limits for ozone pollution<\/a> for more than a decade, exposing people to lung damage and other health issues<\/a>. The American Lung Association<\/a> says we\u2019ve got the 7th worst ozone pollution in the country.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=F05qIiM_1cE\r\n\r\nEarly in the month, our team at CoPIRG fanned out across the region to help transit riders and others raise their voice to call for further action from the state to clean up our air.\r\n\r\nIn Boulder County, our team was joined by County Commissioner Claire Levy to show her support. In Littleton, Mayor Kyle Schlachter and State Representative Meg Froelich joined us too.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_44918\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"\" Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter joins CoPIRG staff to show his support for the August 2022 fare-free month[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn total, our staff rode the rails and the buses, and in three days generated 1,233 petitions and signed on 109 businesses to our Clean Air Colorado letter, which we\u2019ll use to advance even bigger support for transit.\r\n\r\n ","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

RTD Leadership, State Legislators, Mayors and Councilmembers Come Together to Highlight the Month<\/h3>\r\nMany of our region\u2019s leaders have large megaphones and it was important for them to use their platforms to highlight the fare-free month.\r\n\r\nA great way to do that was to ride the system during August and help highlight what\u2019s working (and make notes of what needs improving so more people have good transit options).\r\n\r\nI had a blast riding with many of our region\u2019s leaders and seeing their communities through their eyes.\r\n\r\nI began the month on the far west side with State Representative Lisa Cutter, who represents a part of the district with fewer transit options. We started at Federal Center, a hugely underutilized transit station that could provide a hub for service throughout Jefferson County and connections to Bustang, Snowstang and Pegasus statewide bus services along I-70 into the mountains.\r\n\r\nWe rode the W line, using the FlexRide as the final-mile connection to downtown Golden.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1560727570219380736\r\n\r\nLater in the month, at Denver\u2019s Union Station, I met up with RTD Board member Angie Rivera-Malpiede who guided me to the 40th and Colorado airport line station.\r\n\r\nI\u2019ve passed through the 40th station on the A line a hundred times but never got out - it always looked like it was just some parking and warehouses.\r\n\r\nBut Director Rivera-Malpiede and her team at NE Transportation Connections<\/a> introduced me to Prodigy Coffee<\/a>, a neighborhood hub staffed by kids from the community, and home to one of the state\u2019s first e-bike libraries, providing an important option in the area.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1560376883115487232\r\n\r\nI had two rides through parts of Central Denver.\r\n\r\nDenver City Councilmember Paul Kashmann took me on a loop past Wash Park to DU and back. With limited service on the buses, requiring waits of 15-30 minutes, it\u2019s easy to see why many people in this part of Denver avoid local transit and only use the train line to downtown Denver.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s a shame because there are a lot of shops, restaurants and places to access via transit from South Pearl to DU if it came more frequently.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562950325379932166\r\n\r\nDenver City Councilmember Jolon Clark took me on a ride spanning South Broadway to Federal and down to Evans.\r\n\r\nThis is an area rich in culture with a lot of transit routes connecting the communities. The area includes the only Denver homes zoned for horses, Vietnamese and Hispanic business districts, and lots of potential transit-oriented developments.\r\n\r\nThe east\/west connections have less frequent service and we found ourselves sprinting to avoid a 30 minute wait.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1565079842994868224\r\n\r\nState Representative Jennifer Bacon was one of the sponsors of the bill that funded the Zero Fare August, so I was excited to hop aboard transit with her. We rode from Stanley Marketplace up through Central Park to the A line, across to the Peoria Station and up into Montbello (and back).\r\n\r\nThe trip really highlighted how transit and transit riders are often deprioritized in our overall system.\r\n\r\nWe saw everything including poor connections to community hubs like the Stanley Marketplace, nonexistent sidewalks or safe ways to access stops (we walked in gutters and stood in construction zones in our effort to catch a bus), missing signage that sent us wandering through fields looking for a bus stop and 30-minute wait times for buses as we sweltered in the August heat.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562876868356780033\r\n\r\nBack on the west side, Jaime Lewis from the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition and I rode Colfax from the Denver border to downtown Golden on the 16 bus with RTD Board member Marjorie Sloan, Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul, and Lakewood City Council member Jeslin Shahrezaei.\r\n\r\nThe 16 bus connects a vibrant corridor of businesses, schools and communities but lacks the kind of dedicated infrastructure from smooth bus lanes to sidewalks that would make the street more people-friendly and recruiting, enhancing a major transit route.\r\n\r\nUnlike the W line, the 16 goes right into the heart of downtown Golden and allows the region to access some beautiful Front Range hiking, tubing and biking.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562632579760922624\r\n\r\nOn the east side, I took two trips through Aurora - one on the north and one in the south.\r\n\r\nOn the northern side of Aurora, I rode from Colfax down to Mississippi with State Representative Mandy Lindsay. The buses along Peoria come every 15 minutes and, even in the middle of the day, had good ridership.\r\n\r\nRepresentative Lindsay took us down to Pacific Ocean Marketplace for an ice cream mochi break and to showcase the diversity you can find throughout Aurora.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562540927133945857\r\n\r\nI also took a ride with State Representative Iman Jodeh and Aurora City Council member Juan Marcano in the southern part of Aurora from Mississippi to the Nine Mile Station.\r\n\r\nYou could spend a month eating your way across Aurora and still miss out on some great places - many of which you see as you ride the bus on their major arterials.\r\n\r\nBus routes on Peoria and Havana along with the rail line along I-225 provide good connections but putting them together with any east\/west routes, with the exception of Colfax, means a transit trip could easily take over an hour.\r\n\r\nIn what\u2019s perceived as \u201cthe suburbs\u201d and a sea of cars and 6 lane arterials, it may feel like a longshot for successful transit in Aurora but the area has \u201cgood bones\u201d and if the buses came every 5-10 minutes, a lot of people would have a good option to access excellent places without a car.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1567173633986166786\r\n\r\nOne group of transit users that struggle to use our current system are families.\r\n\r\nWhether it\u2019s the cost of paying for multiple people to ride, waiting with kids at transit stops within a foot of speeding vehicles or the challenge of finding an efficient route that connects the various schools, parks, and appointments that can make up a single day in the life, our current system doesn\u2019t make it easy.\r\n\r\nThat doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s impossible, especially if you live near a main route.\r\n\r\nMy family joined State Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez\u2019s family for an evening out on Federal Boulevard in northwest Denver.\r\n\r\nWhile we struggled with the unsafe and unwelcoming bus stops, Federal is a good example of an arterial with frequent service and lots of places to go including the Vietnamese restaurant we ate at and the ice cream shop we rode to for dessert.\r\n\r\nService tends to decrease in the evening and on weekends, which is a hindrance for families, but the fare-free month dropped a major cost barrier for our combined group of eight.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1563560257078448128\r\n\r\nOne place that has seen steady progress in improving transit service is Boulder.\r\n\r\nI rode with RTD board member Lynn Guissinger and Boulder Transit Manager Danny O\u2019Connor, getting a view of the investments already made and the improvements coming.\r\n\r\nWhile in most parts of the region, routes are mostly known by numbers or letters, Boulder routes have names like SKIP, HOP and JUMP. These names help brand the routes, and the overall transit system, making it easier for new and old riders alike to navigate.\r\n\r\nI got a chance to see their 100% electric-powered HOP bus moving people without the tailpipe emissions.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_44919\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"\" One of the 100% electric-powered HOP buses in Boulder[\/caption]\r\n\r\nWe also scoped out some roadway changes and stop improvements that should increase the reliability and speed of buses on routes through congested parts of the city, offering time benefits to transit users and encouraging others to leave their car at home.\r\n\r\nIt was interesting talking about the challenges around transit stops. In my mind, RTD owns and operates all of them but I learned that\u2019s not true. Depending on the stop, a city, county, RTD or private owner could be responsible. It\u2019s incredibly complicated and creates a barrier for us to ensure every stop is safe, clean, comfortable and welcoming.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1564395419278315520\r\n\r\nWith all eyes on RTD during August, I was excited to be able to ride with the \u201cRTDLadyBoss\u201d (her twitter handle), RTD\u2019s CEO and General Manager, Debra Johnson.\r\n\r\nWe took a ride along both trains and buses in a circle from Union Station through the northwest part of Denver.\r\n\r\nWhen it comes to stations and stops, General Manager Johnson underscored the complexity of the current system. RTD is not currently responsible for many of the stops and if we wanted them to be, there would need to be additional money so they could fund the improvements and maintenance so many clearly need.\r\n\r\nOne major opportunity in the transit system right now is along Federal Blvd where we hopped on the 31 bus. General Manager Johnson pointed out that the service is frequent enough that if the right improvements were made to provide the buses with dedicated lanes, we could have a form of bus-rapid transit (BRT).\r\n\r\nThose improvements require partners though. RTD doesn\u2019t own the streets and needs collaboration with cities and the Colorado Department of Transportation.\r\n\r\nGiven the 31 has some of the highest ridership of any RTD bus, and follows along the congested I-25 central corridor, BRT\u2019s reliability and speed benefits would have a huge impact in an area where we need better transit<\/a> to meet safety, air pollution, and accessibility goals.\r\n\r\nIf we\u2019re looking for a place to focus some of the momentum from August and show people what\u2019s possible, this would be a great corridor to lean into.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1562218311768612866","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

The Region is Hungry for Better Transit<\/h3>\r\nRTD\u2019s August Zero Fare month showed people are hungry for better transit.\r\n\r\nWe saw over 1 million more boardings just by dropping the fares for one month.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe groups and Transit Champs I worked with spoke with hundreds of people, happy to use the service but also quick to point out the need for more reliability, more frequency and safer stops<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nWe also spoke with dozens of bus drivers and train operators who felt their job was safer and more enjoyable<\/strong> during August because they no longer had to act as the \u201cfare enforcers.\u201d\r\n\r\nI want to emphasize, we had limited time and a limited budget to even get the word out but we still saw a 22% ridership increase between July and August.\r\n\r\nFrom Aurora to Golden, Boulder to Littleton, I saw and rode lots of buses and trains, highlighting that we have a transit foundation.\r\n\r\nBut that foundation is uneven. There are clear gaps that need to be filled and holes to be plugged.\r\n\r\nTime and again, the key themes that people brought up were more frequent service and better stops and connections to those stops<\/strong> (sidewalks, crossings, bike\/scooter lanes).\r\n\r\nRTD cannot tackle service and stops alone.\r\n\r\nAugust gave us a chance to come together to celebrate RTD\u2019s transit and what we\u2019ve got right now. We did.\r\n\r\nAs August fades in our rearview mirror, we need to remember the most important lesson we knew even before the month - One free month will not transform our transit system.\r\n\r\nBut it gave us a sense of possibility for what we can do when we come together.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s keep this momentum going and come together to truly transform our system.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMore frequency. Safer stops. Reliability.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nClimb aboard.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/dannykatzbc\/status\/1565148221378203648\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n ","":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nRTD\u2019s fare-free August was a big success giving us momentum to improve transit across the Denver region<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With a big increase in ridership, I look back at RTD\u2019s Zero Fare August and all the work that went into making it a success so we can make even bigger improvements\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/colorado\/foundation\/articles\/rtds-fare-free-august-was-a-big-success-giving-us-momentum-to-improve-transit-across-the-denver-region\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RTD\u2019s fare-free August was a 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