SO HOW TO RTD WORKERS FEEL? I'll find out today after yesterday's interview with Kelly Brough about a new report on the overall health and performance of RTD. Listen to that here if you missed it. I got a message from Lance L. Longenbohn President and Business Agent ATU Local 1001 so I invited him on at 12:30 to give more perspective about what working conditions are RTD are really like. RTD also sent a lengthy response and I'm trying to get someone from there on the show soon to talk about how they are approaching the challenges they face. It's posted in its entirety at the bottom of the blog and has some good information in it.
DU IS NEGOTIATING WITH TERRORIST supporters. The pro Hamas camp was told to clear out but the Hamassholes didn't and now DU is negotiating with them for some reason instead of just kicking them off campus permanently. Read more here.
IT'S HARDER TO GET A DRIVER'S LICENSE NOW And I get why they did it because young drivers are the least safe drivers but this is also going to add a heap of cost onto new drivers. Read what is required here.
MORRISON'S SPEED TRAP REP IS BACK Because they've got a new radar camera that sent out 10,000 tickets in its first TWO WEEKS of full operation. The speed limit on the road is 25 miles per hour and you will get mailed a ticket for $40 if you're caught on camera going ten miles over the limit. Who is going to pay these? And how can you face your accuser in court? Just asking.
NIKKI HALEY SAYS SHE'S VOTING FOR TRUMP And I think this is a good move for both her and Trump. I voted for her in the primary and would have loved to see her be the candidate but it's not her time right now. Read more here. I do love to see the hay being made of this because they exchanged such sharp barbs during the campaign, but primary politics are like divorce court, you can't take anything said there for more than face value.
MAN MEETS BEAR IN STEAMBOAT And luckily the first bear attack of the season only involved a swipe from behind by the yearling bear that knocked the man down. Read it here. Watch out for bears, people, and everything else you can encounter in the woods.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE COLORADO ORANGE APPLE? This is a super cool story about people working to preserve our native apple species in Colorado and their quest to find the elusive Colorado Orange apple. Spoiler alert: they found one when the owner of such a tree was worried about her lone tree dying and the apple falling extinct. The process of confirmation was ridiculous but thorough and now there are over 100 of these trees in the state to bring the species back. I love stuff like this.
HIGH PRICES ARE STILL A PROBLEM FOR MANY As new surveys by the Federal Reserve show. Read this:
The report indicates that overall financial well-being was nearly unchanged from 2022. During 2023, 72 percent of adults reported either doing okay or living comfortably financially, similar to the 73 percent seen in 2022 but down 6 percentage points from the recent high of 78 percent in 2021. Despite the moderating pace of inflation, higher prices continued to be a top financial concern. Sixty-five percent of adults said that changes in the prices they paid compared with the prior year had made their financial situation worse, including 19 percent who said price changes made their financial situation much worse.
Some groups continued to experience financial stress at higher rates than others. In particular, low-income adults were more likely to face material hardships, including not paying all bills in full, sometimes or often not having enough to eat, and skipping medical care because of cost. Seventeen percent of adults said they did not pay all their bills in full in the month prior to the survey.
The good news is most still say they are doing okay financially. But those prices. The other good news is that big retailers are now fighting to win bargain shoppers and that means lower prices for all of us.
IT'S TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT SMART PHONES AT SCHOOL This article is paywalled but I'm sharing it anyway because phones in schools are a HUGE problem. Read this:
At the start of this school year, the students seemed much better behaved, leading Rutherford and fellow teachers to think they had finally turned a corner. But the students’ quietude masked deeper discontent. Students would put on headphones in class and tune out, saying it helped ease their anxiety, he says. “There was this low-energy apathy and isolation.”
By October, half his students were failing his class. They didn’t want to be at school, they told him, and didn’t care about their grades. Rutherford himself grew anxious and depressed. “I was beginning to think I was the problem,” he says. He became convinced the real culprit was phones. The school’s policy says phones shouldn’t be out during class, but enforcement is left to teachers. Students would usually put phones away when asked, before the pandemic.
“Now, you can ask them, bug them, beg them, remind them and try to punish them and still nothing works,” he says.
A growing number of teachers, psychologists and lawmakers say smartphones and social media are sapping kids’ motivation and well-being. The argument that technology is creating mental-health problems for teens has become controversial, with skeptics describing the fuss over smartphones as a moral panic.
The kids are not alright and we've got to start taking some measures to get them alright again. If phones are that much of a distraction it's time for them to be mitigated with faraday bags at the door of every classroom where kids deposit them at the beginning of class and let kids pick them up at the end.
THIS AS OUR CONFIDENT KIDS ARE FAILING MISERABLY Bill Maher has a new book out that is the best of his editorializing on his show, and this one is a barn burner about how poorly our kids are being educated while they have record levels of confidence in their ability to do the things they are doing poorly. Read it here.
POT USE SURPASSES ALCOHOL USE FOR THE FIRST TIME More Americans report daily pot use than daily alcohol use. This is the first time this has ever happened and has to be unnerving for the alcohol industry, especially as younger people are eschewing alcohol for pot. Read the study here but know that the pot being used today is nothing like the weed of the 70s, as it's far more powerful and designed to be that way.
ANGER IS TOXIC TO YOUR BODY Think about the angry people you know, and we all know someone who always seems mad about something. They are not just not fun to be around, they are negatively affecting their bodies in a ton of way. Check this out:
One recent study looked at anger’s effects on the heart. It found that anger can raise the risk of heart attacks because it impairs the functioning of blood vessels, according to a May study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers examined the impact of three different emotions on the heart: anger, anxiety and sadness. One participant group did a task that made them angry, another did a task that made them anxious, while a third did an exercise designed to induce sadness.
The scientists then tested the functioning of the blood vessels in each participant, using a blood pressure cuff to squeeze and release the blood flow in the arm. Those in the angry group had worse blood flow than those in the others; their blood vessels didn’t dilate as much.
It's time to learn how to manage your anger in a productive way. You can do it, I believe in you.
IT'S MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND And there is a ton of stuff to do around town this weekend, which you can find here. If you want to honor the spirit of the day where we honor our war dead, you should head to Aurora for this.
WHAT IS THE FASTEST WAY TO AIRPORT? The answer is it depends on where you live. For me on the south side taking the train to Union Station to catch the train to the airport takes about twice as long as if I just drive up 470 instead. But here is an article that says maybe it would be cheaper and faster for you to take the train, depending on where you are.
MEGYN KELLY WITH BILL MAHER IS WORTH WATCHING
HOW ABOUT AN ENDLESS CRUISE? This sounds like an incredible retirement option for me, how about you? Check it out here.
THE MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES IN COLORADO ARE QUITE OLD FASHIONED And you can see the top ten here.
HERE IS THE RTD RESPONSE TO THE CSI REPORT WE TALKED ABOUT YESTERDAY And I'm including it here in its entirety because there is some good info in here and I didn't want to edit it. I'm trying to get someone on from RTD to talk about this. Here is it:
RTD appreciates the Common Sense Institute’s focus on the agency’s operational environment, challenges, and opportunities. Many of the report’s recommendations closely align with efforts already underway by the agency to create a welcoming transit environment. RTD looks forward to partnering with the Common Sense Institute and other stakeholders and community partners to address challenges highlighted in the report while, at the same time, leveraging opportunities that support RTD’s customers, employees, and operational efficiencies.
In 2023, the Regional Transportation District redoubled its efforts to focus on three strategic initiatives: Back to Basics, People Power, and Welcoming Transit Environment. The three strategic initiatives are central to the agency’s overall operations and drive all decisions at the agency.
Back to Basics is a focus on redoubling efforts to maintain assets in a state of good repair, leveraging sound asset management principles, and enhancing internal communications to support an engaged and informed workforce. People Power is a focus on addressing impediments to employee recruitment, fostering a culture of learning and development, and promoting opportunities that support employee retention. Welcoming Transit Environment is a focus on reducing the impacts of criminal behaviors and Customer Code of Conduct violations, improving community and employee concerns related to personal safety and security, and creating an overall transit environment that provides a safe, convenient, and enjoyable experience for all customers and employees.
Page 9 of the report notes “much has changed” since the Regional Transportation District was created in 1969, including “patterns of personal and work-related transportation, public safety trends, and choices available to potential RTD riders.”
RTD experienced a 33% year-over-year increase in ridership between 2021 and 2022 and a 5.8% year-over-year increase in ridership between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, RTD had approximately 65,175,000 total boardings. While this number is less than the number of boardings prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it closely aligns with nationwide ridership trends.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, RTD’s commuter rail services retained 45% of pre-COVID-19 ridership numbers – the best in the nation for commuter rail.
Commuting trends have significantly changed since the onset of COVID-19. Many metro area companies and businesses have adopted flexible work schedules, and more employees are now working remotely or hybrid. According to a November 2023 article in Voice of America, Colorado has the highest percentage of remote workers, with 37.3% of people working from home at least one to two days per week (These US States Have the Most Remote Workers, November 2023).
RTD is actively working to create a welcoming transit environment for all customers and encourages people across the Denver metro area to explore new travel and commuting habits that use the agency’s services. The agency is also focused on enhancing its services and connections to large-scale events, activity centers, concerts, and festivals. For example, between July 14-16, 2023, nearly 85,000 individual trips were planned using RTD’s online app to support the back-to-back Taylor Swift concerts. The trip planner app added a special concert feature that connected customers to the venue.
RTD provides regional transportation services in many neighborhoods and communities that are less dense than Denver’s downtown urban environment. The agency is focused on providing value over volume to ensure mobility needs are met for customers across the district’s 2,342-square-mile service area.
RTD is assessing opportunities to complete unfinished FasTracks corridors as well as collaborating with partners to provide options for service in these areas. RTD’s Northwest Rail Peak Service Feasibility Study is currently underway to establish a common set of facts and metrics related to the agency’s unfinished FasTracks corridor to the northwestern communities.
According to a comprehensive study by the ENO Center for Transportation, the national average cost to construct at- or above-ground rail is $116 million per mile, which is approximately three-fourths RTD’s cost per mile (Eno Releases First Iteration of Transit Construction Cost Database, December 2020).
Updated Fare Structure
In January 2024, RTD lowered all of its fares following a fare study and equity analysis that extended more than a year. This was the first time in the agency’s history that all fares were lowered. The new fares provide a simple, equitable, and affordable approach for customers, and they removed unnecessary burdens and confusion to using RTD’s services and discounts. For example, the local and regional fare zones were consolidated to better support customers and remove barriers to accessing the system.
Zero Fare for Youth
On September 1, 2023, RTD launched a one-year Zero Fare for Youth pilot program to provide equitable transit options for all youth ages 19 and younger. RTD strongly believes that the program has been successful, receiving positive feedback from schools for its impact in reducing truancy and garnering support from school districts, youth organizations, and customers across the entire metro area. The Colorado legislature passed a bill during its most recent session to appropriate up to $5 million to RTD to continue a zero-fare for youth program. SB24-032 Methods to Increase the Use of Transit outlines that RTD is eligible to apply for the grant money to provide year-round, zero-fare transit services for youth.
Partnership Program
RTD launched a partnership program and named eight projects to receive a total of up to $2 million annually in Partnership Program funding to address mobility needs in communities throughout the district. The program, which launched in June 2023 with a Call for Projects, provides local governments and Transportation Management Associations/Organizations (TMA/Os) funding for services or enhancements that complement RTD’s existing services or fill an existing transportation need.
A second Call for Projects was launched in spring 2024, with the window for eligible organizations to apply for partnership funding through July 7.
Personal Safety and Security
RTD is committed to creating a welcoming transit environment that supports the personal safety, security, and well-being of all customers and employees using its bus, rail, and paratransit services. The agency’s bus routes, rail lines, stops, and stations are interwoven into the community and traverse nearly every corner of the Denver metro area. Criminal activities, anti-social behaviors, and disturbances present in a community often cross on to RTD’s buses and trains.
RTD is at the cross-section of various criminal activities and societal problems that plague all communities across the Front Range. RTD was created to provide mass transit services in the metro area and relies on partnerships with other law enforcement jurisdictions to mitigate and address crime in and around its system.
Transit Police Department
RTD’s Transit Police Department (RTD-PD) partners with law enforcement agencies in the more than 40 municipalities across the transportation district’s service area to address crime-related activity.
RTD-PD has been shifting its resources and personnel from a traditionally contracted security force to sworn police officers. This move allows RTD to strategically deploy a commander and police officers across the agency’s 2,342-square-mile service area. RTD-PD is now able to engage in more proactive coverage and reduce crimes while, at the same time, enable officers to quickly respond to problematic situations and calls. Transit Police officers are a regular presence on and around the system, including on the agency’s buses and rail vehicles. In 2019, RTD-PD had 19 sworn officers, and the force has now grown to more than 60 officers. The department’s goal is to have 119 officers by the end of 2024.
With increased staffing, RTD-PD in May 2024 introduced a dedicated team of officers working an overnight shift, ensuring RTD calls for service are prioritized at any hour by the agency’s own police officers. This 24-hour coverage supports efforts to create a welcoming transit environment.
In 2019, RTD became the first transit agency in the country to have a mental health clinician work alongside its Transit Police. RTD plans to add community outreach staff, staffing six mental health clinicians and five homeless outreach coordinators by year-end to work alongside Transit Police officers. The outreach program has fostered agency relationships to increase customer access to resources in the RTD service area while helping to keep service running smoothly.
Customer Support and Communication Tools
RTD also asks its customers to be its partners in safety by reporting unwanted or illegal behavior or any suspicious activity that they may observe by calling the RTD Police Department (RTD-PD) at 303-299-2911 or texting 303-434-9100. Customers are also encouraged to download the agency’s Transit Watch app in English and Spanish to share security concerns anonymously or discreetly.
RTD uses operator and customer reports to strategically deploy resources, allowing the agency to address chronic offenders and identify high-need areas that may require increased presence. In emergency situations, customers should always call 911 and immediately alert an operator. The increase in sworn police presence is coupled with enhanced customer communications on how to quickly report crimes to Transit Police dispatch and supports evidence-based policing.
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
RTD has also redoubled its efforts to support Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) activities across the entire system. CPTED is a multi-pronged approach aimed at reducing crime and deterring offenders at stations, stops, and facilities. Over the last year, RTD has upgraded lighting at stops and stations, improved landscaping, added TV monitors that display security feeds and installed smoke detectors in public restrooms across its service area.
An additional CPTED-related pilot is also underway at three light rail stations with elevators that maintain open doors to deter illicit activity. The three-month pilot program will conclude in mid-June and is already seeing positive results. After the pilot program’s assessment concludes, RTD will explore plans for implementing the effort at dozens of elevator locations across its entire system.
Overdose Initiative
RTD is an active participant in a nationwide effort by the White House to increase training and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications. At RTD, opioid overdose reversal medication Narcan is carried by all POST-certified Transit Police officers and contracted security supervisors. In 2023, this medication was successfully administered to 103 individuals experiencing an overdose at RTD stops and stations, in buses and trains, and at transit facilities.
These statistics closely align and are consistent with the Denver Urbanized Area (UZA) size ranking in the U.S. The Denver-Aurora (UZA) is currently ranked 18th in the nation by urban size.
An urban area is defined by the Census Bureau as a contiguous set of census blocks that are densely developed residential, commercial, and other nonresidential areas.