Northeast Area Transit Evaluation (NATE) II Update FasTracks Monitoring Committee August 5, 2014

Original NATE Study-- 2007 FasTracks plan included $7.5M for Corridor/Right-of-Way Preservation in Northeast Area of District (generally Denver to Brighton) for future, post-FasTracks, fixed guideway bus and/or rail transit

Original NATE Study-- 2007 In 2007 RTD initiated Northeast Area Transit Evaluation (NATE) Study as a separate task of the North Metro EIS work NATE investigated options to extend future, post-FasTracks, fixed guideway bus and/or rail transit between Denver and Brighton Participants: Brighton Commerce City Adams County Denver Thornton CDOT, and RTD Public Involvement through the North Metro EIS Objectives: Develop/analyze alternative concepts for transit service, technology Identify potential investment opportunities Consider strategies for preservation of ROW for future transit envelope

Original NATE Alternative Alignments Study Identified Three Potential Alignments: UP (parallel to US 85) BNSF (along SH 2 and I-76) “Cross Country” Routes between the UP and BNSF Corridors

NATE-II Purpose Local jurisdictions requested that RTD expand/refine analysis of the original NATE study: Better position RTD/Cities/County with more refined information on desired potential station locations and alignments to better inform local land use decisions Provide a reference for communicating to staff, elected officials, general public (through local jurisdictional channels) Research potential funding sources; e.g., grants, New Starts, Small Starts Study being conducted in-house using RTD staff and on-call consultant resources

NATE-II General Scope Summarize the results of the original NATE study Update environmental, transportation, land use and municipal plan information Perform high-level fatal flaw analysis of Commuter Rail (CRT) and Light Rail (LRT) Alternatives Develop BRT Alternatives and evaluate Summarize BRT technology Develop BRT Alternatives Screening of BRT Alternatives Develop implementation strategies Summarize BRT transition strategies to LRT/CRT Study outcomes would be subject to further study and environmental review prior to implementation

Challenges Opportunities Connecting Activity/Regional/Community Centers Connection to East Rail Line/North Metro Rail Line/Denver Union Station Location of End-of-Line Transition from Bus to Rail Southern Alignment through Historic Commerce City

NATE-II Status / Next Steps Kick-off Meeting: November 2013 One-on-One Jurisdiction Meetings: November 2013-February 2014 Alternatives Development: March 2014 to present Modeling of Alternatives: August 2014 Next Steps Develop BRT Alternatives for modeling Develop BRT transition strategies to LRT/CRT Meeting with Jurisdictions on alternative strategies and transition strategies Develop Technology Fatal Flaw Evaluations Develop BRT Implementation Strategies Develop Final Report Expect Completion Early 2015

Questions? Chris Quinn Planning Project Manager chris.quinn@rtd-denver.com (303) 299-2439