City of Denver hopes to increase mobility in Globeville, Elyria-Swansea
The City of Denver is looking to help residents in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods get a free lift. It's part of an ongoing effort to increase mobility in areas of the city lacking transportation.
Microtransit is an on-demand, free ride service. It uses an app or call-in reservation system for trips within a certain area. A similar program was put in place in 2021 - The Montbello Connector.
According to the City, top locations for the Montbello Connector were to Peoria Transit Station, Walmart, Montbello Rec Center, Montbello Central Park and Boys & Girls Clubs.
DOTI is now looking for additional funding to expand this service to the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. Northeast Transportation Connections is a nonprofit that helps with mobility resources and aims to build sustainability in our neighborhoods.
Eric Herbst, assistant director at NETC, says they're excited to be at the table with the city to bring the micro transit to the Globeville and Elyria Swansea neighborhood.
"Microtransit will help the community become more flexible. There's a lot of barriers in this neighborhood," said Herbst.
In partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, NETC helped the neighborhoods affected by the Central 70 Project. Now they're supporting neighbors nearby reach vital destinations.
"Think of it kind of like using an app to get a ride. It's like the ride-sharing apps that we have today, but it's strictly within the community. We create a zone around here we want the service to pick up and drop off," said Herbst.
Herbst says the program is meant to help neighborhoods with people struggling to get to essential destinations. He says the goal is to assist getting to and from RTD stations and help with access to grocery stores and city services.
"Not everyone has the luxury of owning a vehicle or maybe a household has one vehicle they're trying to share. This really frees up family members to be able to take another service," said Herbst.
He hopes it'll also help bridge gaps on transit routes.
"What we often hear with RTD, is it's hard getting to and from those stations. This really addresses that first and last mile connection piece," said Herbst. "So somebody may really want to take RTD but it's just that barrier of getting to the station."
NETC says they're looking for more community input.
"We have a survey open so people can give feedback, reach out and be part of a focus group to give their input on where they want this service to go and when they want the service to run," said Herbst.
LINK: netransportation.org
