Has the Denver Light Rail been a success? (Boulder, Parker: transfer to, gated)

[daprara]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

Do you realize the comment you responded to was from 2014?

my bad sorry

[harrison21]

When I first moved to Denver, I chose an apartment based on proximity to the light rail so I could take it downtown whenever I was drinking. I am someone that doesn't like to drive even after 1-2 drinks, and back when taxis were the only option, it was at least $50 one way if you could even get a taxi to come out to the suburbs.

The light rail stop is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment, then around a 35-40 minute ride downtown, and usually around another 10 minute walk to get to where I'm eventually going. It's cheap, but not convenient at all! Several years ago, I used it on weekends pretty frequently. With the expansion of Uber/Lyft, I rarely use it anymore. I pay about $10-12 more for Uber, but I can get downtown in 20 minutes (and I appreciate not having to walk when it's cold or there is bad weather) vs. spending an hour or more using the light rail. Not to mention, there are still many areas of the city that the light rail doesn't go to, so it's not even always an option.

The timing at night is also awful...if you don't time it just right, you might be waiting up to 30 minutes (or even 60 minutes on weekdays) for the next train. A few years ago, I was in Boston and couldn't believe our luck when we seemingly kept walking up to the station when a train was just arriving every time. It turns out, they arrive about every 3 minutes there! They also have stops all over the city so you can truly use it to go anywhere. We stayed at a hotel in the suburbs near a T station and didn't need to touch the car all week.

With the timing and location issues, I can't imagine why anyone would want to take it for work. The tickets are cheap when you compare to taking a taxi/uber/lyft, but not when you compare to driving your own car, and even in rush hour traffic it's not really faster, especially if you have to drive to a station first or have a long walk from the station to your work location.

[daprara]

Originally Posted by harrison21

... The timing at night is also awful...if you don't time it just right, you might be waiting up to 30 minutes (or even 60 minutes on weekdays) for the next train. A few years ago, I was in Boston and couldn't believe our luck when we seemingly kept walking up to the station when a train was just arriving every time. It turns out, they arrive about every 3 minutes there! They also have stops all over the city...

i just cked and the population (relates to lite rail ridership base) of Boston vs Denver is almost the same, thought the Boston population would be much larger??

the RTD Lite Rail has just recently gone from peacock to feather duster here:
-the nearest lite rail station to me has significant reduced operational hours compared to others.
-the ride into Denver fair is $1.50 more than the next station which closer to denser downtown.

given these two factors we usually drive to that closer inexpensive lite rail park and ride.

what might happen; is easy and or inexpensive parking may go away in downTown Denver and drive citizens to the lite rail. Bet this will take some time tho.


otherwise it will be difficult to sway the average joe away from driving.

[mhays25]

Boston is eight million to Denver's three.

[Mezter]

Boston's area is almost 3x the size of Denver's and more populated than the state of CO. That mixed with a much more established system is the reason their transportation is much better.

[zlxt]

RTD rail system keeps growing

RTD

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by mhays25

Boston is eight million to Denver's three.

Not even close. Boston 685K. Greater Boston Metro 4.7M.

[DrDog]

Is it possible it would go farther south? Castle Rock? COS?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by DrDog

Is it possible it would go farther south? Castle Rock? COS?

Castle Rock has been ducking joining RTD for decades. Until they join, they aren't getting it.

[COcheesehead]

I take it up from the south and there are times the cars are completely full by the second or third stop. So it gets use. Does it cut down on congestion? Hell no, but it does make getting into downtown super easy IF you live near the stops.