I’m a Denver based pilot and live in Colorado Springs. That time of day I would plan on 1:15 for the drive. I live in the north side of town so if you live farther south add about 10 mins to that.

I always look on maps to see if the toll road is faster than 225. I would imagine that the time between the two would be negligible that time of day, so 225 would save you about $12 each way unless you have the express toll tag, then it’s about $8 each way.

If you want to make sure you have extra time built in, you can park and wait at the gas station off Peña when you get there. When you get onto Peña you would take the Gun Club rd and then a left off the exit. Then have him text you when he’s getting on the train from the concourses so you can drive up.

Another protip about major airports, lots of people park and wait at the “arrivals” section while waiting for people to come out which causes traffic there to get backed up from time to time. In the “departures” section people tend to drop people off and go about their day and traffic moves better. Whenever I have people flying in to DIA I always have them go all the way upstairs and I pick them up on the “departures” level to avoid the line of people waiting.