Overview
BBC conducted a large-scale survey of Denver-area residents to assess their use of Regional Transportation District – Denver (RTD) transit services, including how often they use them, the reasons for which they use them, the likelihood they would use them after the COVID-19 pandemic, various factors of transit systems, and other forms of transportation they use to get around the Denver area. Most notably, we used a best-worst scaling design to determine which factors are most important among RTD riders and non-riders for an effective transit system to possess. RTD is using information from the survey to develop its Reimagine RTD strategic plan to better serve the Denver area’s transit needs now and into the future.
Outcomes
Strategic plan: RTD used information from the survey to focus its strategic plan on the service characteristics most important to Denver residents: reliable service, convenient stops, and frequent service. In addition, RTD weighed the importance of service equity to current RTD riders and expanded geographic coverage of service to non-riders in considering how it would best serve the Denver area in the near term and the long term.
COVID-19: RTD is focusing its resources on accounting for changes in transit demand after the COVID-19 pandemic, including considering how best to address those factors that are most important to riders and non-riders in ensuring they feel safe on RTD services: clean RTD vehicles, the availability of hand sanitizer, and limiting the number of passengers on RTD vehicles.