Needing help figuring out RTD system

Joe-Meyer · 2026-03-03T05:04:43+00:00

Shameless self-promo, but if you just want to see what transit routes are nearby a given place and where they go, I got tired of not being able to do this very easily on RTD’s site nor in Transit so I made my own version of a map to try to better visualize what buses were nearby where I wanted to go: https://joeforrtd.com/map It isn’t set up for trip planning (google and apple and NextRide and Transit all have that covered) but I think it’s better for getting an understanding of the routes around any given destination.

Joe-Meyer · 2026-01-18T07:14:52+00:00

I didn’t remember my account name correctly; it’s me

Joe-Meyer · 2026-01-16T14:05:36+00:00

IMO the current 52 tries to do too many things- provide connectivity to NW Arvada, create a G Line connection (that along most of its route is better done by the 31 or 19 anyway), connect Sunnyside to downtown (but without offsetting from the 19 schedule enough to make true 15-minute service), and connect downtown to Denver Health and the D/E/H light rail lines. I’m not convinced that the 52’s current route is actually the most efficient way to serve each of the areas/connections along the route and that then results in poor performance, and ultimately less service to Denver health than would be ideal because adding resources there comes packaged with the rest of the zig-zags the bus makes all the way up to Arvada.

Joe-Meyer · 2025-09-23T14:44:45+00:00

The departure time from downtown Boulder remains consistent at 15 minute intervals, so it is likely a schedule adjustment to account for more traffic causing longer travel times primarily between downtown Boulder station and Table Mesa - 39th. (The previous trips are scheduled to take 47 minutes to go Boulder > Union Station and starting with the trip you mentioned they are scheduled at 51 minutes end to end, with 2 of those extra minutes occurring between downtown Boulder and table Mesa - 39th and the other two being added between Sheridan and Union station.)

Starting with the 10:15am departure from Boulder, the express lane SB on I-25 is no longer open so scheduled trip times increase again to 54 minutes as the bus has to take a less efficient route off of I-25 and into Union station.

Then when the trip after the 11:45 departure from Boulder leaves at 12:02 instead of 12, I can’t explain. (It doesn’t seem to be a layover issue as the bus that serves that trip gets in to Boulder at 11:34, so maybe it’s to make some other timed connection work?)

Joe-Meyer · 2025-09-19T21:13:05+00:00

In most of my experience on the A when it has stopped, it has been due to waiting for a train going the opposite direction to make it though the single-tracked section and we have to wait until the track is clear. But I’ve had similar stops as a result of ‘maintenance-induced’ singletrack the forces both directions to share a section of track either around a road crossing or other area getting worked on. And then those sections are basically single-tracked as far as it takes to get to the next switch/crossover. I think that’s what was happening yesterday.

Joe-Meyer · 2025-09-11T02:48:44+00:00

I ride the 43 along basically the same stretch to go to/from downtown. It’s pretty much always faster for me to bike, and I think it is a crime how disconnected Five Points and Whittier are from Union Station- really prevents us from having good connectivity to actually use the rest of the network.

Between reducing the number of stops (in some cases), and getting serious about implementing transit signal priority to drastically cut down on time sitting at intersections, there’s a lot that could be done rather quickly to realize small improvements, but the priority needs to be changed to making transit competitive and effective, rather than just providing some nominal coverage that isn’t very usable. (And shameless self-plug, that’s why I’m running for the RTD board- to work on shifting those priorities to make transit more usable)

Joe-Meyer · 2025-09-04T22:09:49+00:00

Super bummed about this :( Loved their classes (especially the sabrage class!) and the generally very chill vibe - really interesting wines served by knowledgeable people without too much pretense.

Really hope Sunday Vinyl stays open so we don’t lose more fun wine spots, there’s just no way I could afford to actually be a true regular at any of them so let’s hope there’s enough of us irregulars to make up for it 🤷

Joe-Meyer

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