By Morgan Landers
Based on buzz alone, it is fairly safe to say that Portland, OR could be put into the “Seven Wonders” of the United States planned cities along with a handful of others like Minneapolis, New York, and……Denver! Up until a month ago, I was somewhat ashamed to tell fellow professional planners that I had never been there, let alone partake in a conversation about it. I am pleased to report that I have had the privilege of visiting Portland in the last month and I was pretty impressed. I also visited Seattle a few weeks later and something dawned on me….why is public transportation such a well known, well publicized option in some major metropolitan areas and not in others?
After traveling from airport, to house, to friend’s house, to restaurant, to store, to bar, to house; Portland and Denver are neck and neck when it comes to seeing the sites while getting around town. It seems that these cities go out of their way to make public transit accessible and noticeable as a transportation option. Seattle, however didn’t seem to be as well publicized. Whether I am on the light rail in Denver or the streetcar in Portland, I found it intuitive and easy to get around.
The transit options in Seattle, other than the ferries, seemed segmented at first glance, however, when looking into it further, there are still a lot of options. How did I miss it? It makes me believe that it all boils down to how transportation agencies get the word out. Public transit is expensive and a huge investment, Portland and Denver (especially with a big hole in the Union Station Redevelopment and FasTracks) has really done a good job of letting people know what is there and push ridership constantly. Not claiming to be a transportation planner, or even wanting to tackle the budget crisis that many transit projects deal with, it seems that successful transit systems put a lot of effort into advertising and ridership initiatives.
Public transportation is a huge component to urban living and Denver has created an amazing transportation system that many people take advantage of on a daily basis. The more people know, the more they use it, the more money it makes….right? Other cities should follow Denver’s example and put the word out to get on the bus, light rail, or streetcar.
As an avid public transportation user and bike commuter in Denver, I am pleased to see that Colorado’s continued support for alternative transportation is progressive and on par with the likes of Portland. Let’s continue to get the word out about alternative transportation options and push the systems to become more convenient and more efficient!
I am happy to be part of the DenverUrbanism blog team and can’t wait to see what everyone is talking about!
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Morgan Landers has a Bachelor of Environmental Design from CU Boulder and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from CU Denver. She currently works as the staff planner for a brownfield redevelopment company in Denver. Her interests include infill development, community outreach/involvement, and environmental planning. As a member of the DenverUrbanism Team, she will discuss a variety of topics about living and working in urban environments.
I lived in Denver while in graduate school at DU and now I call Seattle home. I too recently visited Portland for the first time, and having now used the transit systems of all three cities quite extensively, I have a few insights on the management and PR differences for these three cities.
Portland and Denver’s transit systems are perhaps the most similar. Both have a unified regional transportation district, have made extensive investments in rail, and have dedicated free transit routes that cater to visitors and residents alike (such as the Mall Shuttle). The Portland Streetcar and light rail are free in the downtown core. The transit and wayfinding signs are widespread and easy to use. In short, the core system is designed with the visitor in mind.
Seattle has a great transit system, with a higher percentage of the mode share than both Portland or Denver, but it is missing some key pieces that would make it world class. First, Seattle has 6 major transit agencies operating service throughout the metro area (King County Metro, SoundTransit, Community Transit and Pierce County Transit). While they work together to combine service better than one would expect, the system is far from seamless. Services that make transit easier to use can’t be use for all (like mobile phone apps) and there is a serious branding problem for the visitor.
Transit is free in Seattle’s downtown (excluding the light rail to the airport), but the only regular city buses are found. This is far too intimidating for the average visitor. Signage is awful and the general feel can be a bit scary for the uninitiated. Seattle’s transit system is extensive, but is utilitarian only.
I could go on: Denver and Portland have some flaws in their system that may explain the lower % mode share compared to Seattle. In response to your feeling that Seattle’s transit system was comparably less approachable, my above comments might explain some of that.
An insanely great thing about the Seattle transit system…$2.50 from airport straight into the heart of downtown on light rail! Yes, $2.50! I laughed and wimpered when I got back here and forked over $9 to get on the bus to get back into my car at Stapleton to drive home. It’s probably way to early, but any word on what RTD is planning on charging for the similar in a few years?
Agreed, signage for finding the underground tunnel stations in Seattle is terrible. However, great idea overall. I’m sure it cost a small fortune which makes the $2.50 rate to the airport even more astounding. All said, getting around by bus with an iphone to find routes and times was quite easy for the week.
I’m sorry, but Denver’s transit (specifically rail) system has a long ways to go before it could be considered an excellent way to move around town. Light rail touches connects exactly 2 (5 Points and Platte Park) urban neighborhoods in a meaningful way. In the mean time, ALL other higher density walkable neighborhoods are left high and dry as Fastracks pushes out to low density suburban zones.
But hey, at least the buses run on time (with relatively low frequencies) I ride them to and from work each day.
That’s the drawback with having an RTD. With just a Denver focused company/agency we could be focusing the transit solutions to the more dense areas where it is needed.
A regional transit system although it provides for a strong integrated system throughout the metro area creates a situation where the high density areas in Denver are bypassed by dedicated ROW systems so they can more cost effectively cover the territory of the district.
In my opinion the Colfax corridor, the neighborhoods between Cherry Creek and downtown, and possibly a few others (South Broadway, Highlands, Downing, Westwood) need some dedicated ROW system in order to better serve those areas. In order to do that politically though we may need to do it as a Denver initiative.
I disagree with this – Light Rail connects within a reasonable walking distance (1-10 minute walks) to Ballpark, Five Points, Downtown Denver (yes, this IS a neighborhood), Central Platte Valley – Commons, Lower Highlands, La-Alma-Lincoln Park, Baker, West Wash Park, Platt Park, University, Goldsmith (when the pedestrian bridge is built at I-25 & Colorado), and Universiy Hills.
I’d also like to point out that buses are transit too. The densest neighborhoods, like Capitol Hill and Uptown, have some of the best transit (bus) service of all of the RTD system, besides Downtown Denver. Given the number of carshare vehicles in those neighborhoods, I would bet you would find the most car-free households in those neighborhoods and those households wouldn’t settle there if there weren’t great transit service.
Both Adam and Aaron have very valid points concerning Fast Tracks. Fast Tracks, if completely built out, will serve the metro area very well. As great as that might be, it misses the mark on serving the most dense neighborhoods. The other challenge that needs to be adressed is inter-model transfers. Many people perceive this as a deterrent because of time constraints. The perception of safety is also very important. For those who do not frequently use public transportation, this is a very real concern.
I think Denver would be better suited to focus attention to connecting it’s highest density neighborhoods and transit corridors. Colfax, Broadway, Speer Blvd, Federal Blvd, and Colorado Blvd, have been targeted by Blueprint Denver as areas for growth. Planning for this growth should also include multi-model transit such as street cars, bicycle/ scooter, and pedestrian.
Totally agree, Ray. If you have to transfer between bus routes, RTD is not a reliable transport mode. There’s nothing quite like standing in the cold (or heat) waiting up to an hour for your connecting bus.
Late night and Sunday service? Nope, not in most of Denver.
Buses are transit, but are not transit INVESTMENT. Density and connection of places (quality) should take precedent over long suburban lines that are surrounded by park and rides (quantity). Unfortunately we almost always build transit lines within the paths of least resistance. Contrast a system like Montreal’s (Similar milage to Fastracks) with Denver’s. Our system is glorified commuter rail, not real urban transit.