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RTD Telephone Town Hall District D, Director Jeff Walker June 9, 2014
Speaker: Good evening and thank you for joining this special live Telephone Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Regional Transportation District. I'm Jin Tsuchiya and I will be your moderator as we talk about RTD's programs and services and Fast Tracks projects. Joining me this evening, our RTD Board Director Jeff Walker and Dave Genova, RTD Assistant Jinral Manager of Safety and Security. Also with us tonight to answer your questions is Doug Monroe Service Planner and Scheduler. Tonight we'll focus on the district Director Walker represents which includes Bow Mar, Englewood and Sheridan, portions of Denver, Lakewood and Littleton and portions of unincorporated Arapahoe and Jefferson counties. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts about RTD and ask questions. If this is your first time on a Telephone Town Hall, here's how it works. To ask a question, please press star 3 on your keypad and you will be transferred to someone who will take down some basic information and put you in the queue. Since we want to hear from as many of you as possible, we can only take one question per person. Once the operator has your information, you can listen to the conversation until you are called upon. When I call your name, please repeat your question for our live audience. Also your opinions are very important to us, so we'll be asking a polling question later during the call. All you'll have to do is press the number we indicate for your answer. So let's get started. It's now my great pleasure to introduce to you RTD Board Director Jeff Walker.
Speaker: Good evening everyone. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Before we get to your questions, let me give you a quick update on the progress being made on our Fast Tracks Transit Expansion Program. As you may recall, the Fast Tracks Program is the largest transit expansion program in the country and more than $5 billion in projects is continuing across the Metro area. This includes the current build out of five new rail lines and the Bus Rapid Transit Express Lane under construction on U.S. Highway 36. Additionally, some Fast Tracks projects have already been completed. In April, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the W-‐Line that runs between Downtown Denver to Golden. The first Fast Tracks rail line to be completed. Also the new 22-‐bay bus concourse at Denver Union Station opened last month along with the new Free MetroRide that runs along 18th and 19th Street in Downtown Denver. This new free service gives people more choices to get from one end of downtown to the other and the historic Denver Union Station building will open in July as a new boutique hotel with retail and restaurants and while serving as the great train hall that is always been the centerpiece of the building. So I'm looking forward to the discussion tonight so please press star 3 to ask a question. Jin.
Speaker: Five rail lines in construction, that's quite an undertaking. Dave, can you tell us more about those lines?
Speaker: There are visible signs of Fast Tracks progress all over town. The East Rail Line to the airport, the Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge and the first segment of the Northwest Rail to Westminster are more than halfway complete. Also the I-‐225 Light Rail line through Aurora is in construction and that line will connect the current end of line station at Nine Mile to the East line out to DIA. The express lanes are being built for the U.S. 36 Bus Rapid Transit project in collaboration with CDOT, those lanes will go from Federal Boulevard to Table Mesa and the new buses that will operate our BRT Service have been ordered. All five of these projects will open in 2016. So that'll be a big year for the whole region. And the North Metro Line from Denver to Thornton broke ground in March. This line is set to open in 2018. So a definite transportation transformation is happening here in Denver.
Speaker: Thanks, Dave. If you've just joined us, please press star 3 on your keypad if you want to ask a question and you will be transferred to an operator who will take down some basic information and get you in the queue. So let's take our very first question of the evening. Dorothy, go ahead.
Speaker: I would like to know what the air... not the fare... the air fare, what the bus fare is on the 76 Line that runs on South Wadsworth to Broomfield and Broomfield to back down to Southwest Plaza for seniors? I'm wanting to know what it would cost to ride it?
Speaker: Hi, this is Jeff. Thanks for your question. The fare on that is $1.10 for seniors. Thank you.
Speaker: The next question comes from Sarah. Sarah go ahead.
Speaker: Yes. I was going to ask the same thing. Does that pertain to Saturday and Sunday as well?
Speaker: Yes ma'am. Yeah, we... the fare are the same all year, all day every day. So looks like somebody still get done there a little bit but that's okay. Do you have any other question? I'm sorry. I think you've been taken off already. So I apologize but thanks for calling.
Speaker: Thanks Sarah. The next question comes from Charles. Go ahead.
Speaker: Hi, good evening. My question is why doesn't the RTD provide transportation from the Union Station over to Coors Field at least on a game night or to other parts of the downtown area from Union Station? So that... it's a long walk to the ballpark and also to facilities and businesses and restaurants and so forth on Wazee and Blake. Yeah, I don't think that would be something that would be too expensive especially since that West Line runs empty most of the time.
Speaker: Thank you Charles. I'm going to let Doug take this.
Speaker: Yes, thank you for your question Charles. The... we do provide a lot of service to downtown. It's not really that easy to provide service from Union Station directly to Coors Field especially on events. The large crowds there make it difficult to get buses through there and we do provide service especially for out by the light rail trucks there on the MallRide and it'll drop you off right at Blake Street and just a couple block walks from there. But as far as getting any close to that than on game days, it's very difficult just because of the large crowds in the area. So thank you for your question.
Speaker: Jeff, do want to add to this? Okay. Lucy, you have our next question go ahead.
Speaker: Yes. Are there going to be drop off areas at Union Station especially for people with disabilities?
Speaker: Thank you, Lucy. Doug, do you have an answer to that?
Speaker: Yes. Yeah, thanks for your question Lucy. There are specific drop off areas in a few different places at Union Station not just for disabled though, there are certainly rooms for disabled to access at any of these locations. But right in front of the building on Wewatta Street will be one of those locations and then at one of the new entrances to the Union Station bus concourse on Wewatta Street will be another one and there'll also be disable to access out by the light rail platform like there currently is.
Speaker: Thanks, Doug. Sherry, please go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Question is my daughter attends in Denver Public School and when she is in high school DPS will no longer take her by bus, she needs to ride RTD, RTD by light rail and bus. How safe is it for a let's say 16-‐year old to ride on RTD on her own. Should I be not concerned as a parent to allow her to do such a thing as a 16-‐year old.
Speaker: Thanks, Sherry. Dave, you have an answer?
Speaker: Yes. Good evening. Thanks Sherry for that question. And it's very safe for high schoolers to be riding on RTD services. So as far as our bus and our rail service go we do a lot of training with our operators and then we have a lot of security and safety devices and activities on the bus and the rail. For example our light rail system, we have security officers that patrol our light rail system on a regular basis. We also have onboard video on light rail train and most of our buses are also equipped with video surveillance. We have some other proactive measures as well. For example, all of our bus operators are in constant contact with our bus dispatch center by radio and can take any appropriate action necessary. So we do get a quite a few high school students ride our services and we do so very successfully.
Speaker: Jeff?
Speaker: Thanks for your question. I just wanted to add that my daughter has just graduated from 7th grade and she and a lot of her friends have ridden the bus and or the train by themselves to school to the mall etcetera and they haven't had any problems especially once they get used to have where to transfer and how to read the schedule, it's been really easy and easy accessible for them and probably more fun when be touring them around town. So I haven't had any worries but thank you for your call.
Speaker: Thanks Jeff. Again press star 3 on your keypad if you want to ask a question and you will be transferred to an operator who will take down some basic info and get you in the queue. RTD is always interested in getting your feedback about the agency and what is important to you. Here's our polling question for this evening, just press the number we indicate for your answer on your keypad. The question tonight is what do you value most in RTD as a public service? Press 1 for convenient service, press 2 for quality customer service, press 3 for safety, press 4 for quality of life benefits and those are things like environmental benefits and time savings, and press 5 for other. Please record your vote now and I will share the results in just a moment. While you are voting, we'll take another question and don't forget to press star 3 on your keypad if you'd like to ask a question. Robert, you're up next. Go ahead.
Speaker: Yes. This is a question involving the U.S. 36 Bus way. I want to know what the toll will be on U.S. 36? Hello?
Speaker: Thanks Robert. I'm going to let Doug handle that.
Speaker: Yes, thanks Robert. As far as the toll currently it's I think 5.50 in the peak. The tolls are actually going to be set by CDOT and not by RTD but historically they've been close to what our... what the RTD regional fares have been so they've usually copy paste with that. I'd expect that they remain very similar to what they are right now by the time that opens in 2016.
Speaker: Thank you. Jerry, what is your question?
Speaker: This is Gary. My question is why have the light rail trains from the Englewood Light Rail Station to Union Station being eliminated during the middle of the day?
Speaker: Thanks Jerry. Jeff?
Speaker: Hi. Those that alignment, that trip was eliminated during budget cuts but we do have some good news those trains will be coming back the C and the F Line heading back into Union Station that's 30-‐minute intervals during the day and also when to the evening. So that will be a change that you'll see in August. Thank you.
Speaker: Thanks Jeff. Elizabeth, you're next go ahead.
Speaker: Hi. I've got a question about your Access-‐A-‐Ride program. Can you hear me?
Speaker: Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker: Okay. My sister became paralyzed, is handicapped a year and a half ago and she desperately needs to get back to Craig Hospital from time to time. She applied for Access-‐a-‐Ride and was denied. She reapplied and was denied again and was told she could transfer buses five or six times. In order for her to do that, she would have to leave in the dark in the morning and return in the dark at night which would be, she did extremely vulnerable. And I'm just wondering what it takes, I mean she is wheelchair-‐bound and I don't know what it would take for something like that to be able to use Access-‐A-‐Ride. We've tried everything we can to get her in the program.
Speaker: Thanks Elizabeth. Doug, do you have an answer?
Speaker: I can't speak to necessarily why she was denied for it but I would like to invite you to call me directly tomorrow and I'd be... I'd like to work with you either as with the Access-‐A-‐Ride issue or the issue from getting point A to point B in our 6 Route. If you wouldn't mind giving me a call tomorrow at 303-‐299-‐2213 and I'd love to work through that with you. Thank you.
Speaker: Thanks Doug. The next question will come from Delray. Go ahead.
Speaker: Hey, I am here. Hello.
Speaker: Yes, go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Yes. I have a job opportunity at King Soopers on Belleview and Federal and I don't know if there's really no bus line that goes there. Hello?
Speaker: There is no service on Belleview currently. We've previously offered service on Belleview the Route 55 limited which is discontinued a number of years ago. It never really provided or never really carried by many passengers and it wasn't very cost-‐effective use of our resources. We do have lots of service on Federal, I guess same as the last caller I'd like to invite you to give me a call directly tomorrow at 303-‐299-‐2213 and I can see if I can work something out that works well for you.
Speaker: Great. Thank you. Rick, please go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Hello. My name is Rick. Let's see, when the train to DIA starts running and I was wondering can I park my car at the University Light Rail Station, take the train to DIA and then leave my car there for 10 days and come back and get my car and drive away?
Speaker: Thanks for the question Rick. Dave, can you answer that?
Speaker: Yes. Good evening Rick. You know, it's interesting at our University Station because of the proximity to the campus we do not allow overnight parking at that facility and that I believe is the only facility in which we don't allow overnight parking. But there are adjacent Park-‐n-‐Rides all up and down the line of... next to the University Station on either direction where a patron can park for up for 10 days and be able to take the train and get to the airport.
Speaker: Shirley, you have our next question. Go ahead.
Speaker: I'm interested to you know, if there are any plans to restart the Ski Train?
Speaker: Thank you Shirley. Dave?
Speaker: Hi, Shirley thank you for that question. Yeah, the Ski Train was a lot of fun when it was in service. That's actually not in the RTD provided service. It was a private company that provided the Ski Train and I think for economic reasons it just wasn't feasible for them to operate anymore. And I haven't heard any rumbling though about the Ski Train coming back but we have accommodated for it in our plans at Denver Union Station if it ever were to come back. Thanks for the question.
Speaker: Here are the results of our first survey question. The question was what do you value most in RTD as a public service? 47% of respondents said convenient service, 23% said quality of life and 12% said safety. Thank you for taking part in tonight's poll. Let's go to our next question this evening from Ken. Go ahead.
Speaker: Okay, my question was pretty much on the same line as the few other people but we have Access-‐A-‐Ride and is Access-‐A-‐Ride going to be able to hook up with the RTD trains and are the trains accessible for handicapped people?
Speaker: Thanks Ken. Jeff, can you answer this one?
Speaker: Hi, Ken thanks for calling. Yes, the Access-‐A-‐Ride will be able to drop passengers off at train stations and all of our train stations have wheelchair accessible platforms that will ride into... where they will allow user to ride into the first car of the train. Thank you very much.
Speaker: Dave, can you add something?
Speaker: Yeah. I just want to add that when our Commuter Rail Service begins to the airport in our other commuter rail line that's going to be a level boarding where patrons will not have to use the ramp in the high block that we have at the light rail station. So riding the train to the airport and on the commuter system will be even more convenient for those patrons. Thank you.
Speaker: Coleman, you have our next question go ahead.
Speaker: Yeah, I was wondering if you're going to improve that service on 21 West Town as the Walmart 50% of it opened and sometimes it does it around late and on Sunday stops running so I have to walk on the rest of the way when I'm riding the bus.
Speaker: Thanks, Coleman. Doug, can you answer this?
Speaker: Yes, thank you for your question. Route 21 service West of Kipling has never... it has always kind of in middle of the road as far as ridership and we discontinued service on weekends and in the evenings a couple years ago. At this point it only... it's only carrying less than 30 passengers a day on weekdays in that whole segment and for... that's really not enough to justify service on the weekends. We do continually monitor it and we do have a lot of requests out there. We'd like to add it back if the
budget would allow for it but really we're looking for a service improvements on weekdays before we provide additional service out there on weekends.
Speaker: Thanks Doug. For those of you just joining the call, good evening. I'm Jin Tsuchiya and I'm your moderator as we talked with RTD Board Director Jeff Walker and Dave Genova, RTD Assistant Jinral Manager of Safety and Security. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts and ask questions. You can participate in the discussion by pressing star 3 on your keypad. You will be transferred to an operator who will take down some basic information and get you into the queue. That's star 3 on your keypad to ask a question. Also if you need to leave the call, you can still leave us a message by pressing star 9. So let's our next question. Ramiro, you're live go ahead.
Speaker: Hello, my concern is the cost to ride in the bus. There are a lot of people on minimum wage and only working part-‐time which means they don't make a lot of money and are required to take the bus to some of their jobs and that's pretty expensive. It doesn't leave them much of their daily earnings. Also my son-‐in-‐law had to turn down a job out in Aurora at I think at Fitzsimons out there because the early shift that he was going to get, there was no bus to get him there from North Denver at that time in the morning. We're talking about 6:00 in the morning that he had to be there. So I'm just concern about well two things, basically better scheduling earlier for people that go to work super early in the morning and better pricing for the poor people.
Speaker: Ramiro, thanks so much for your question. I think that Jeff and... Jeff can you handle this?
Speaker: Sure, thank you. Actually right now RTD staff has formed the task force in order to take exact of our inventory and compare our system to similar agencies across the country to make sure that our prices are fair, equitable and how they affect the revenue that we take in. That this task force should have some recommendations for early part of 2015, late 2014 and then will take whatever those recommendations are, we'll take them out to the public like inputs, feedback are from the public and then assuming there are any recommendations and then the board will make a decision and I think Doug will add some more comments about the scheduling.
Speaker: Yeah, thanks for your question about scheduling. We do have... we do offer a lot of early morning service. I guess it would depend on exactly what routes you're looking at up there especially for accessing the few medical center that at Colfax service, on East Colfax that runs near there, runs 24 hours a day. I guess I'd invite you or your son to give me a call at 303-‐299-‐2213 and I'd work through hopefully coming up with the trips where you that may be able to work or maybe there is something
that's lacking in our services there and it could be an opportunity for some improvement for us so thank you.
Speaker: Thanks Doug. Barb, go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Yes. I was just wondering I had heard someone earlier say something about a senior rate and how is that applied on the light rail as well?
Speaker: Thanks Barb. Doug, can you take this one?
Speaker: Yes, Director Walker said earlier, the senior fares are half fares for all of our fares basically. So with local fare is normally 2.25 seniors can ride for $1.10, express fares normally $4 and seniors can ride for $2 and so on. It's the same way with light rail just using our ticket vending machines, you'd select to get a, it's called a discount ticket and it'll end up costing you half of what you're regular ticket will cost and if you... when the fare enforcement officers come by you'll just show them the ticket along with your proof of eligibility which could be your driver’s license or Medicare card or something like that. So thank you.
Speaker: The next question comes in from Kelly. Kelly go ahead.
Speaker: Yes, what is your pet policy for non-‐service animal that's in a completely enclosed container in particular one that lies for the Union Station to the DIA Route.
Speaker: That is a great question. Dave can you take that?
Speaker: Yes, thanks Kelly for your question. Our policy on pet is if the animals are not service animals they're not allowed on RTD service. However, you bring... this is a very interesting point that since we'll be having service to the airport soon that we'll probably have to revisit that and if you know, if a pet is contained in a method that they would be similar or what's required for being on a flight then maybe that something we can consider. So I'll put that on my list of things to follow up on. Thank you.
Speaker: Thanks Dave. Roy please go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Hi, my business partner and I do a lot of travel by airplane and we really would like to go to the airport on to the SkyRide on RTD and the problem is when you go to the Park-‐n-‐Ride to take those buses, the parking machines are terrible. They don't work at all and when it's cold, if the sun shining on the screen you can't see it. Most of the time they won't take any cash, they reject all other cards. They're just terrible machines. Every time I complained about them, your technicians say: Yeah, yeah. We know they're awful we have to replace them. So here's my question, when you going to put some decent parking machines in there so we can use SkyRide to go to the airport?
Speaker: Thanks for your question Roy. Dave, can you answer that?
Speaker: Yes. Thanks Roy for your question it's a good one and you know, we do hear often about the pay stations at the Park-‐n-‐Ride. We do have plans to replace those pay stations with an enhanced pay station that is a more user-‐friendly patron interface and actually has the information in a database to tell if a patron is in district or out of district. But what I don't have is the exact schedule for when they're going to be replaced. We're working through a contract amendment right now with our service provider and part of that amendment is to replace all those machines at all of our Park-‐n-‐Ride. But I do want to tell you about some convenient alternatives into using the pay stations. And one of them what we call are automated account. If the... what a patron need can do is just set up, set up an account with our provider. And then once you have your account set up, you set up a small fund with your, with your credit card like a $50 fund and then you just park and you don't have to do anything. You simply hop on-‐board and then as we monitor the lots on a daily basis then we just charge each day you're there to your account. So it's an incredibly convenient method for patrons that just can simply register for an account and then just show up at the Park-‐n-‐Ride and hop on-‐board and there's also a 15% discount for patron that use the automated account. In addition to that convenient method there's another one which is pay-‐by-‐phone and it works similarly and a patron needs to set up an account with our provider and then, and then a patron can use a smartphone or even the internet to pay for their parking, their parking service. So in that case once you have an account set up on pay-‐by-‐phone you can hop on-‐board and then make your payment with your phone while you're riding DIA for example. And another great convenience sir, are function of the pay-‐by-‐phone program is if you're traveling and your stay is extended, you simply use your phone or get online on the internet and you can extend your parking stay. So I you know I would encourage you to check out either those of two convenient alternatives.
Speaker: Mary, the next question is yours go ahead.
Speaker: I had an inquiry about... Hello. My name is Mary. I had an inquiry about safety. Not just it's a light rail stations and not just the bus stations but in Jinral and not just for females at night, it's about when you're invited to go downtown to event, I would... I'm wanting to know is there any way you have those old fashion, there's a phone that was on a box for like, for an emergency call. The police and they had them on the old days when they used to walk the beep. Do you have something like that? Have you ever considered something like that for people that are in distress and don't have any way to protect themselves, if and when they become prey.
Speaker: Mary, that's a great question. I'm going to let Dave answer that one.
Speaker: Hi Mary and thank you for your question. Yes at all of our light rail stations we do have emergency telephones and those emergency telephones are simply a push button operation and they ring directly to our 24-‐hour Security Command Center which staffed by a team of security professionals. And then that team can take the appropriate action whether it's sending police or sending our security services or even calling for an emergency medical situation. So in addition to having those emergency telephones at all of our light rail stations we do have them throughout the Denver Union Station facility and then they are in our parking structures where we have structures right next to light rail and we do have them at several other Park-‐n-‐Rides. But one thing I want to tell you about is our Transit Watch program and essentially our Transit Watch program it's a, it's like a neighborhood watch program except that it's specific to transit. And so with our Transit Watch program we have a 24-‐hour hotline. That number if you want to take it down is 303-‐299-‐2911. And that Transit Watch hotline rings directly in to our Security Command Center again where our security team is there and they can answer that call and take whatever appropriate action is necessary and in addition to the phone number there's also a way in which a person can text into the Transit Watch line or also e-‐mail into the Transit Watch line. And I'm really excited about a new feature we're going to be rolling out probably within the next month or so and that's a Transit Watch app for a smartphone and that will be a very convenient and very quick in unobtrusive way for our patrons to report security related situations or activities or concerns to our Security Command Center. And of course we always advise people if they're in the middle of an emergency or something that looks like it could present an eminent to right of course to call 911. Thank you.
Speaker: That's a great advise Dave. Thank you. Debbie you have the next question go ahead.
Speaker: Hi. I'm going to become a new commuter going downtown and I see there's a section on the website about bikes. But how about... can I take the bike on a bus first and then go downtown on transfer to light rail and then take the bus on light rail downtown?
Speaker: Thanks Debbie. Jeff go ahead.
Speaker: Hi, yes you can. All of our buses are equipped with bike racks on the front and all of our trains accept bicycles at either end... except for the very first car at either end of the car. The front of the first car is reserved for disabled passengers but I... yeah it's a great way and I see lots bikes on the bus when I get to work every day. So thank you very much for your call.
Speaker: Thanks Jeff. If you have a question please press star 3 on your keypad if you want to ask a question and you will be transferred to an operator who will take down some basic info and get you in the queue. Now there are some exciting service changes that will start in August. Can you tell us about them Jeff?
Speaker: Yes I can. There's good news for people using light rail. Now for both the Southeast and Southwest Lines midday service is going to get better. Now we talk about this earlier with the previous caller. It's going to be more frequent. Midday service is considered 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. So starting in mid-‐August the C Line which runs from Littleton Mineral Station to Union Station will have service every 30 minutes between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. The D Line which runs from Mineral Station to 30th in Downing has 15-‐minute service and that allows folks the opportunity to get down to Downtown Denver or home every 15 minutes or less. Similarly on the Southeast Line we are reintroducing midday service on the F Line which goes from the Lincoln Station to 18th in California. The service will also run every 30 minutes and with the E Line that goes to Union Station every 30 minutes, people in the Southeast will also have the chance to get to the downtown every 15 minutes or less.
Speaker: Dave, where can people find out about exact times for the new schedules?
Speaker: Well the best way Jin is to go to www.rtd-‐denver.com the RTD website and click on schedules and there will be minor adjustments to the schedule for buses as well. Remember the new service changes won't take place until mid-‐August.
Speaker: Thanks Dave. So that is www.rtd-‐denver.com and click on schedules. The next question actually came up, came to us in the room here. Jeff, RTD has committed itself to making training and job
opportunities available on our projects to the people who live in the communities where we're building. It's been a national model. Can you tell us about the Workforce Initiative Now or WIN program?
Speaker: Yes, certainly. It's been a fantastic program so far. It's a joint program between RTD, the Community College of Denver, Denver Transit Partners that's the group that's building the East Line, Gold Line and the first segment of the Northwest Rail and... the urbanely. And the purpose of the program is to help develop skills and it also offers placement assistance to people primarily in the areas where the construction is occurring. So nearly as of now about 200 people have been employed in 50 disciplines because of this program and those disciplines are mechanics and operators and project management etc.
Speaker: Great thank you Jeff. Our next question comes from Kurt. Go ahead.
Speaker: I have... I've sent several e-‐mails regarding the stop at the Fast Tracks on 88th Avenue. The people in my neighborhood do not wish this stop to be there and they've never addressed our rights on that. They addressed financial and other aspects but not our right to the quality of life that we've become across them to in this neighborhood. We're long term owners, 1959 the first council's built that owner still lives there. I live there 25 years. We have a family that's kind of corner from us that bought the house from their parents and raised their children in that neighborhood and we still wanted there. And so we're wondering...
Speaker: Thank you for your question Kurt. Dave, can you answer the question?
Speaker: Yes. Kurt, thanks for the question. This is a particular stop that I'm not familiar with but what I'd like to do is tomorrow do some research that on this particular stop at this location and see if we can... what we can do. And so I'm looking at a North Metro map and I'm wondering if it's maybe the station at 88th that you're talking about and perhaps it is since your question was geared towards Fast Tracks. But you know we do lie at all of our stations. We go through a very comprehensive planning effort. We look at things like safety and security and access and impacts in the neighborhood and traffic and all of those things before we place the station location. But thank you for the question.
Speaker: Thanks Dave. Again, if you have a question please press star 3 in your keypad and you will be transferred to an operator who will take down some basic info and get you back in the queue. The next question tonight comes from Jane.
Speaker: Yes, this is a gross topic. But people spit at the light rail stations all the time they walk around all day and then unloaded at the light rail station. I called the RTD and was told that there is no rule against spitting in public around their property and I was wondering if there is a rule and if so, would your consider putting up some signage?
Speaker: Thanks for the question Jane. Dave, can you answer that?
Speaker: Yes. Hi Jane good evening. You know this is a topic I'm going to have to research a bit. I want to look into that, that particular comment you made about of that rule. But Jinrally speaking what our expectations around our stations is that people behave civilly that they follow all laws of course and we do have our program for... it is challenging when there isn't a specific rule or code or law or something. If a person is not breaking an specific laws it's very difficult for us to possibly address that behavior. But for people that are problem offenders we do have a service suspension program and perhaps we can look at that in combination with this particular item. But another area that, that we get that a quite a few comments about is smoking around stations and stops. And I will tell you that, that something we're evaluating now internally within the organization about, about whether that something we can move forward with or not. We're currently evaluating that as I say and then I will be briefing our board about that about if there's opportunity to move that forward. So thanks for your interest Jane.
Speaker: Thank you. Pam, you have our next question go ahead.
Speaker: Well, thank you. Yes, I have two questions actually and I was wondering at what age does a person qualify for being a senior, receiving senior fares?
Speaker: Pam, can you actually ask both of your questions at the same time please?
Speaker: Absolutely and the next question is just exactly how much is a fare to SkyRide?
Speaker: Thanks Pam. Jeff, can you take that?
Speaker: Sure. The answer to your first question age special for a senior that's 65 and the second question the regional fare to the SkyRide to DIA is $5, $11 and $13. And that will vary depending on where the person boards.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Great.
Speaker: Thank you Jeff. Jay you're up next go ahead.
Speaker: Can I buy a senior booklet of 10 some place and then validate them when I want to board the train?
Speaker: Thanks Jay. Doug, can you take this or Jeff?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll take that and the short answer is yes at the King Soopers for instance. They're one of our partners in selling fares. Thank you.
Speaker: Great. Thank you Jeff.
Speaker: Dave.
Speaker: I would also add that you can also buy those ticket books at our customer service centers within Denver Union Station at Civic Center and then in our Boulder Transit Center as well.
Speaker: Dave, I have a question for you. Can you talk a little bit how RTD serves the disabled community?
Speaker: Certainly Jin and of course we've had a number of questions about that tonight and primarily we offer what we call our Paratransit Services and that is our Access-‐A-‐Ride service and that's a door-‐to-‐door service for patrons that really need an additional level of assistance in making their transit trips throughout the city. Now there is a... there is a qualification process to be able to qualify for Access-‐A-‐Ride and interested people can find that information at the RTD website at www.rtd-‐denver.com. And then in addition to our Access-‐A-‐Ride Paratransit Service, all of our buses and our rail vehicles are accessible. Our bus lead is 100% lift-‐equipped and our operator cycle those lifts every time they do a pull out to make sure that those lifts are operating when they start their run. And then also when our light rail stations of course the trains are accessible via the ramp and the high block at the very front door and the light rail operator there is there unavailable to assist patrons in any way.
Speaker: Thanks Dave. So Jeff, with all the construction taking place on five rail lines and express lanes for Bus Rapid Transit Fast Tracks it seems is transforming this region and having a significant impact on our economy, correct?
Speaker: Yes, that's right Jin. A Fast Tracks is the major economic driver in the region since RTD started implementing Fast Tracks since 2005, $3 billion has been spent and injected into the local economy with 13,500 full time jobs created.
Speaker: Dave, all of this is happening because of the great collaboration across the Metro area. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker: We have an amazing collaborative spirit here in the Denver metro area together with our cities, counties, the State of Colorado, the business community and our partners at the federal level. We know how to keep our focus on one united vision that will serve many Jinrations to come. And that regional collaboration is why so many communities around the nation are looking to the Denver area as a model for how to get things done.
Speaker: Thank you Dave. Let's get back to some questions. Barbara, you are now live go ahead.
Speaker: Is it this one? May I the Barbara?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Hello. Oh, good.
Speaker: Go ahead.
Speaker: Thank you so much for doing this and I've been a riding it consistently for 11 years and I think all in all it's a good transit system and I speak from a lot of experience. So keep up the good work and I love this telephone conference. I appreciate the call. My question is, the inconsistency of bus benches and I understand some are maintained by RTD then some are privately but the most glaring one for me is the one just before Hampden, it's at... it's 2,400 South university and on the West side is a new King Soopers Fresh Fare with a really nice bus stop, it's covered, it has space for advertising, there are somewhere to sit down. Across the street there's nothing but a sign that's lifting most of the time about 20 degrees starboard and could follow over it anytime. There's no place to sit and I want to tell a lot of people who are northbound at that particular stop and they... and we all commiserate, we have nowhere to sit down. But so...
Speaker: Thanks for your question Barbara. Dave, can you answer that?
Speaker: Yes Jin. Hi Barbara. Yes, I want to mention a couple of things there. You're correct in that wherever there is advertising associated with either a bench or the shelter like the shelter you just described in Hampden in university. You described the shelter with advertising in that. The advertising shelters are placed by advertising companies and they maintained those shelters and those benches and then sometimes you'll see just an advertising bench that doesn't have a full shelter with it just an advertising bench and those again are placed and maintained by the ad company. Some of the cities will placed benches in certain locations and typically most of our bus stops are in city right away. So if the city puts them there, that's fine with us. If we were to place a bench at the stop we usually have to get permission because of the ownership issues of the right-‐of-‐way. We do have a criteria that guides to the placement of where we put shelters and in some cases where we put benches and we do have thousands of stops. I think we have over 10,000 bus stops in the Denver area. So it's simply not feasible for us to certainly not place a bench at these location but we do look at some in a case-‐by-‐case basis depending on the volume of boarding’s we have in various locations.
Speaker: Thank you Dave. Alicia, you are next go ahead.
Speaker: Hi, yes. I'm a senior citizen and I'm also disabled and my only transportation is RTD and I do get on there I have the Access-‐A-‐Ride. And my problem is that I go shopping for my groceries at Walmart on West Colfax which I catch is number 16, so one straight shut down and then I cross the street coming back home on Colfax and get off on the Teller. Well I've had a problem with carrying my little grocery cart on the bus because I am told that I have to unload my groceries, put on them on the seat and pull my little grocery cart up. And I'm wondering can that be fixed for someone in my disposition? I know the announcement calls up was also it's must be folded up or this is a stroller but I'm still asked to take my groceries out and pull my grocery cart up. So that it really a big problem for me. Can that be fixed?
Speaker: Thanks Alicia. Jeff go ahead.
Speaker: Hi, I think your concern or your situation is going to take a little more time than what we have here. But I'm going to give you my number and I want you to give me a call and we can talk about it and hopefully I can get you in touch with somebody who could help you. My number is 720-‐626-‐0342. So give me a call tomorrow please or as soon as you can at your convenience. Thank you very much. Bye.
Speaker: Thanks Jeff. Ross go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Yes. I ride the...I picked up the... the light rail at the Evans Station and I know that... I couldn't help but noticed thing as I go up and down the stairs and so forth and a lot of the new railings and so forth are just plagued with rust and deterioration and I was wondering if the contractors that are providing these parts are giving any guarantee relative to limit their parts and even the labor for installing this hardware. It's not just the hand railings but just in Jinral. Being a New Yorker by heart I've seen New York to a transition as well and having just gone this week in the Salt Lake. I know I did not see any of their you know, their facility which is equally you know four, five years old or more. I didn't see any of the kind of deterioration resolved at the station there.
Speaker: Thanks Ross. Dave, can you take that?
Speaker: Yes, thanks Ross for your question. I happened to be over the facilities group as well so I know first-‐hand about what we're doing about our stations and particularly the status with some of the painting and some of the rust. So let me just handle your question in a couple different parts. The first one is about warranty and you know, typically the industry standard is one year of warranty on many things unless we buy additional warranty and we typically don't purchase additional warranty just
because of the cost impacts about that. But second part of your question is we do have a Station Painting Program that is underway and we can't get to every station all at the same time and I'm not sure what our schedule is out on the Southwest Line where the Evans Station is, unless you're talking about the Colorado and Evans Station on the Southeast Line. But we are starting to and I'm thinking that's when you're talking about but we are starting down at the Nine Mile Station right now, we're kind of working our way north and we do have a couple stations program to paint this year and then we have requested money and what we call our Strategic Budget Plan over the next six years to be able to continue our painting program. We're also working with a new material that is supposed to really help this rust issue. It's like a paint but it's a, it's much more robust and you know, we're really helpful if that's going to help us with the rust problem. You know unfortunately in our environment we have to use deicers and things to keep the platforms and ramps safe for patrons and things. So it's a challenge and I appreciate your concern and question on that.
Speaker: Jeff, we have a question about Market Street Station. Now that Market Street Station has closed what will it become now?
Speaker: Right now the city owns Market Street Station. The short term plan is for it to become a parking garage. I don't know what the timeframe is for that and but I know the city will start marketing that to a developer and after developed or selected there'll be or there'll probably be some type of competition and I envision although I have no knowledge but probably a mixture developments from what we see going up to the Central Platte Valley or other places downtown. But I don't know what the timeframe for that is. Thanks.
Speaker: Thank you Jeff. Sherry, please go ahead with your question.
Speaker: Hi, my name is Sherry and I was just wondering, I'm disabled and I had... at the drop off at Alameda Station to catch the 52 is really really far for me to walk in my walker and it causes me a whole deal of pain because all the construction there and that I have to walk all the way down the other street and I missed my bus every time so I have to wait another 30 minutes. And then on the way back, I have to walk still a long way but several of the RTD drivers have been really considerate and actually driving me off closes to the station which I'm grateful to and I'm really upset about that and also I guess the 51 going down to... I only go to Denver Jail that's 52 going to Denver Jail. But on the way back you know it's terrible and then on Sunday there's no 51 riding where I live. I live in Southwest Denver and I'm at Canyon and Lowell and no 51 ride here.
Speaker: Thank you Sherry. Doug, can you handle that question?
Speaker: Yeah, thank you for your question Sherry. We do get this one a lot because of all the construction at the Alameda Station. Unfortunately, the area that the buses are designated to stop right now is the closest that we have just because of the amount of space that it takes and the buses over there. I am happy to report that they have the phase of construction has increased there and they're actually going to be able to get the bus area open a lot earlier than originally planned and that should open later this year probably in November, December. So it'll drop you off right of the light rail platform again. As far as service in Southwest Denver on the weekends, yeah, the 51 doesn't run South of Bear Valley on Sundays and it's just a ridership issue there and the ridership is strong enough on Saturdays or other days of the week and it's just not a cost-‐effective use of our resources to provide that service down there on Sundays. So I... with... if budget conditions were a little better or if ridership increased we'd look at doing that but this point there's no plans for additional service down there.
Speaker: Thank you very much Doug. Dave we also have another question that came in about the new DUS. Can you talk about the kinds of security policy and procedures that are now in place for the new Denver Union Station?
Speaker: Yes, thanks Jin. We have quite a bit going on at Denver Union Station now in regards to security, since we opened our new bus facility there of course our light rail station there has been open a couple of years so we've always had a security in place in the form of armed security officers, the light rail station has video surveillance that has an emergency telephone. We have very comprehensive safety and security design criteria which lies out the specifics for our lighting requirements and other kinds of things. And then around the Denver Union Station now just that the whole environment there, we have a number of armed security officers that patrol all the facility and all the environs around Denver Union Station 24 hours a day. We have an onsite security office within the Denver Union Station bus facility. We have video surveillance inside the bus facility, we have emergency telephones there and we're also expanding our bike patrol program where we have security officers that patrol our various facilities on bikes and they'll also be patrolling Union Station. And then earlier on the call I mentioned our Transit Watch Program which is posted and then our 24-‐hour hotline which is 303-‐299-‐2911 that's our Transit Watch 24-‐hour hotline. And then soon we're going to have a Transit Watch app for smartphone that will leave in hands of our patrons ability to communicate security related concerns to us.
Speaker: Thank you Dave. Oswalt can you go ahead with your question please?
Speaker: Yes sure, my name is Oswalt. The question I have we do ride the light rail quite often on Sunday, Englewood Station. In summer time, it's very pleasant but in winter time it gets extremely cold especially if it's windy and stuff. So my question is, is it possible to feel to have some kind of wind break installed over there?
Speaker: Thanks for your question Oswalt. Dave, can you answer this?
Speaker: Yes, hi Oswalt. Yeah, the Englewood Station, there's a bit of a center there's an arc piece in the center of that station it does provide a bit of a windbreak in the center of the platform. When we designed our stations of course we incorporate things like windbreaks where possible. We'll have to take another look at the Englewood Station. One of the issues we have on the station platform is we have to meet certain code requirements for emergency egress and we actually have to run certain calculations to make sure that there's enough space on the platforms where we can, in an emergency situation evacuate patrons from both the platform and then also those that might come in on a train. And those calculations we have to meet a couple different timed calculations. So typically those kind of code requirements may limit us in our ability to place additional things on the platform but we'll take another look at the Englewood Station. Thanks Oswalt.
Speaker: Jeff, we also have another question coming here. We know that RTD is building out all of these projects but can you tell me what RTD is doing to maintain what they currently have?
Speaker: Sure. RTD has a series of performance measures so for instance we, one of our measures is we inspect our buses every 6,000 miles. Some of the other things that we're doing is well we've adjusted always on light rail for better track inspection windows in the evening I was sort late evening, early morning hours. We also purchase the light rail vehicle or when the process of purchasing a light rail vehicle simulators so that the... our operators will learning to opt... to handle a light rail train can practice without wearing out the... an existing car but they to see all of what it's like to drive without having to pulling out. And also we authorized some light rail storage tracks at the end... at the north end of I-‐225 which will save wear and tear on the tracks as of... at the end of the operational day from the cars having to go back from the northern part of I-‐25 back to the facility on Elati or Mariposa.
Speaker: Thank you very much Jeff. We've come to the end of the Telephone Town Hall. We are sorry if we didn't get to your question tonight but you can still leave us a message at the end of the call so just please stay on the line. On behalf of RTD and everyone here, we'd like to thank you for taking part in this event. Good night.