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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by livecontent
I lived near a future Gold Line Station and I was involved much with this line. It is not as important as the 225 or east rail line. It was kind of added to the public/private partnership of the East Rail, sort of hanging on its coattails. It does serve the local residents and gives Arvada and Wheat Ridge a part of the action from Fastracks. Of course part of its justification was that the Gold Line is part of the Northwest Rail line where only now the rail to Westminster will be build.
What's the story with the Northwest rail line? Will it ever have service to Boulder? Is the Westminster rail link essentially a stub line for future expansion to Boulder? Wasn't the whole FasTracks package sold to the public with the inclusion of commuter rail up to Boulder and Longmont? Have they scrapped those plans or are they just stalled?
What's the story with the Northwest rail link? Will it ever have service to Boulder? Is the Westminster rail link essentially a stub line for future expansion to Boulder? Wasn't the whole FasTracks package sold to the public with the inclusion of commuter rail up to Boulder and Longmont? Have they scrapped those plans or are they just stalled?
Essentially, near term solutions for transit will be meet by the BRT and the Northwest Rail will still be pursued
as a long term goal. Read the Consensus that has been reached by the stakeholders involved: RTD Board endorses Northwest Area Mobility Study recommendations
The Westminster rail link was built because the Gold Line tracks and Northwest Line do share the tracks from the Pecos station to Union Station. It was budgetary feasible to build part of the line from Pecos Junction to Westminster at about 71st and Federal under the Public/Private Partnership.
My opinion: I believe the Northwest Rail Line will be built in segments just as we are now building the north line through Thornton. I think we will see a commitment to extend the line from the Westminster Station to Church Ranch and Broomfield in the near future.
The Longmont extension was added latter in the proposal and I think it will not be built along the diagonal--it is foolish and would not have the demand to justify that line. I believe the best bet is to further extend the North Line to the full RTD boundary at approximately 160th and then work with the Northern cities and counties to build a commuter line south from Fort Collins with a station east of Longmont. Fort Collins Loveland and Berthoid are pursuing forming a Northern Transportation District. They then can be in position to apply for Federal Funds and with their own funds to build a line. Then we will have that full front range commuter line that we have always envisions.
To argue what was proposed under Fastrack and now demand that it must be built is futile. The stakeholders have realistically accepted that the economic and budgetary problems occurred and we will work with what we can do and that is the result of the Northwest Mobility Study.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 11-01-2014 at 12:34 PM..
We are now celebrating that 10 years ago, the voters on November 2 approved the Fastracks project.
This will give you an idea of the energy and vitality of the Denver area in this massive project of the largest public transit expansion in America. I believe if you are thinking of moving to Denver, then this article will excite you and showcase much of what makes Denver a progressive dynamic city and region.
More information of Fastracks can be found at RTD and you can further explore the excellent public transit we now have in place at the RTD website RTD
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 11-01-2014 at 03:45 PM..
You are ignoring one important issue that will cost much time transferring at Union Station. The light rail tracks are far out to the west of the Bus Concourse. Coming on Light Rail would mean you would have to walk to the concourse; walk the whole distance through or around and then get to the heavy rail platform. Believe me that takes much time. With children in tow and baggage--it will be very time consuming. I walked that distance many times just to get an idea of the distance. It was harder for me as I have a movement disorder and cannot walk real fast. You would have to add another 15 minutes to your trip.
Even if you took the rail the 16th Street Mall or any buses to downtown or the bus concourse, you would still have to get to the heavy rail platform.
I actually factored the distance between platforms in and figure that it amounts to a 5-10 minute transfer as I'm assuming that most people who make the trip are going to be able-bodied passengers in parties of one or two (I've done the connection in less than five minutes, but that involved a very brisk stride). Once you start adding in kids or other party members the economics of driving versus taking the train to the airport shrink fast and I don't think that that's the primary kind of airport train user you will be seeing..
The Peoria transfer will be far shorter, but I don't it's enough to make up for the slow at-grade travel speeds though the Aurora City Center and Fitzsimons to Peoria travel spans. It's obviously a design trade-off in order to get more commuters into stations that are considered major TOD centers, though I don't think that applies to the Fitzsimons station anymore after it was relocated to the north end of the campus.
I actually factored the distance between platforms in and figure that it amounts to a 5-10 minute transfer as I'm assuming that most people who make the trip are going to be able-bodied passengers in parties of one or two (I've done the connection in less than five minutes, but that involved a very brisk stride). Once you start adding in kids or other party members the economics of driving versus taking the train to the airport shrink fast and I don't think that that's the primary kind of airport train user you will be seeing..
The Peoria transfer will be far shorter, but I don't it's enough to make up for the slow at-grade travel speeds though the Aurora City Center and Fitzsimons to Peoria travel spans. It's obviously a design trade-off in order to get more commuters into stations that are considered major TOD centers, though I don't think that applies to the Fitzsimons station anymore after it was relocated to the north end of the campus.
Yes, I also think there will be just a certain type of traveler will mostly use the train to the Station. There will be many business travelers and there is significant count of employees who would use it, just as they use the Sky Ride Buses because they get subsidized or free passes.
Yet, I often see kids on the trains on an outing with their grandparents or parents and they just love it. They may demand that their parents take the train to the airport.
As a disabled person, I could take in for free but the walking is a struggle and I would have to pay the cost of the Access-a-Ride to the airport which is $26, one way.
However, keep in mind there are many who do not drive and do not want to pay the much higher cost of the commercial shuttle. There are others who strongly believe in public transit and will take it, even if it requires more time. On the other hand there are those who will never, ever take public transit and the steering wheel will have to be pried from their cold dead hands.
Have approximate costs of taking the train to the airport been figured yet?
I might consider it, but I can get an UberX from my house to DIA for about $44.
They're probably tinkering around with it internally, but RTD is planning on overhauling their entire fare structure when the Airport Line opens. Gone will be the zone system for light rail and you'll see either a distance based system for everything or a flat-fare system with premiums for certain runs such as the Airport Line.
I'm betting about $25 from Union Station to DIA for single trip.
Right now it's projected that the Z Line will take 62 minutes to travel from Lincoln Station to I-70 & Peoria, add in time for a connection and you're probably looking at 90 minutes to the airport. In comparison, taking the E Line to Union Station and transferring to the line to the airport will take about 70 minutes or so. The culprit in this massive disperancy in travel times is that the I-225 line goes at-grade through Aurora's "City Center" and from Fitzsimons to Peoria. These concessions to Aurora make the line a lot less convenient for those living in the SE portion of the metro area, though it's good for feeding a small amount of foot traffic into the Oakland of the Denver Metro Area. The line cutting through Fitzsimons is pretty much pointless now that it's been shifted all the way to the north end of the campus, the Colfax stop will be more convenient for the vast majority of commuters. It would have made more sense time-wise, maybe not cost-wise, to keep the line grade-seperated along I-225 and have the connection with the Airport Line at I-225 and I-70.
TL : DR It's going to be faster for people in the SE to head to Union Station rather than taking the I-225 Line to Peoria in order to go to the airport.
Yeah, I see the construction every day in Anschutz and where the line is going makes zero sense. I'm assuming there will be development along the north end of Anschutz at some point. I think the entire golf course is going to be developed, so maybe 20 years from now it'll make sense. But yeah, I can see that line being very slow going around the Aurora Mall and through Anschutz.
I'm betting about $25 from Union Station to DIA for single trip.
I'm hoping your wrong on this number. Right now the West line is $4 (one way) Golden to Downtown.
The East line is about twice the length so I'm hoping it will be $8 to $10.
If it is $25 one way or $50 RT, I can drive for less than $10 and park/shuttle for $8/per day.
So the breakeven point is a 5 day trip for one person and eleven days for a couple traveling together.
Mass Transit needs to be affordable!
Side note on the Anschutz Med Center Station. The Med Center requested the rail be moved away from the east side of the Med Center because of concerns about vibrations from the trains interfering with some scientific equipment. Although I realize the Med Center campus will someday expand north to the rerouted tracks, I think this was shortsighted given that Anschutz is by far the largest employer on the East Line other than the airport itself. The plan is for a Med Center shuttle bus to take care of the "last mile" problem.
They're probably tinkering around with it internally, but RTD is planning on overhauling their entire fare structure when the Airport Line opens. Gone will be the zone system for light rail and you'll see either a distance based system for everything or a flat-fare system with premiums for certain runs such as the Airport Line.
I'm betting about $25 from Union Station to DIA for single trip.
I have been to numerous meetings on the fare and how do you know so much more than everyone! If fact, a zone system is a distance based system--which tells me you know not what you are talking about. Yes, there will be some changes and it is now being discussed.
AND
NO! Absolutely no Way will the fare from Union Station to DIA will be $25--you are scaring everyone for no reason! The current fare on for the Sky Ride Bus from Union Station to DIA is $11 one way. The highest fare at this for a regional fare or for all the zones traveled is $5. So, given what is now in place that will give you an idea that the fare ware be somewhat in the neighborhood of the current Sky Ride Buses.
What is now being discussed is how to put it all in balanced with the zones, regional, express and local buses and if those distinction will continue to exist. The issues of transfers is being evaluated and are transfers an anachronism. Obviously, the current highest zone pricing will not apply to the new airport line--it will be more. We have been discussing time based fares in addition to looking at the distance base fares and how that will fit in the total mix. Big concerns are loading passengers faster how the new smart card system can be extensively implemented.
You are just blowing smoke!
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 11-03-2014 at 10:06 AM..
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What is Fastracks all about
and from Fitzsimons to Peoria. These concessions to Aurora make the line a lot less convenient for those living in the SE portion of the metro area, though it's good for feeding a small amount of foot traffic into the Oakland of the Denver Metro Area. The line cutting through Fitzsimons is pretty much pointless now that it's been shifted all the way to the north end of the campus, the Colfax stop will be more convenient for the vast majority of commuters. It would have made more sense time-wise, maybe not cost-wise, to keep the line grade-seperated along I-225 and have the connection with the Airport Line at I-225 and I-70.
