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Getting Around
The Regional Transportation District, or RTD (tel. 800/366-7433, 303/299-6000, or TDD 303/299-6089 for route and schedule information; 303/299-6700 for other business; calls itself "The Ride." It operates bus routes and a light-rail system, with free transfer tickets available. It provides good service within Denver and its suburbs and outlying communities (including Boulder, Longmont, and Evergreen), as well as free parking at 65 Park-n-Ride locations throughout the Denver-Boulder metropolitan area. The light-rail service is designed to get buses and cars out of congested downtown Denver; many of the bus routes from outlying areas deliver passengers to light-rail stations rather than downtown.
Depending on the route, the departure time of the last bus or train varies from 9pm to 1am. Maps for all routes are available at any time at the RTD Civic Center Station, 16th Street and Broadway; and the Market Street Station, Market and 16th streets. RTD also provides special service to Colorado Rockies (baseball) and Denver Broncos (football) games. All RTD buses and trains are completely wheelchair accessible.
Free buses run up and down the 16th Street Mall between the Civic Center and Market Street every 90 seconds during peak hours (less frequently at other times), daily from 6am to 1am.
Visitors should take particular note of the new light-rail C Line, which began running in spring 2001. After diverting from the main north-south light-rail line at Colfax Avenue, it veers west and stops at Invesco Field at Mile High, the Pepsi Center, and Six Flags Elitch Gardens before chugging into Union Station at 17th and Wynkoop streets in lower downtown. The fare is the same as on any other local route, but the schedule is extended, with the last train leaving Union Station at 3am.
The open-air Platte Valley Trolley (tel. 303/458-6255; operates year-round. From late May through August between 11am and 4pm daily there's a half-hour "Denver Sightseeing Route" ride which operates from 15th Street at Confluence Park, south to Decatur Street along the west bank of the Platte River. "The Route 84 Excursion" leaves at noon Monday through Friday, and 2pm Saturday and Sunday . This 1-hour trip takes visitors west of Decatur Street, following a portion of a historic tram line that ran to Golden until 1950. Neither tour is narrated. During April, May, September, and October, the trolley runs, weather permitting, Tuesday through Sunday between 11am and 4pm; in winter, it operates only on weekends from 11am to 4pm, also weather permitting. Special charter trips can be arranged for off-hours; call for details.
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