DENVER — RTD has over 80 Park-n-Rides, but lots have empty spaces. That’s why the agency is looking converting some of the empty spaces into affordable housing right next to public transit.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership at Park-n-Rides has dropped significantly. Now a $400,000 federal grant is funding a study of eight sites.
RTD is looking at how much parking is actually needed and if parts of these lots could become housing, which is what RTD calls a win-win.
“Getting people who need transit, live at transit helps them in both ways at once. It also can create a revenue stream for RTD in terms of a long-term ground lease with a developer,” Chessy Brady, RTD manager of transit-oriented development, said.
The eight sites that are being studied are: 41st and Fox, Aurora Metro Center, Belleview, County Line, Colorado, Federal Center, Littleton and Downtown, and Littleton and Mineral.
The study kicked off last month and is expected to finish by the end of next year. Denver7 asked RTD what would happen next once that study is done.
“We hope to advance development on many of these Park-n-Rides in the future, but a year from now we hope to be at a point where we are deciding what goes first, which Park-n-Ride comes first, and even then, would be years out from actual changes to the Park-n-Ride,” Brady said.
RTD saif if development moves forward, there will be plenty of opportunities for the public to weigh in on what they’d like to see at each site.
