16 TH S TREET M ALL RTD B OARD OF D IRECTORS S TUDY S ESSION M ARCH 31, 2015

16th Street Before the Mall All Local, Express & Regional buses ran on downtown streets Buses dominated 16th Street during rush hours Narrow sidewalks discouraged walking around downtown The downtown business community joined with RTD to develop the Mall to revitalize the area

Bus Parked Auto Bus Stop Sign 17th Street -Early 1970’s Bus Operation Typical Block (1 of 10 bus stops) Alley 2 Buses per stop - all buses stop at far-side of every cross street. One Way

17th Street “Exclusive Bus Lane” Typical Block (1 of 5 bus stops) Bus Parked Auto Bus Stop Sign Exclusive Bus Lane Alley 3 Buses per stop - all buses stop at every 2nd block. Exclusive bus-lane for entire length of street. One Way

Meet the Transit Need of Downtown August RTD engaged I. M. Pei and Associates to design the pedestrian Mall and transit paths voters approved the Mall Maintenance District to clean, maintain, and police the Mall February th Street was permanently closed to traffic, and construction began Funding from UMTA, Federal Highway Admin, and RTD were secured for the $76 million project th Street Mall Transitway opened Settlement between I.M. Pei/Weaver Construction and RTD RTD takes over maintenance responsibility of Transit Lanes Fixed guideway funds provided to RTD from FTA FTA approves grant request to reconstruct 3.5 block of the Mall RTD and CCD renegotiated the Maintenance IGA

Getting the Mall Built The street and sidewalks were demolished Underground utilities were renewed Concrete road base and granite surface installed The “X,Y,Z Solution” to traffic problems implemented

Downtown Denver Intermodal Transit Stops

2012 Mall Shuttle Passenger Survey 80% of existing Mall Shuttle passengers are revenue passengers –Just transferred from another RTD service or have a valid RTD pass 41% of existing Mall Shuttle passengers live outside the City of Denver –Provides a benefit to the entire region

Ridership by Stops

Mall Buses Passenger service on the Mall requires special type of buses: Powerplant at the front of the bus to open back of bus for passenger cabin Three passenger doors for quick loading/unloading Driver on the right hand side for viewing door operation & aiming bus closer to curb Full low and flat floor for high passenger capacity In the beginning, Minicars Inc. and Walter Vetter Bodywork of Germany developed special Mall buses: 20 diesel buses 6 battery electric buses In ,RTD replaced original Mall buses with current TransTeq Mall buses (36 buses)

Mall Shuttle Technology– How It Works Creation - CNG fueled, 70 hp, four cylinder engine drives a generator Storage - 26 Deep Cycle Lead Acid Batteries Use - Two 220 hp Permanent Magnet Motors Drive the Wheels Captures - Energy Normally Lost During Idle Captures - Braking to Charge Batteries

Ongoing Work

Annual Paver Maintenance RTD maintained transitway pavers since 1987 Walkway elements & pavers maintained by DDP/BID Since 2013 Denver has contributed $300,000 per year Future annual expenses projected to exceed $1M Mall Elevation: Transit Lanes, Lights, Trees & Walkways

Block 12 Replacement History

Decreased mobility for employment, residential and visiting population Increased bus traffic on streets in the downtown area Loss of ridership on bus and rail service into downtown What if no 16 th Street Mall Shuttle?

Questions and Comments Henry J Stopplecamp, P.E. Chief Engineer