In the last few days, 9-11 July 2012, I had the chance
to explore Denver's light rail system on my first stopover on this
year's U.S. trip taking me primarily to the West Coast. Here are a
few personal observations, as usual seen through my always critical
European eyes.
I came in on a 5-hour flight from New
York City, and the first public transport I encountered was the
underground train at DIA (Denver International Airport), a
rubber-tyred shuttle between the different terminals of the huge
airport. As the airport won't be connected to the city by train
before 2016, I took a Supershuttle to my hotel. RTD, the Denver
transport agency, operates specially priced SkyRide buses, but they
are rather infrequent, even towards downtown, and more so on a
Sunday, when I arrived.
The overall impression of the light
rail system is quite positive. As of now, it only reaches the
southern suburbs, but in spring 2013, a western leg will be added to
the system. The northern suburbs, however, will eventually be served
by 'commuter railways' and I do not understand why this type of
railway was chosen, which will not allow through operation between
light rail and suburban rail (I prefer this term as it implies a more
all-day regular service!); these lines will be electrified and are
not planned to share tracks with freight or Amtrak services, so in
fact no need to build them to heavy rail specifications. The travel
speed of heavy rail trains may be slightly higher, but this can
hardly compensate the lack of a uniform integrated system. So someone
may be able to explain why the decision was for 'commuter rail'?
Light Rail routes
Back to light rail, the system features
what you would expect of a modern light rail system, with a train at
least every 15 minutes during off-peak on all branches, and
additional peak-hour trains. The C line does not operate at certain
off-peak hours, and from Lincoln it's the E or the F line running at
certain times. The Union Station branch is only served every 15
minutes even during peak hours, but will also receive the W line in
2013.
Through the downtown area, trains run
on-street, but segregated from car traffic on a special lane (which
in fact runs in the opposite direction to road traffic). So
interferences with vehicular traffic only occur at intersections (but
car drivers seem to be very respectful and don't block the
intersections). There is a rather long wait where trains cross a
major road between Colfax at Auraria station and the built-over
Theatre District/Convention Center station.
Instead of establishing mixed car/rail
operation on the northern leg to 30th & Downing, a
single-track alignment was chosen, but this seems to be a bit of a
bottleneck. At least on my trip we had to wait for almost 10 minutes
for this section to be cleared by the incoming train, and there is no
passing loop on the way, instead a high number of stops (compared to
the rest of the network!) which keeps this section busy even longer.
Other sections were mostly built alongside railway corridors or on
unused railway routes purchased by RTD, or alongside motorways, so
these are largely grade-separated allowing high speeds, especially as
distances between stations are often very long. At level crossings,
the horn is blown like on freight trains, but on the long outer
branches there are hardly any level crossings, instead trains have
dedicated flyovers or underpasses to avoid at-grade junctions.
The only fully grade-separated junction
is that south of Southmoor, with a full wye (the south to east links
were used for several years by the G line). Closer to downtown,
however, the junction west of Colfax at Auraria station used to be a
wye (triangular) junction, but now the northern leg of the triangle
was removed. Why??? In the same style, the new junction just south of
Auraria West Campus for the new branch to JeffCo (W line) does not
have a southern leg, so trains will not be able to continue towards
the cross-downtown route. Why??? I cannot comprehend why the option
was not left open to adjust routes at a later stage by building these
track connections now. The new western line would probably get many
more passengers if trains went alternately to Union Station and 16th
& California (as this is where it all happens). Union Station,
however, is at present in the middle of nowhere and it will take a
few years still until the huge Union Station interchange will be
finished, but even then the primary shopping area will be around the
southeastern section of the 16th Street Mall. With the
decision to build the northern lines as 'commuter rail', the Union
Station branch is left a bit without a real end, so my proposal would
be to create a circle/loop along 20th Street or Park
Avenue West to link up with the other lines. This way, the future
Union Station interchange (which includes an underground bus terminal
as well as a large station for commuter rail and Amtrak) would also
be accessible from the eastern side, and not only by the frequent and
crowded free Mall Shuttle buses. A loop operation would also be
useful to serve the many large venues along it, like the Coors or
Pepsi stadiums, and the Sports Authority Mile High Field, all of
which must generate large crowds when games are on.
Interestingly, as it is not so common
on light rail systems, all termini except 30th &
Downing have reversing sidings, so trains always arrive on one track
and depart from the other.
Light Rail trains
Normally 3-car trains can be seen,
although 2 cars would be enough during off-peak hours, and during the
peak, even 4-car trains are in service (they are so long that the
intersection at 19th Street & California cannot be
cleared when they loop around to Stout Street)! The trains are
air-conditioned, and have acoustic as well as visual station and
destination announcements. With air-conditioning installed, it is
surprising that all doors are opened by the driver at all stations, I
guess passengers should be able to open doors by themselves, this way
the heat is kept out.
RTD only uses one type of train, the
Siemens SD160 as seen in other North American light rail cities and
basically identical to the second-generation stock in San Diego.
These trains are high-floor, but stop at stations with very low
platforms so a climb of several steps is required for everyone. For
people with limited mobility, a short high platform accessible via a
ramp is available at the front of each platform to allow level
boarding. To do so, however, the driver still needs to get out of his
cabin, fold down a board to bridge the gap between train and
platform, let the passenger in and out, and fold it in again –
quite a time-consuming procedure! RTD has two generations of the same
rolling stock, hardly to be distinguished, only by the outward
swinging plug doors on the newer models vs. folding doors on the
older, and a slightly different livery, i.e. blue stripes on the
newer cars instead of yellow/orange/red on the original stock. The
question is why did RTD not follow San Diego's example and gradually
change to low-floor cars? Level access should not only be provided
for people with special needs, but for everyone as it is simply more
comfortable and speeds up the overall passenger alighting and
boarding! Many people travel with trolleys or rolling suitcases, all
these plus the not so sporting ones would get in and out in much less
time. So the decision to order more old-fashioned high-floor vehicles
in 2008 (they also look rather old-fashioned inside; all delivered by
now) is a clear negative point for Denver, having in mind that the
first Siemens
Avanto S70 was delivered to San Diego in as early as 2004!
Possibly these trains would also be available with a high-level front
door, so there wouldn't be a confusion about whether a high-floor or
low-floor train is coming next and wheelchair passengers, for
example, could wait on the raised platform just like they do now.
Another option would be to convert
the entire system eventually into a high-floor system, but I guess
this will never happen as the stations would require too much
rebuilding (unless the tracks could be lowered), with most of them
having roof structures etc. hard to adapt. In the downtown area many
would probably consider 100 m high platforms too obtrusive. Let's
hope that the new 'commuter rail' stock, which is based on
Philadelphia's latest stock, will have proper level access with high
platforms.
Light Rail stations
The stations are all in good shape,
quite appealing and with public art on display in many places and
even equipped with modern next-train indicators (which sometimes
showed trains two hours later...). Platforms are very low, probably
just about 20 cm, so passengers cross the tracks at any point, and as
a result trains enter the stations at quite low speed making all
sorts of warning sounds (bells & horn). All stations have some
sort of shelter, mostly a longer roof. In the city centre, the
pavement actually functions as the 'platform' with the stopping area
being indicated by a yellow stripe. The platform length occupies a
full block!
The use of existing railway or motorway
corridors to build light rail at a lower price results in stations
often being located in areas not exactly central to the served
neighbourhoods. Instead most stations boast a large car-park and
connecting buses. On the southeastern branch, most stations are
linked to the other side of the motorway by long footbridges,
although some stations like Nine Mile are accessed via a rather dark
though spacious underpass. All stations seem to be fully accessible
with lifts or ramps, to enter trains on wheelchairs or with prams,
the mini-high platform at the front of the train has to be used. If I
remember correctly, the only 'metro-style' stations (i.e passengers
do not cross the tracks) are Colorado (in a trench, though with a
restricted possibility to cross the tracks), Louisiana/Pearl,
Southmoor, Dayton and Nine Mile (the latter two with island platforms
in the median of a motorway). The long distances between stations in
the outer areas result in a high travel speed, at the same time one
gets the impression that many areas are passed without stopping. TOD
(transit-oriented development) is now a big word across the USA, and
new developments can be seen around many stations, notably Englewood
where the station is well integrated into a new town centre.
Stations and trains appear to be a safe
place, although I did feel a bit uncomfortable at Colorado station
with the kind of people hanging around there. Generally, hardly any
security staff is visible, which I guess is a good sign, although
trains have video surveillance. Bus drivers are not hidden behind a
plastic wall like in London or like we would want it even in Berlin
sometimes.
Fare system
Whereas fares for buses are charged
rather by type of service than distance, the light rail system is
divided into four fare zones (A-D), with a local (2 zones), express
(3 zones) and regional (4 zones) fare available. Only County Line and
Lincoln stations are in zone D. A day pass including buses is
available for these three fare stages, too, but although all stations
are equipped with ticket vending machines, these passes are only
available from service centres at the downtown bus stations or from
the tourist office! Bus drivers mostly showed a surprised face when
they had to punch them. So why are they not available from machines??
The price for 2 zones corresponds more or less to 3 separate bus
fares (2.25 USD). Free transfer between buses and light rail is
available with an old-fashioned transfer paper ticket. So to explore
the entire light rail system, you'll need a 'Regional Day Pass' for
14 USD. There are occasional ticket inspections on the trains, on
buses you need to show your ticket to the driver.
Other urban transport
The above-mentioned Mall Shuttle along
16th Street Mall is a busy and free transport option. It
links the bus station at Civic Center near the State Capitol and the
museum area to the cross-downtown light rail at California and Stout
Streets, to the underground Market Street bus station and to the
Union Station light rail terminus. These battery-powered buses (I
still have to investigate how they are actually charged) run every
1-2 minutes. Probably because it would consume too much of their
power, they have no air-conditioning. They stop at every street
corner, making hop-on hop-off easy. My proposal would be to extend
some of these buses to the museum area, known as the Golden Triangle.
But this is about the only bus service
I can approve. Although printed schedules and even a bus map are
available, the entire network seems insufficient and outdated. RTD
operates a rather old bus fleet with mostly NABI high-floor buses,
similar to those you might remember from Western Europe 20 years ago.
They are air-conditioned, though, which is nice. Without wanting to
offend anyone, but like the buses also many drivers are of a rather
advanced age. Bus stops can be identified as such by a small
red/brown board, which even displays which line passes there, but
that's about it. With many lines operating in near downtown areas
only approximately hourly (yes, departure times are irregular and
even then there may be alternating routes!), a posted timetable would
be a good option at all stops (it is posted at selected stops!). The
small sign, however, shows a stop number and a telephone number, so
you can call them and ask for the next bus. I haven't tried that, but
the link to individual stops on Google Maps works fine and shows the
next departures. I tried that from my hotel and was positively
surprised that the bus came on the minute!
All in all, the bus system seems to be
maintained only for those who for some reason cannot afford to go by
car, whereas the light rail trains are also busy with white-collar
workers going to their downtown offices.
Ah, Denver, my hometown - the 40-year dream of a rapid transit system is finally becoming reality - but as you found, there are a number of disappointments. Great review and assessment - here are some responses to your questions.
ReplyDeleteCommuter vs. Light Rail - I don’t know the exact reason for the decision for “commuter rail” for the metro area’s northern tier and light rail for the southern tier, but I suspect it stems from the availability of existing railroads to operate lines east to Aurora and the airport, and north to Boulder and Longmont. These longer routes were also probably thought to be less appropriate for light rail operations. While using light rail-type equipment over long distances (tram trains) has been extensively proven in places like Karlsruhe, this is “uncharted territory” for North America, and U.S. transit planning is slow to adopt innovative ideas. The geographical split between light rail and commuter rail (instead of the typical overlay) is awkward, but does allow both to sufficiently scale as far as storage and maintenance and requirements go (maintaining a fleet of commuter rail equipment for just one line wouldn’t make much sense).
30th & Downing Leg - this was part of the original “demonstration” line and there were complications integrating the line with the surrounding disadvantaged neighborhood, and so a number of compromises were made. It’s planned to be extended to meet the East Line north of downtown, so the current bottleneck will even get worse unless an additional track is built.
Rolling Stock - RTD seems to be the only U.S. light rail operator hanging on to outdated high-floor equipment with steps. Other cities like Dallas are at least procuring low-floor cars to mix with high-floor ones. Even as other cities have ordered newer Siemens models with a sleeker and more up-to-date appearance (i.e. Denver’s rival Salt Lake City), RTD has clung to the boxy old design which would have been contemporary in the ’80s when the idea of light rail in Denver was first gaining traction, but is now hopelessly clunky. I’m afraid the new commuter rail equipment will be no better, being bought “off the shelf” to match Philadelphia’s (Denver wouldn’t want to be the only U.S. city with a heavy rail train that looked like it was designed in the 21st century, would it?) This unnecessarily conservative mindset reinforces the image of transit as second-class.
Freeway Stations - As you describe, long pedestrian bridges connecting across the ten (10) lanes of the I-25 freeway characterize the Southeast Corridor E, F, and H lines. RTD may have set a record with the bridge at Dry Creek Station stretching about 250 meters from end-to-end! One must commend the attempt to connect both sides of the freeway to each station, when most of the stations are located on one side (a decision could have been made to facilitate access only on one side). However, one thinks of the cost of maintaining such long pieces of infrastructure that have little other utility than to provide access to the station platforms. As for security issues - the bridges look good now, but could easily fall prey to vandalism. All the transparency and lighting in the world won’t help much if you are victimized at midspan 100 m from the nearest exit, while the only “onlookers” are speeding 10 m below you at 120 km/h. Despite the best design intentions, it simply remains a hostile, auto-oriented environment.
(to be continued)
It might help to note that low floors were discussed from the beginning in the 1990's, but at the time they were not in use elsewhere in the U.S. The early car orders were based on other purchasers to lower costs. Later on the key decision maker was a man who came up through the maintenance field and felt that the conservative approach had advantages. Technically the subfleets include progressive improvements that are not obvious unless a passenger notices that AC cars sound different.
DeleteOne peculiarity is the County Line Station, located adjacent to the southern metro area’s premier shopping mall, Park Meadows. Initially, the mall blocked any idea of providing access to the station (upscale shoppers don’t use transit, after all). The park-and-ride and access would occur exclusively on the other side of the freeway, forcing everyone to cross the pedestrian bridge. The mall eventually relented, but not without a rather cumbersome intervention: upon exiting toward the mall, light rail riders were faced with signage pointing them to a machine dispensing exit tickets allowing them to pass through a turnstile, then navigate through the sea of parking standing between that point and the mall entrance (no direct path provided). Upon their return, riders could only re-enter the station with the ticket they had used to exit. All this to prevent light rail riders from using the mall parking lot as station parking. Fortunately, on my visit there last fall, I found the ticket dispensing machines were disabled and the turnstiles opened - with only signage enforcing the “no station parking at the mall” policy. Apparently having unencumbered access to a rail station is not the worst thing that can happen to a major retail destination. This just goes to show how backward attitudes can be toward transit and how parking is king in suburban America.
ReplyDeleteFare system - Like you, I am also perplexed by the fare system - but it is built for commuters, and not for tourists, after all. I found the best value to be the 10-Ride Ticket Book, which I validated at the light rail stations or fed into the farebox on buses, and just continued to travel until the ticket/transfer expired. Though not as convenient as a day pass, a day’s worth of travel can be accommodated with three or four tickets, at a comparable price. Here again, UTA in Salt Lake City does it better than its sister city - UTA’s ticket vending machines accept credit cards and sell day passes (RTD’s don’t do either), and UTA allows you to pay a fare by simply tapping your credit card upon boarding a bus or entering a light rail station (dispensing altogether with a special “smart card” to clutter your wallet, which Denver - way behind other U.S. cities - is still only piloting).
Buses - RTD actually had a very modern fleet in the late ’80s and early ’90s, buying buses from the American subsidiary of German manufacturer Neoplan, which set up manufacturing in southern Colorado. Unfortunately this venture folded in 2006. The bus system has its limitations, but one must give RTD credit for considerable expansion of service following light rail extensions. There’s been a clear increase in service coverage and frequency in areas feeding into the light rail stations, so that even though some may no longer have a one-seat bus ride, still more people have a convenient bus/rail ride that they didn’t have before.
The 15/15L East Colfax and 0/0L South Broadway routes must have escaped your attention - these services operate around-the-clock, mostly using articulated buses, with combined frequencies of every five (5) minutes in the peak periods on the 0/0L and ALL DAY on the 15/15L to Denver’s largest neighbor, Aurora. This is obviously better than the branches of the light rail system, and these routes have ridership you’d have to go to the West Coast or Chicago to beat. This shows how well transit works when it directly serves walkable destinations - light rail was contemplated for both Broadway and Colfax Avenue, but the disruption of construction, along with minimal potential for speed gains, pushed the light rail alignment choices to railroad and freeway corridors. Yet despite the high ridership of these routes, it lies below the threshold for an underground solution (for now). If Denver ever has an subway, though, it is most likely to be under one of these two streets.
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Deletethanks for your comments and additions. I did get off at County Line to have lunch at the mall (quite a stylish mall...) and wondered what these kind of open ticket gates were for. Another weird thing at that station is that the western elevator tower is not linked to the eastern bridge across the freeway you describe, so passengers from the mall take gthe elevator up to track level, cross the outbound track to get to the platform and from their would have to take another elevator up to get to the other side of the freeway. But with your explanations I can understand why it is not a properly designed layout.
As for the single-track section to 30th & Downing, I hope they will add a second track, even if it is in the roadway, as single-track sections only busy lines are always crap. The only line with significant single-track sections that works well, as far as my personal experience goes, is line m1 in Lausanne!
Park Meadows Mall was outside of the RTD service and taxing boundaries while the line was being planned. They did not want to participate for the usual shopping center reasons. The west side of the station is a retrofit to the original design, worked out after a vote by the surrounding area nudged it into the district.
DeleteThe original plan for Welton Street was double-track, with stations at 20th, 23rd, 27th (Five Points intersection) and 30th Streets. All of your complaints can be explained by the willingness to adopt compromises in the extensive public input process. One columnist, for example, referred to Light Rail as "the Tuskegee Experiment of public transit" representing the views of many doubters.
Delete"
This is great. Now that public transport stations are accessible to those who are in wheelchairs, it would be much easier for them to commute. We would not need to hire cars or drive our own because of this.
ReplyDeleteCommuter rail was chosen for the northern routes for safety reasons. Originally RTD had planned to use light rail throughout the planned system, but the railroad companies who own the corridors squashed those plans. A few years ago a coal train derailed between the Littleton and Oxford stations during a snow storm. With low visibility conditions, a light rail train collided with the wrecked train shortly thereafter. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/14820438/detail.html There was also a worse accident in California around the same time that happened under similar circumstances. Fearing additional litigation, BNSF and Union Pacific Would only allow heavy rail to be built on the same right of way as freight traffic, even if passengers were carried on an entirely separate track. I believe RTD plans to operate these lines with the same quality of service (7.5 minute headways) as light rail, only with different technology.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that RTD chose to stay with SD-160 trains to keep the fleet consistent and maintenance costs low. Mechanics and drivers only need to be trained on one type of vehicle and fewer spare parts need to be stored. Budget airlines like Southwest and Ryan Air have been using this strategy for years. Sadly, We probably won't see new trains until after 2024 when the oldest cars in the fleet reach the end of their life cycle.
The last sentence of your article perfectly describes the state of transit services (and all other public services) in the United States. :(
Thanks, Brian, for these explanations. So is the ban of LRT alongside freight lines just a UP and BNSF issue or is it backed by federal law? I'm now wondering as I study San Diego's University extension which is planned to run alongside the existing heavily used rail corridor to L.A., with both freight and lots of passenger trains, and isn't that also a BNSF line now?
DeleteIt's just UP/BNSF (although CSX, on the East Coast, can be just as bad). They have no backing in law.
DeleteThe line in San Diego is NOT a BNSF line. It is *operated* by BNSF but it is *owned* by the local governments, so BNSF has no say in what they do with it.
I recently attended the Electric Railroaders' Association Convention in Denver (and in Salt Lake City). You might be interested to know that it is possible to buy day passes from the TVM's in the system's light rail stations. However, the procedure is well hidden. The opening screen in essence asks you where you want to go, and once you have selected a destination, presents you with a list of the various tickets that will get you there from where you stand. The selections include day passes, 6 hour passes, and one-way tickets, and the passes are not restricted to the station pair you have selected. For example: I wanted to tour the new W line starting from Union Station, so I selected Jeffco (end of the W line) as my destination then selected a reduced-fare 6 hour pass. Later in the day, I had occasion to ride an RTD airport bus from the airport back to downtown Denver. By showing the pass to the driver, I saved $4.00 of the normal reduced fare of $5.50, even though the trip from the airport to downtown is totally outside the trip from Union Station to Jeffco.
ReplyDeleteSerious lover of your blog, a considerable number of your blog posts have really helped me out. Looking towards updates!
ReplyDeleteEven in 2012 there were other bus routes or groupings worth mentioning: South Federal, West Colfax, US36, North I-25. They have frequent service and/or priority features worth pointing out.
ReplyDeleteThe fare system was designed to mesh with the existing bus system so that fare changes up or down would not be an inadvertent issue with the replacement of bus lines with rail lines. Sure enough, when clever people tried to simplify it more recently there was an uproar and a new compromise system was adopted. Much of the fare system back in 2012 was copied from Berlin.
Nice Post....
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