MOBILITY HUB
Chad King
Director, Sustainability Center
Our mobility goals for 2025
- Reduce SOV commutes to less than 40% of total trips and eliminate the need for cars for students’ first two academic ears by providing multiple safe transportation alternatives to campus
- Crate a “Green Fleet” consisting of 50% alternatively fueled vehicles
- Become a gold rated Bicycle Friendly University by 2020
What is a Mobility Hub?
DU is partnering with the Denver Metro Region to support economic development and sustainable transportation options. Possibilities include a multimodal transportation hub tied to the DU District and energizing the University of Denver RTD light rail station area.
Renovations to DU RTD Light Rail Station Area
What started as class projects in the spring of 2016, had led to $8 million of funded improvements to the University of Denver RTD Light Rail Station area. Students in geography with Professor Goetz, in the Writing Program with Professor Singer and in the Sturm College of Law with Dr. Daggett, in collaboration with UC Denver’s Planning Department, investigated various aspects of mobility centered around the lightrail station. Geography students, utilizing action research, sought to better understand the campus user experience with transit at the light rail station. Writing Program students provided a communication framework and tools for community members to better understand transportation planning terms and processes. And the law students examined zoning around the light rail station and recommended changes for best practices in urban land use in transit oriented development.
From their work, the City and Country of Denver, RTD, Transportation Solutions, the Denver City Council and DU collaborated on a $200,000 DRCOG grant in the summer of 2016 for a Multi-Station Area Plan. This led to recommended infrastructure improvements in the summer of 2017 and in the fall of 2017, $8 million worth of projects were funded through the City of Denver GO Bond.
Now there will be pedestrian improvements at the following intersections:
- University and Buchtel
- University and Evans
And bikeway improvements along Buchtel from the University of Denver station to the Colorado station.
Pilot Projects: Leading in Denver, Providing Options and Connecting to Fixed Transit
Car2Go:
Provides cars and parking to anyone to use on a per minute or hourly basis. Includes DU in a city-wide network.
Chariot Shuttle:
In the summer of 2018, DU was the first in Colorado to pilot a new service provided by Chariot shuttles. Subsidized for all students, faculty and staff by DU IMPACT 2025 funding, Chariot will provide rides along two designated routes around the perimeter of campus.
As a result of DU’s pilot shuttle, in October 2018, the City and County of Denver, launched a microtransit shuttle service using Chariot, connecting Civic Center Station to Cherry Creek through Capital Hill to provide transit options for service employees.
in January, DU was notified that Chariot plans to cease operations. Chariot will still be available to DU students, faculty and staff until Thursday, Feb. 28. The University is looking into new shuttle options to continue after the Chariot pilot ends.
ofo Dockless Bikeshare:
In partnership with the city and county of Denver, DU launched a dockless bike-share mobility pilot with Beijing-based company ofo in May 2018. The successful launch saw over 35,000 rides in May. The mobility industry has changed rapidly since then, with pedal bicycles being replaced by electric bicycles and scooters. Due to this shift, ofo has decided to halt operations in the U.S. and cancel its contract with DU. As of Dec.11, 2018 ofo bikes are no longer available. The pilot showed there is a clear demand for dockless mobility options among our community and DU will continue to explore similar opportunities.
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