The Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation Transportation Committee

Everyone is welcome! We discuss a range of transportation, transit, and streets topics, build connections with the agencies and organizations involved, and ensure that neighborhood input is included in plans at all levels! Participants do not need to be INC delegates. You are welcome to participate even if your neighborhood organization is not a member of INC, or you are not active in a neighborhood group. Please pass on this invitation to anyone who might be interested in joining the committee.

Happy early-spring weather!  I hope you’re getting some walking and rolling time in the sun. This month we have a really full agenda of timely topics, from the micro to the macro and the immediate term to 2050. I’m very excited that we’ll be able to meet the Director of Transit for DOTI’s new transit division within his first week, and to get a review of Denver’s goals for the new micromobility (bike and scooter share) program in advance of its expected upcoming annoucement. Please see the agenda below, and register to attend our INC Transportation Committee virtual meeting at http://bit.ly/INCTransportationMar2021

Did you know that the Denver Streets Partnership maintains a calendar of all kinds of transportation events, meetings, surveys, and more?  With so much going on that might be of interest — and with the ease of participation in attending remotely — it’s a wonderful resource.  Thanks, DSP!

Our friends at Denver Community Active Living Coalition are looking for feedback on their programs, by online survey and/or focus group. See below for more details.

Also, please calendar ahead for the INC Transportation Committee meetings! Our upcoming 2021 schedule is at the bottom of this message.

— Joel

INC Transportation Committee – Thursday, March 11th, 6-8 p.m 
Register at http://bit.ly/INCTransportationMar2021

• Bikes on Broadway – James Colbert, DOTI Senior Engineer & Gaby Serrado, DOTI Project Manager 
  The Denver Moves: Broadway projects have hit an important milestone, with the recently-presented near-final design for the Broadway South segment, its two-way cycle track, redesigned connections to the Cherry Creek Trail and to 7th Avenue, and safe connections in and out of the I-25/Broadway Station. James Colbert and Gaby Serrado will present the highlights of the current design for this voter-supported bond-funded project, bringing Denver’s highest-level on-street bike facility to fruition.
• Introducing DOTI’s New Director of Transit – David Krutsinger 
  Denver is moving forward on transit efforts, including the 16th Street Transit Mall, in-progress BRT efforts on East Colfax and Federal, planning the overall capital improvements called for Denver Moves: Transit, targeted circulator service for underserved communities, micromobility implementation and working with RTD on Reimagine RTD.  To focus on this work, DOTI has created a Transit Director position, and just this week has brought on board David Krutsinger to head the new division. Let’s welcome and get to know him!
• Denver’s Micromobility Program – Nick Williams, DOTI Acting Chief of Staff & Stephen Rijo, DOTI Senior City Planner 
  Last year, DOTI announced that they would be transitioning from the scooter- and bike-share pilot program with five micromobility providers to qualifying and selecting one or two licensees for the city. Under the new program’s goals, a higher level of geographic availability would be ensured, and provisions for ensuing low- or no-cost access to qualifying residents would be included. Today’s presentation will review lessons learned from the pilot program as well as what to expect with the new program.
• Bike Streets Project: 2 Mile Pledge & Stay Sane Loop Routes – Avi Stopper, Bike Streets Founder 
  With the weather warming up, it’s a great time to invite back Avi Stopper, founder of the Bike Streets project at www.bikestreets.com. Our committee and INC endorsed the Bike Streets map of existing comfortable neighborhood bikeways for all ages in 2019, and more recently heard about the app-based version of the map that is now available. This crowd-sourced effort identified several nice loops of neighborhood bikeways for getting out and staying healthy and sane during the pandemic, when you have no destination but “out for a ride”. And very recently they’ve launched the “2 Mile Pledge”, asking people to commit to an easy two miles worth of riding every week.
• 2050 Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan – Lisa Houde, DRCOG 
  As the Denver region continues its rapid growth, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) is updating its Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan (MVRTP), a comprehensive vision for improving how we get around. Updated every four years, the plan includes:
  • The region’s long-range vision for regional transportation through 2050
  • Identification of transportation infrastructure and services needs based on population and employment projections
  • Information on how federal, state and local funds will be spent on transportation modes, projects and services
  • Details on projects across all modes of transportation projects
  In this presentation, we’ll be oriented to the topics covered in the plan and the major Denver-area transportation projects and priorities in its 30-year vision. After the presentation, please visit https://drcog.mysocialpinpoint.com/2050-rtp to provide your feedback by March 17th, which will inform their Board which will be considering adopting the draft plan.

The Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation Transportation Committee

Everyone is welcome! We discuss a range of transportation, transit, and streets topics, build connections with the agencies and organizations involved, and ensure that neighborhood input is included in plans at all levels! Participants do not need to be INC delegates. You are welcome to participate even if your neighborhood organization is not a member of INC, or you are not active in a neighborhood group. Please pass on this invitation to anyone who might be interested in joining the committee.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the INC Board of Directors selected the Zoom platform for remote meetings for committee, delegate, and Board meetings, and has subscribed to a “Pro” license for all INC meeting use. Committee meetings are starting up, and the Transportation Committee in May set their new format and cadence while maintaining their success at bringing timely, engaging and important topics to an open, citywide group of neighbors.

In the new format, the Committee will:

• Meet monthly (up from every-other-month), still on the second Thursday of the month
• Have 90-minute sessions (down from 120-minute meetings), 6:30pm-8pm
• Share recorded sessions for playback or revisiting (increased accessibility!)
• Continue presentation-with-Q&A style (with Q&A format changing to meet the online model and avoid the “Zoom bombing” disruption that some meetings have suffered from)
• Introduce interview-style discussions where that is easier for our invited guests who have information to share but no prepared presentation
• Introduce “lightning talk” short topics — 5-minute committee member presentations on challenges, successes, and ideas others can learn from or help with. Slides/visuals welcome where helpful. I’m a big fan of this format for a focused presentation of an idea without the pressure of developing a long talk.

Please send your ideas for discussion/topics to Joel Noble, INC Transportation Committee Chair using this email link — What do you want to hear about? Do you have a short topic on which you’d like to present? What advice do you have based on your online meeting experiences? How would you like to help?