Hold on, everyone, but Next has an RTD A line story that is not about whether or not the A Line is working!
RTD has made some timing changes to the A Line, light rail and bus service.
"We actually do change schedules three times a year, and we welcome public's comments on it," said RTD Spokesman Nate Currey.
"If you're seeing a situation that's not safe or a connection hard to make, let us know. We take that into account. It's largely from customer and public feedback."
One of the major changes is happening at the only station where the A line and light rail meet on the same platform: Peoria Station near I-70.
"That's the big reason we're adjusting the schedule, is that here at Peoria, a couple of times throughout the day, the University of Colorado A line and the R line will show up right at the same time, so people really scramble to catch that connection," said Currey. "We're adjusting it by a two-minute window, one minute in each direction, so that people can make the transfer just a little bit easier.
Officially, these are the changes:
All westbound A line trips will be shifted to leave Denver Airport Station one minute later on all service days to improve on-time performance. In addition, all eastbound trips will be shifted one minute later between 38th & Blake Station and 40th Ave & Airport Blvd/Gateway Park.
Schedule adjustments will be made to the R route to improve on-time performance and connections with the University of Colorado A Line.
The changes took effect on Monday.
Multiple bus routes also have tweaks in this new schedule. The concern at the Peoria Street Station was about passenger safety.
To cross from the R Line to the A Line (or vice versa), a passenger must cross two sets of A Line tracks. There are federally required warning signs and gates, but RTD has concern about passengers rushing from one train to the other, without realizing a second A Line train may be crossing the tracks.
See video above
"You've got two different technologies, four sets of tracks to cross and trains coming from multiple directions, and that's something our ridership isn't used to," said Currey. "Two minutes is not a whole lot of time out of your day, but it makes a big difference as far as safety goes."
