What Are the Specific Tasks?

Planning Process Design and Facilitation: The planning process involves key technical steps, including technical input and analysis. It is important to put these technical steps in a larger planning context to ensure that the plan is consistent with Blueprint Denver and involves community values in the overall planning process. An overall planning process that includes defining the problem and incorporating community values and desired outcomes will help frame the development of the Strategic Transportation Plan. A guidance document will outline the planning steps and clarify the decision-making process and the role of stakeholders, committees, and consultants in the planning process.

Travel Model: One of the first steps in developing Denver’s Strategic Transportation Plan was to create a computerized travel model that accurately reflects Denver travel as it is today and as it is planned in the future by Blueprint Denver. The Denver Regional Council of Governments’ (DRCOG) regional computer forecasting models for the years 2005, 2015, and 2030 were used as a starting point. DRCOG’s land use forecasts in several Denver zones were adjusted to reflect Blueprint Denver planning. Likewise, the transportation networks were revised to more accurately reflect the categorization of arterials and collectors in Blueprint Denver. The adjusted models were reviewed to ensure general consistency of Denver’s refined model with DRCOG’s original regional model. This effort resulted in multimodal transportation models that can forecast person trips and assign them to the different modes of travel in Denver in 2005, 2015 and 2030.

Strategy Framework: The purpose of the strategy framework is to devise a process by which transportation needs and solutions can be matched to each other. The first task related to the strategy framework is to develop an overall needs assessment, groups of improvement options, and a screening process. The second task is to develop investment categories or groupings of individual transportation improvement strategies. These categories or groupings will then be evaluated to determine the best overall strategies to be matched with each transportation need.  

Performance Measures: Performance measures will be developed to evaluate mobility and transportation system improvement options identified in the strategy framework phase of the project. The performance measures will address travel by all modes and they may be used to compare existing and projected conditions to minimum acceptable mobility standards or to help establish priorities for areas with the greatest mobility needs. A starting point for the measures will be the goals and objectives related to transportation and mobility from previous planning policy documents adopted by the City and County of Denver. These will include:

• Blueprint Denver
• Comprehensive Plan 2000
• Bicycle Master Plan
• Pedestrian Master Plan

Public input will be used to establish community values and preferences for the performance measures and these community values will guide the criteria used to select the final performance measures. Objective measures will then be established to evaluate potential transportation investment strategies and to determine if the proposed mix of investment strategies will meet the projected mobility needs of the Denver Strategic Transportation Plan.

System Capacity: Estimates of the existing person-trip carrying capacity of the City’s arterial and major collector streets are being developed. The capacity estimates are based on the following measures:

• Physical street characteristics (number of through lanes, on-street parking, one-way versus two-way operation, etc.).
• Peak hour auto occupancy.
• Number/frequency of transit routes.

Transit Interface Strategies: Strategies will be developed to maximize bus, bicycle and pedestrian access to the T-REX light rail stations when these open in December 2006. The primary goal of these strategies is to make the light rail stations more accessible to light rail riders who access the station without a vehicle. Potential strategies will be prioritized to manage neighborhood parking and circulation proximate to the stations. These strategies will begin to build a foundation for similar strategies for all FasTracks Stations located in the City and County of Denver.