Introducing Reimagine RTD. We're exploring and redesigning transportation

Transportation is changing, and we have to evolve with it. People across the Denver metro area are redefining how they want to get around. Fueled by innovation, technology, and our collective vision, RTD is addressing these growing transportation demands head on so that we can create better options for a region on the go.

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Introducing Reimagine RTD

Reimagine RTD is a two-year effort to evaluate and forecast the changing transportation needs of our region and involve you, our customers and stakeholders, in the conversation. We want to understand what is important to you as we look at changing the way our region moves. The key to this effort will be open, transparent dialogue about how to balance these priorities with limited resources.

When complete, Reimagine RTD will identify comprehensive, forward-thinking strategies to better connect people to the places they want and need to go. We’ll review best practices from other transit agencies and technology innovators, build upon existing capital investments in the District, and incorporate stakeholder and community feedback on how to allocate RTD’s resources.

Key elements of Reimagine RTD

We’re exploring ways to revamp our services to meet the future needs of our growing District. Aided by your input and ideas, we’ll answer the question of “what’s next” for RTD.

This effort will focus on the following specific areas to create a roadmap for the future of transportation across our region.

Seeking your input

Your voice will be important as we reinvent transportation. We plan to reach out to our communities throughout this effort to listen and learn how we can better serve our region’s mobility needs. We’ll also collaborate with our regional partners to learn how we can better work together to integrate new services with traditional transportation options as we look at transit priorities.

Assessing resources and capacity

Population growth, advancements in transportation technologies and limits in funding are driving RTD’s comprehensive look at future service needs and investments. We’re committed to developing models to address financial sustainability, optimize resources like equipment and workforce, and better understand a growing region with more places to go, people to see, and things to do.

Optimizing current and future services

Reimagine RTD will begin with an in-depth look at our current system, the rapidly evolving demographics of our region and future trends and best practices in the overall transportation industry. We will then develop a series of future operational scenarios that will allow the public, stakeholders and ultimately the RTD Board of Directors to understand and provide feedback on potential trade-offs associated with paths forward.

Mobility plan for the future

Emerging technologies are rapidly changing how travel occurs in our region. Reimagine RTD’s result, The Mobility Plan for the Future, will develop a long-term strategy for RTD to stay ahead of the curve of private sector innovation, develop mechanisms to integrate with them, and ultimately create a system that meets the future mobility needs of our region.

Why Reimagine RTD

By 2050, population in the Denver area is expected to grow by approximately 31%, resulting in increased congestion and an even greater need for transportation options. This, combined with the introduction of new technologies and limited options for increasing transportation funding, is driving our need to reimagine RTD by looking at our transit network, services, and business practices to meet the transportation needs of the future.

FAQs

As part of the larger, ongoing Transportation Transformation (T2) initiative, Reimagine RTD is a two-year open, transparent study to understand and forecast the transportation needs of our region and create a mobility plan for the future.
In September 2018, RTD held a regional Transportation Transformation (T2) forum to brainstorm with transportation partners about the future of mobility in the Denver metro region. The forum served as a platform to exchange ideas, discuss trends, share updates, and most importantly, to listen to partner and provider challenges. To further explore transportation challenges and opportunities, we’re now embarking on Reimagine RTD. Your input is critical as we change the way our region moves.

RTD reviews routes on an ongoing basis, resulting in service modifications three times per year for individual routes. These changes help to enhance service for our passengers and enable better connections with bus, rail, and specialty services. These changes are based on traffic pattern studies, ridership, economic factors, and community feedback. Learn more about service modifications.

Reimagine RTD will include a comprehensive redesign of RTD’s transit network and will provide a framework to guide future decision-making for the District. The plan will recognize fiscal constraints and consider current and projected demographic and workforce trends, future projects including remaining FasTracks initiatives, on-demand mobility services, and other technology integrations to implement a new mobility plan for the region.

Public engagement and outreach will begin in late September 2019. In the following two years, RTD will conduct public meetings, community listening sessions, online engagement, telephone town halls, community events, surveys and more to inform the Reimagine process.
Reimagine RTD is a two-year effort to understand and forecast the current and future transportation needs of our region by integrating public transit and private transportation options. To get there we will review data, seek opportunities for collaborations, explore technologies and above all, ask the communities within the region for their transportation priorities.
RTD wants to hear from you, whether you are a frequent rider, occasional traveler or share the roadway with our services. Your input is key to understanding what is most important in enhancing current and future transportation. Your ideas and vision will be studied and provided as recommendations to our Board of Directors. These elected representatives will work with RTD staff to determine the best and most feasible course of action for our entire service district.
Reimagine RTD will result in comprehensive, forward-thinking strategies that will better connect people to places they want to go and provide better access to opportunities. With your help, the process will provide options for the future and inform our Transportation Transformation master plan as the Denver metro area continues to grow.
Throughout the two-year Reimagine RTD process, you will have opportunity to provide your insight on what you feel is next for RTD and transportation in our growing Front Range community. Click on the links in the blue box above to find out more about getting involved.

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