October 15, 2021
Dear Mayor Hancock and members of City Council,
On behalf of the Denver Streets Partnership (DSP), we are writing to submit comments on the proposed funding levels for pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and Vision Zero projects in the 2022 Annual Budget. The DSP is a coalition of community groups advocating for people-friendly streets in Denver. The members of our coalition believe in an equitable and vibrant Denver that guarantees our public spaces are designed for people. We believe that human dignity should be the guiding principle for the design of our transportation system so that everyone can thrive and connect to what matters most.
The DSP strongly supports the proposal in the 2022 Annual Budget to establish a new Transportation and Mobility Fund, made possible by an increase in parking meter fees in 2022. The $9.5 million transfer to this fund in 2022 will allow for significant increases in annual funding dedicated to new sidewalk construction, Denver Moves Bicycles implementation, Denver Moves Transit implementation, and Vision Zero implementation projects compared to recent historic averages, as shown in the chart below.
| Category | Recent Historic Average* | Mayor’s 2022 Proposal | Base Budget | Parking Fee Increase |
| New Sidewalk Construction | $2.6 M | $4.85 M | $3 M | $1.845 M |
| Denver Moves Bicycles implementation | $4.3 M | $6.85 M | $5 M | $1.85 M |
| Transit | $1.1 M | $5.66 M | $2 M | $3.66 M |
| Vision Zero
(Neighborhood Transportation and Traffic Calming program, pedestrian crossing improvements, Safe Routes to School, and other Vision Zero implementation projects) |
$3.0 M | $4.095 M | $2.25 M | $1.845 M |
*Averages reflect 2017 – 2021 for New Sidewalk Construction and Denver Moves Bicycles, 2019- 2021 for Transit, and 2018-2021 for Vision Zero
This increased multimodal funding will accelerate the buildout of a complete transportation system as envisioned in Blueprint Denver and the Denver Moves suite of plans; help reduce Denver’s unhealthy, unsustainable dependence on cars; and move us closer to our city’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, eliminating traffic fatalities, and providing a variety of safe, convenient and affordable transportation options for everyone.
While we still must identify additional revenue sources to achieve our city’s goals by the target date of 2030, the new Transportation and Mobility fund is an important step in the right direction. Furthermore, the DSP strongly supports the increase in parking meter rates to create this fund. On-street parking pricing is too low in Denver today, effectively subsidizing driving at the expense of other modes and working against our vision for a truly multimodal, human-centered transportation system.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue.
Sincerely,
Jill Locantore
Executive Director
Denver Streets Partnership
Danny Katz
Executive Director, CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group)
Chair, Denver Streets Partnership Steering Committee
Piep van Heuven
Government Relations Director
Bicycle Colorado
Kate Williams
Executive Director
DRMAC
Kate Stigberg
Senior Director of Activism
Healthier Colorado
Rob Toftness
Co-Founder
Denver Bicycle Lobby
Jaime Lewis
Transit Advisor
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
Joel Noble
Member
Denver Streets Partnership Coalition
Cc:
Evan Dreyer
Adam Phipps
Nicholas Williams
Jennifer Hillhouse
Emily Gloeckner
David Krutsinger
David Pulsipher
Rolf Eisinger
Brendan Hanlon
Grace Rink
Emily Snyder