RIDERS

Councilor Jennifer AllenThomas suggested talking to the city’s Youth Advisory Council to finad out what they want and Councilor Renee Chacon suggested looking beyond just sports.

Councilor Susan Noble agreed with both.

“I’m wondering if we should reach out more broadly and ask our community how they want this $600,000 windfall to be used,” Noble said. “It really is a large sum of money, which is really terrific, but what is the best way to use this money that will benefit the most youth in Commerce City. That includes those who don’t do sports but instead their time to arts and culture.” prices. However, ridership remained the same in 2014 when gas prices fell.

“RTD has been unable to attribute a direct correlation between gas prices and ridership (but) has seen just the opposite in some cases. On a longer-term basis, gas prices have risen but overall ridership for transit agencies has trended downward,” she wrote.

One strong correlation they found is employment rates: as unemployment rises, ridership goes down, and vice versa.

Getting more riders, and money

If people live near transit and it’s accessible, they’re more likely to take it. According to Brian Welch, RTD’s acting assistant general manager of planning, the pandemic disproportionately impacted the use of public transportation.

“If you look at air travel, vehicle miles traveled, freight, even I think ocean cruises, almost everybody has gotten back to where they were before the global pandemic. Public transportation remains one of the outliers, so we’re still feeling the effects of this disruption,” he said.

One of those reasons is due to teleworking. Not as many people are taking long trips to work. Even before the pandemic, increases in ridership weren’t proportional to increases in population.

“If we have all these people moving into the Denver Metro area, ostensibly we’ve got people moving in who don’t want to drive,” he said. “We don’t seem to be attracting those people as frequently as we’d like to.” e price of transit is inelastic regarding incremental increases.

For public transportation to be attractive, people need incentives to take it.

Welch said expensive parking charges, congestion, safety and competitive travel times up the value. Even so, there are people who won’t do it — they love their car, Welch said.

“In North America, in the places where we have for 50, 75 years made it really attractive to drive, that makes transit tougher, to provide a value proposition and a good alternative for people,” he said.

To make transit an attractive option, it needs to be there and needs to be of quality, safe and frequent.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s free, because it still doesn’t help them (if it’s not of value),” he said.

However, for those on the margin, high fares play a role.

“If you could get to the airport cheaper by driving and parking than you could by taking one of our airport services, then yeah, the price is an issue,” Welch said.

Connecting the suburbs

Welch said that circumferential transit – public transportation options that circle a downtown area, connecting the outlying areas –has not worked well in the United States. Hub and spoke-type networks, from the suburbs to downtown, attract people from concentration to concentration in the U.S.

“It generally takes you too long to get all the way to where you need to go,” he said.

He said it’s a real challenge for those living in suburbs trying to get to other suburbs, such as Westminster to Brighton or ornton to Lone Tree.

Most success for RTD has come from connecting Denver, the tech center and Boulder. Each contain services that attract people and virtually guarantee ridership: colleges, hospitals, o ce buildings and commercial centers.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

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Contact us: 143 S. Second Pl., Brighton, CO 80401 - 303-566-4100

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To subscribe call 303-566-4100 ose inter-suburban connections may grow naturally if the suburbs continue to grow, b e ectively becoming hubs themselves, he said. But that does not answer the ageold question: how do we get people to ride transit? at’s because 20% of RTD’s operating budget comes from fares, which is typical for a transportation agency. What’s not typical is the rest comes mostly from the federal government and sales tax – with no revenue coming from the state government.

RTD’s largest limitation is hiring employees, Welch said, and another will be funds. Welch said right now, RTD is in a good position with recent money coming from the federal government, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act.) In the future, it won’t be so smooth.

In 2021, RTD’s total revenue and grants and contributions were $1.17 billion. Of that, about 7% came from operating revenues, about 64% from sales tax and about 26% from grant operating assistance.

RTD’s operating revenues also were cut in half from 2019 to 2021. In 2019, operating revenues came in at $160.9 million but were slashed to $82.5 million in 2020 and reduced again to $83.1 million in 2021.

State Senator Winter said RTD needs a more reliable source of funding moving into the future to continue the boost it received from 2022’s Zero Fare for Better Air days promotion.

“We need to build on that success, continue that success, and make that success permanent,” Winter said.

To receive funding from municipalities and the state, Welch said RTD is working on showing people it’s worth it, with a lot of focus on safety and security.

“How can we be ready for them so that they instantly come back on transit and don’t start driving again?” Welch said.

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Commentaries

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Email letters to staylor@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper.

Help CCPD “Cram the Cruiser” at King Soopers on Feb. 25 e highlight of Commerce City’s annual “Spread the Love” food drive comes Saturday, Feb. 25 as police o cers encourage residents to ll police vehicles with donations of peanut butter and jelly for local food banks. O cers will be posted in front of both King Soopers stores in Commerce City — at 4850 E. 62nd Ave. and 15051 E. 104th Ave. —from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the event to chat with shoppers and give kids a look at their patrol vehicles while they collect donations.

Donation boxes will also be set up at both local King Soopers locations through Feb. 25. Donation bins are also in place at the following city facilities throughout the month of February: Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Ave., Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City Civic Center, 7887 E. 60th Ave., Municipal Service Center, 8602 Rosemary St.

Walk with a doc is is a walking program for ev- eryone interested in taking steps for a healthier lifestyle. After a few minutes to learn about a current health topic from the doctor, spend the rest of the hour enjoying a healthy walk and fun conversation. It’s a great way to get out, get active and enjoy all the bene ts that come from walking.

Platte Valley Medical Center’s cardiac rehab team and Walk With A Doc will host monthly walks with Dr. Christopher Cannon, an interventional cardiologist at Brighton Heart and Vascular Institute.

‘Taking No Chances’ e 17th Judicial District Attorney’s O ce and e Link, a community resource and assessment center in ornton, are o ering free, 10-week programs to families of Adams county teenagers to help develop personal and interpersonal drug-resistance skills.

Sessions are from 5:30 to 6;30 p.m. Wednesdays. Call 720-292-2811.

Boards/commissions’ openings

Commerce City has openings for several of its boards and commissions, including the city’s cultural council, the housing authority and the Derby review board.

Visit https://www.c3gov.com/ Home/Components/Form/Form/70

316b05422c448492c51da0f0e0fd86/ to sign up.

Legal self-help clinic e Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. the rst Tuesday of every month. e program is for those who don’t have legal representation and need help navigating through legal issues.

Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss such topics as family law, civil litigation, property and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for the Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours in advance.

Help for vets

Quali ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has a number of power chairs, power scooters and electric wheelchairs available.

To nd the closest facility to you visit www.va.gov/ nd-locations.

Quali ed Listeners also need volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners. Call 720-600-0860.

COVID-19 testing

Here’s where you can receive a test for COVID-19:

Brighton Advanced Urgent Care, 2801 Purcell St. Call 303-659-9700 or visit https://advurgent.com/loca-

tions/brighton/

Brighton Salud, 1860 Egbert St. Testing is available on Tuesday, ursday and Friday. Visit https:// www.saludclinic.org/covid-testing

Fort Lupton Salud, 1115 Second St. Testing is available on Tuesday and ursday. Call 303-697-2583 or visit https://www.saludclinic.org/covidtesting online.

Mental health

Community Reach Center o ers in-person intake assessments from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays at the Brighton Learning and Resource Campus, 1850 E. Egbert St. in Brighton. Call Community Reach Center at 303853-3500.

For walk-in intake, bring an ID and insurance information. For those who would prefer to complete the intake forms and schedule an appointment, the intake forms are available online at www.communityreachcenter.org. ere will be a short screening for u-like symptoms before the entrance to the center to ensure safety and wellness for everyone.

Anyone feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255, text 38255, or visit the Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) Center at 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster.

Jack Berger Jr. passed away in the early morning hours of February 28th, 2023 as the sun was rising on his beloved family farm. He was able to ful ll his wishes of coming home and being surrounded by family and friends that loved him in the days prior to his death. e Circle of Life is now complete as he was greeted in heaven by his loving Dad, Mom, two brothers and sister.

Jack was born on January 26, 1943 to Jack and Barbara (Hochnadel) Berger. He was the youngest of four children and lived on the family farm his entire life.

On November 6, 1965, he married the love of his life, Sandy Goetz. ey recently celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. He would say the secret to a long and happy marriage was to be able to say with conviction “Yes, Dear” and “Your right, Dear”. He would say “Happy wife, Happy life”. And we were happy.

Jack attended Fort Lupton schools, graduating in 1961. He was active in school as Head Boy in his senior year and participated in choir, band, plays, football, basketball, baseball and other school clubs. He was chosen to play on the Colorado All Star Football team while in high school. He was awarded a Football scholarship to UNC. After nishing one year of schooling there, he came home to help on the family farm. He continued farming there until

January 26, 1943 - February 28, 2023 his death. roughout his children’s school years, he proudly served on the Fort Lupton school board and was very involved with their school activities. He also served as a member on the Brantner Ditch Board for many years.

In 1965, Jack joined the Air National Guard and was active for six years before being Honorably Discharged. One of his fondest memories was going to Antigua and building radio and satellite towers.

Jack was also involved in church and community. He was a life long member of St. William Catholic Church and served as Lector, Usher, Choir Member and helped with the Fall Festival. He was a ird Degree Knight’s of Columbus member and belonged to this Catholic Men’s organization for over 55 years.

Farming was always one of his rst loves. During his years in farming, Jack received many awards, some being from growing sugar beets for Great Western Sugar and barley for Coors Brewing. He also grew corn and alfalfa and wheat. Another great accomplishment was when he and his Dad started raising Black Angus cattle. For Jack, Faith, Family, Friends and FARMING were his life.

When he had free time, he enjoyed playing cards, eating out and going for drives with his family. He loved the holidays - especially Christmas. But what he really enjoyed was a drive to his “home away from home”, Blackhawk.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Sandy, his son Michael (Marilyn), his daughter Melissa (Bob) Torbet, Grandchildren Jack Torbet (Little Jack), Madison Casados (Angel Garcia) and Great Grandchildren, Armando and Giovanni.

Left to lovingly remember all the good times spent with their Uncle are his nieces and nephews, Barb, Pat, Lori, Susan, Scott, Mark, David, Bob, Cathy, Tricia, Je , Lisa, Jessica, Jacob, Alivia and Steven and their families. He will be remembered fondly by his brothers-inlaws Tom and Steven (Tracy) and sisters-in-laws Sharon and Jody (Eduardo).

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Barbara, his brother, John, his brother and sister-in-law, Leo and Ruby, his sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Jack Markley, nephew, Jim Berger, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, Ed and Agnes Goetz, brother-in-law, Dennis, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Gerald (Butch) and Phyllis, and nephew, Rodney.

Jack lived a good and honorable life - he was loved and he will be missed.