Suburban-Skewing Transit Improvements Leave Denver's Core Needing More

"This is a banner year for the Denver metro transit system, with the opening of four rail lines serving places from Wheat Ridge to the airport and the Flatiron Flyer rapid bus route to Boulder," admits an article by Jon Murray.

But there's a but: "But don’t call Denver a transit-rich city — not yet." The city falls short of that title, according to Murray's argument, because the core city struggles with too many transit gaps.

Largely rooted in a bus network that is spread too thin, those shortcomings make travel between some of Denver’s most urban neighborhoods, job centers, recreation spots and nightlife districts cumbersome or downright unmanageable. Closer to the city limits, especially in east Denver neighborhoods that are miles from new and upcoming rail lines, transit access flickers.

Hence the reasoning behind Denver's first-ever citywide transit planning effort, kicked off earlier this summer. According to Murray, the city also has options for implementing technological and governance innovations to gain new transit capabilities.