1.
Regional Transportation District
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It operates over a 2, 340-square-mile area, serving 2.87 million people. RTD is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of Directors, Directors are elected to a four-year term and represent a specific district of about 180,000 constituents. RTD currently operates a bus and rail system that has an area of 2,337 square miles. It employed 2,734 people and reported 103 million boardings in 2016 and it had a $466.7 million operating budget for the year of 2015. Google has RTD schedules attached to its trip planner, and 3rd party mobile applications are now available for the iPhone,1969, RTD was created in the 47th session of the Colorado General Assembly to provide public transportation to five additional counties in the metropolitan area. 1969–1971, The Denver Tramway Company continues service under sponsorship of the City and County of Denver, October 1970, RTD found it needed to establish a Northern Operations Group to provide service to Boulder and Longmont. RTD also acquired the privately owned Denver-Boulder Bus Company, which ran airport buses,1971, Denver Metro Transit took over the privately owned Denver Tramway Company. Denver Metro Transit was an entity created by the City and County of Denver, suburban service only continued for those suburbs willing to contribute a subsidy. 1972, RTD created a plan for a rapid transit system in the area. This plan included 98 miles of PRT and extensive bus service throughout the areas served by RTD, later that year, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration selected RTD to develop PRT as a demonstration project. The PRT project was eventually scrapped, the tax became effective January 1,1974. July 1974, Denver Metro Transit became part of RTD, 1975–1977, RTD consolidated, expanded, and improved service frequency. Service was expanded to routes that commercial carriers previously operated, february 1978, Inflation caused RTD to implement a new fare structure. For instances, the new Colorado Blvd route was number 40,1979, Federal approval was granted for the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, originally known as Transitway. The project allowed express bus productivity to double and was intersected by RTDs first light rail line. 1980, RTD reached a number of weekday passengers. It also acquired 216 new buses,89 of which were articulated, construction began on the 16th Street Mall. Work was also completed to make RTDs service more accessible to elderly,1983, On May 1,1983, the tax was increased to 0. 6%
2.
Commuter rail
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Trains operate following a schedule, at speeds varying from 50 to 200 km/h. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used and they primarily serve lower density suburban areas, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others uses fewer departures during off peak hours, average speeds are high, often 50 km/h or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved, some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains distance varies between 15 and 200 km, sometimes long distances can be explained by that the train runs between two or several cities. Distances between stations may vary, but are much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centers the train either has a station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in the same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs, however, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the standard gauge track. Some light rail systems may run on a narrower gauge, some countries, including Finland, India, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco in the USA and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries further complicates matters, most S-bahns typically behave like commuter rail with most trackage not separated from other trains, and long lines with trains running between cities and suburbs rather than within a city. The distances between stations however, are usually short, in larger systems there is usually a high frequency metro-like central corridor in the city center where all the lines converge into. Typical examples of large city S-Bahns include Munich and Frankfurt, S-Bahns do also exist in some mid-size cities like Rostock and Magdeburg but behave more like typical commuter rail with lower frequencies and very little exclusive trackage. A similar network exists in Copenhagen called the S-tog, in Hamburg and Copenhagen, other, diesel driven trains, do continue where the S-Bahn ends. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in the way inter-city rail does, Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities and it provides a service between smaller communities along the line, and also connections with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions or at larger towns along the line. Alternative names are local train or stopping train, examples include the former BRs Regional Railways, Frances TER, Germanys DB Regio and South Koreas Tonggeun services
3.
Denver
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Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Colorado. Denver is in the South Platte River Valley on the edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level, making it the highest major city in the United States. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the reference for the Mountain Time Zone. Denver is ranked as a Beta- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. With a 2015 estimated population of 682,545, Denver ranks as the 19th-most populous U. S. city, and with a 2. 8% increase in 2015, the city is also the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 2,814,330 and ranked as the 19th most populous U. S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-city Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 3,418,876, which ranks as the 16th most populous U. S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile radius and the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the USA by U. S. News & World Report and this was the first historical settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, Larimer named the townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped the name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne, the site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park near downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria, in May 1859, Denver City residents donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express in order to secure the regions first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for passengers, mail, freight, and gold, in 1863, Western Union furthered Denvers dominance of the region by choosing the city for its regional terminus. The Colorado Territory was created on February 28,1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,1861, Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the territorial capital, with its newfound importance, Denver City shortened its name to Denver
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Island platform
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An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on twin-track routes due to pragmatic and cost-effective reasons, an alternative arrangement is to position side platforms on either side of the tracks. The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location, the island platform layout is a popular, cost-effective and practical solution in modern railway systems. Island platforms allow facilities such as escalators, elevators, shops, toilets and this is essential for wheelchair accessible stations. An island platform makes it easier for users and the infirm to change services between tracks. Additionally, an island platform layout eliminates the need to construct a crossover or subway between two platforms, however, island platforms may become overcrowded, especially at busy stations, and this can lead to safety issues such as Clapham Common and Angel on the London Underground. However, for the tracks to diverge around the platform, extra width is required along the right-of-way on each approach to the station. Track centers vary for rail systems throughout the world but are normally 3 to 5 meters, if the island platform is 6 meters wide, the tracks have to slew out by the same distance. While this is not a problem on a new line that is being constructed, in addition, a single island platform makes it quite difficult to have through tracks, which are usually between the local tracks. A common configuration in busy locations on high speed lines is a pair of island platforms, high-speed trains can therefore pass straight through the station, while slow trains pass around the platforms. This arrangement also allows the station to serve as a point where trains can be passed by faster trains. The purpose of this design was to reduce unnecessary passenger congestion at a station with a high volume of passengers. Many of the stations on the Great Central Railway were constructed in this form and this was because the line was planned to connect to a Channel Tunnel. Island platforms are a normal sight on Indian railway stations. Almost all railway stations in India consist of island platforms, in Toronto,29 subway stations use island platforms. A slight disadvantage is that crossovers have to be rather long, in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, PATCO uses island platforms in all of its 13 stations, to facilitate one-person train operation. Most elevated stations in Singapores Mass Rapid Transit system use island platforms, the exception is Dover MRT Station, which uses side platforms as it is built on an existing rail line. The planned Canberra MRT Station will also use side platforms, as it also be built on an existing rail line
6.
RTD Bus & Rail
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RTD Bus and Rail is a transit system in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area. Operated by the Regional Transportation District, it currently runs 79 local,16 express,16 regional,11 limited and it also includes 7 light rail lines and an additional 2 commuter rail lines with 53 stations and 76 miles of track. Bus service in Denver dates back to 1924, when Denver Tramway began the first bus between Englewood and Fort Logan, buses had completely replaced the previously expansive streetcar system in metro Denver by 1950. However, cars were becoming a part of life. From 1969 to 1971, Denver Tramway required the sponsorship of the City and County of Denver to continue service, in 1971 with aging equipment, low revenues and lackluster ridership, the Denver Tramway Company transferred all of its assets to city-owned Denver Metro Transit. In 1969, the Regional Transportation District was created in the 47th session of the Colorado General Assembly to provide transportation to five additional counties in the metropolitan area. It acquired privately owned companies, improved service frequency, and expanded to routes that commercial carriers previously operated such as airport buses, in July 1974, Denver Metro Transit became part of RTD, and under the new banner, ridership began to increase. RTDs first light rail line, a 5. 3-mile section of what is now the D Line, opened on Friday and it operated with free service for that half day and the first weekend, with revenue service starting on October 10. It was estimated more than 200,000 passengers rode the new system during its two-and-a-half-day opening weekend. Since that time, several light rail lines have been opened. An 8. 7-mile southwest extension to Mineral Avenue in Littleton opened in July 2000, an additional 19-mile Southeast Corridor extension along I-25 to Lone Tree and a branch along I-225 to Parker Road were completed in November 2006 as part of Denvers T-REX project. As of April 2013, the system had 170 light rail vehicles, with the passage of FasTracks, RTD began planning for a series of commuter rail lines. The first 23.5 miles of which, the A Line servicing Denver International Airport, the primary RTD services are scheduled bus and rail routes. Most bus routes are divided into Local and Regional service levels, Light rail and commuter rail services are divided in four zones, A, B, C and airport. Local service is travel within two consecutive lettered zones, and regional service is all three lettered zones. The airport zone applies for bus or rail travel into and out of Denver International Airport, several regional bus routes to and from the South Metro were also eliminated by the openings of the Southeast & Southwest Corridors, replaced by feeder routes to light rail. G Line, Running from Nine Mile station to Lincoln station, with the completion of FasTracks I-225 corridor, the route resumed service as the R Line in 2017. Special bus services are offered for various purposes, some of the more popular special services are, call-n-Ride, which provides curb-to-curb service in specific areas
7.
Denver Union Station
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Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. A station opened on the site June 1,1881, burning in 1894, the current structure was erected in two stages, with an enlarged central portion completed in 1914. In 2012, the station underwent a major renovation transforming it into the centerpiece of a new transit-oriented mixed-use development built on the sites former rail-yards. The station house re-opened in the summer of 2014 as a combination of the 112-room Crawford Hotel, several restaurants and retailers, and a train hall. Denvers first train station was constructed in 1868 to serve the new Denver Pacific Railway, by 1875, there were four different railroad stations, making passenger transfers between different railroad lines inconvenient. To remedy this issue, the Union Pacific Railroad proposed creating one central Union Station to combine the various operations, in February 1880, the owners of the four lines agreed to build a station at 17th and Wynkoop Streets. Architect A. Taylor of Kansas City was hired to develop the plans, however, a fire that started in the womens restroom in 1894 destroyed the central portion of the 1881 depot. The Kansas City architectural firm of Van Brunt & Howe was hired to design a replacement depot in the Romanesque Revival style. Both the 1881 and 1894 depots included a central clock tower with four clock faces. On July 4,1906, an arch was dedicated in front of the station in order to provide a symbolic threshold for travelers entering and leaving the city. Constructed at a cost of $22,500 with 70 tons of steel and over 2,000 light bulbs, the arch originally featured the word Welcome on both sides. However, the elevation facing 17th Street was changed to Mizpah, in 1912, the original Union Depot partnership was dissolved and replaced by the Denver Terminal Railway Company, representing the then-major operators of the station. The new partnership decided to demolish and rebuild the portion of the station to handle the increasing passenger traffic. The new central portion, designed by Denver architects Gove & Walsh, was built in the Beaux-Arts style, as a result of growing passenger service, the Mizpah Arch in front of the station was deemed a traffic hazard and was torn down in 1931. For the first time in 1958, passenger traffic at Stapleton International Airport exceeded that of Union Station and it was during this period that the orange Union Station, Travel by Train signs were placed on both sides of the building in order to advertise intercity rail travel. Amtrak eventually became the provider of rail service through the station. Until the grand renovation, the served the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Train. The popular excursion train has since been based at a site near the Denver Coliseum, the plan was approved by the Partner Agencies in 2004 and was approved by voters in November of that year as the new FasTracks program
8.
A Line (RTD)
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Mass transit has been under consideration for the corridor between Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport since the latter was proposed in the 1980s. The project gathered momentum in 1997 when a Major Investment Study was completed for the corridor, encouraging fixed-guideway mass transit, highway widening, in July 2007, it was decided to use electric instead of diesel propulsion over speed and air pollution concerns. RTD designated the line with the letter “A”, denoting service to the airport, the first electric multiple unit railcars were pulled along the route on April 3,2015, commencing testing and commissioning of the line. Revenue service began on April 22,2016, the A Line route follows and remains within a mile of Interstate 25, Interstate 70, and the airport access highway. Leaving Union Station the line follows the Union Pacific corridor past Coors Field to reach a station at 38th, from there the line turns east alongside 40th Avenue past the Denver Union Pacific Intermodal Yard. Just east of Josephine Street the corridor turns two blocks north then east again to stay along the Union Pacific corridor to reach the 40th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard station. After passing under Colorado Boulevard the line parallels Smith Road, with a station at Central Park Boulevard in the redevelopment area of the decommissioned Stapleton International Airport. Shortly after entering Aurora, the line reaches a station at Peoria Street, continuing east, alongside Smith Road, the line passes under Peoria Street and then Interstate 225. Just west of Airport Boulevard, the line rises on a viaduct curving north over the Union Pacific tracks, Airport Boulevard, 32nd Avenue, and Interstate 70. Having left the Union Pacific corridor, the viaduct then descends to a station at the existing Park and Ride at 40th Avenue, from there the line reenters Denver, following the east side of Peña Boulevard. North of 56th Avenue it enters a recently added Peña Boulevard station at 61st Avenue, the line continues north and east, parallel to Peña Boulevard and crossing over E-470. Turning north, the crosses over Peña Boulevard adjacent to DIA runway 7/25
9.
Denver International Airport
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Denver International Airport, often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado, United States. At 33,531 acres, it is the largest airport in the United States by total land area, runway 16R/34L, with a length of 16,000 feet, is the longest public use runway in the United States. As of 2015, DEN was the 18th-busiest airport in the world and it also has the third largest domestic connection network in the country. The airport features 133 gates spread out over three detached, yet connected, linear concourses. DEN has non-stop service to destinations throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the airport is in northeastern Denver and is operated by the City & County of Denver Department of Aviation. DEN was voted Best Airport in North America by readers of Business Traveler Magazine six years in a row and was named Americas Best Run Airport by Time Magazine in 2002, the airport is the main hub for Frontier Airlines and Great Lakes Airlines. It is also the fourth-largest hub for United Airlines with 375 daily departures to 141 destinations, the airport is Southwest Airlines 4th most utilized airport and fastest-growing market, with 190 daily departures to nearly 60 destinations. DEN is the airport in the United States to have implemented an ISO 14001-certified environmental management system covering the entire airport. The airport is accessible via Peña Boulevard as well as the A Line commuter rail from Denver Union Station, the catenary steel cable system, similar to the Brooklyn Bridge design, supports the fabric roof. Both during construction and after its opening, DIA has set aside a portion of its construction and operation budgets for art, grotesques hiding in suitcases are present above the exit doors from the baggage claims. The corridor from the terminal and Concourse A usually contains additional temporary exhibits. Finally a number of different public art works are present in the train that links the main terminal with the concourses. Blue Mustang, by El Paso born artist Luis Jiménez, was one of the earliest public art commissions for Denver International Airport in 1993. The 32 feet tall Blue Mustang is a bright blue cast-fiberglass sculpture with glowing red eyes located between the inbound and outbound lanes of Peña Boulevard, Jiménez died in 2006 while creating the sculpture when part of it fell on him and severed an artery in his leg. At the time of his death, Jiménez had completed painting the head of the mustang, Blue Mustang was completed by others, and unveiled at the airport on February 11,2008. The statue has been the subject of considerable controversy, other DIA Art Commissions have been awarded to artists Leo Tanguma, Gary Sweeney, and Gary Yazzie. DIAs Art Collection was recently honored by the publishers of USA TODAY, the airport also features a bronze statue of astronaut, Congressman-elect and Denver native Jack Swigert. Swigert, who flew on Apollo 13 as Command Module Pilot, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982, the statue is dressed in an A7L pressure suit, and is posed holding a gold-plated helmet
