Case Study REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT (RTD) DENVER, COLORADO

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1 Case Study REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT (RTD) DENVER, COLORADO Transit Agency Profile and Reason for Selection of Transit Agency Overview The Regional Transportation District (RTD) in Denver is one of a few transit agencies nationwide that has developed a specific transit-related Design Criteria Manual for its new Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems. What is specifically significant is that the agency introduced and integrated both safety and security design requirements into its LRT Design Criteria Manual. The intent of the LRT Design Criteria Manual is to establish general criteria to be used in the planning and design phases of newly planned LRT capital improvement projects. One of the primary goals of the manual is to provide guidance to project engineers and architects for the initial inclusion of safety and security requirements during the planning and design phases of RTD s LRT projects. RTD developed and modified these safety and security design criteria as a result of lessons learned from earlier LRT projects, safety design criteria from other agencies, and results from security evaluations and Threat and Vulnerability Assessments (TVA). The success of this initiative has not only motivated the agency to expand and improve the LRT Design Criteria Manual for future approved LRT projects, but RTD is now developing new Design Criteria Manuals to cover future bus operations and facilities and commuter rail capital improvement projects. RDT s Public Safety Division has the responsibility of the agency s safety and security requirements. The Public Safety Division is divided into sub-sections that include Safety, Environmental and Security. The Division has 6 employees, 75 contracted security officers, and a contract with the Denver Police Department to provide off-duty Police Officer security assistance. System Description The RTD system has evolved into a transit system that services an area of 2,406 square miles, and includes 41 municipalities in 7 counties. The system has 176 fixed routes, which includes local bus services along major streets, express and regional bus routes providing non-stop services along longer distances, Denver International Airport bus service, a free shuttle on the Sixteenth Street Mall in downtown Denver, and a LRT system service serving Denver and its southwestern suburbs. Basic operations include the following. Bus Operations: The bus fleet currently has 1,074 buses, with an average fleet age of 8.1 years. Eighty-seven buses are leased to private carriers. Annual boardings are now approximately 83 million passengers (279,000 boardings on an average weekday) through a network of over 10,237 bus stops. There are currently six maintenance and storage facilities district-wide, 67 park-n-rides and 17 transfer stations. 29

2 Light Rail Operations: The light rail service operates on the existing 5.3 mile Central Corridor, the 8.7 mile Southwest Corridor and the 1.8 mile Central Platte Valley Spur. The system accommodates two lines, the C and D lines. The Southeast Corridor/T-REX design-build project, adding approximately 19 miles of light rail service, is in construction and will be operating by November Other Services: In addition to the fixed route services, RTD provides services to sporting events and other special events, special services for the disabled and senior citizens, and door-to-door services in limited areas of the District. The population of the Denver metro area grew from 2.1 million in 1995 to more than 2.6 in million in Approximately 95 percent of the population of the region lies within the RTD service area. The area s rate of population increase peaked in 1999 and decreased steadily through While continuing to grow, the region grew at a slower rate. In spite of a five-year slowing trend, the area is forecast by the Denver Regional Council of Governments to grow to 2.87 million in 2010 and to 3.26 million in 2020, an increase of approximate 25 percent in 15 years. Climatic Considerations for Systems Design The Denver metropolitan area, within which RTD operates, is situated at the foot of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado. The area has a semi-arid climate that is somewhat characteristic of the High Plains but is modified by the Rocky Mountains to the west. Because of this, Denver lies in a belt where there is a fairly rapid change in climate from the foothills to the plains. This change is largely caused by the increase in elevation as you travel west to the foothills. Denver has an elevation of 5,280 feet. The average annual temperature is about 50 F at this elevation, though this varies a few degrees as elevation changes. The wide average range in daily temperature of 25 to 30 F in the Denver metropolitan area and a wide average range in annual temperature are typical for the High Plains. Temperatures vary from day to day; extremely hot weather in summer and extremely cold weather in the winter normally do not last long and are followed by much more moderate temperatures. System equipment including vehicles, electrification power and distribution system, signal system and fare collection/validation equipment along with track-work, stations and other civil features must be capable of maintaining operation within the unique weather and elevation conditions of the region. Problem Identification and Need for Innovative Security Measures In the transit community as a whole, safety and security requirements have tended to be an afterthought in transit capital improvement projects. This has forced transit agencies to address critical safety and security issues after the projects are designed, during project construction by means of change orders, or even after project completion. One outcome of this approach is that agencies must address un-programmed funding requirements for facility, equipment and or systems changes that could have been avoided if these requirements were initially included. 30

3 Previous Attempts (if any) to Address Problem and Results RTD originally developed an LRT Design Criteria Manual for the design and construction of its initial LRT system, the Central Corridor, which opened for revenue service in October There have been three subsequent extensions: the Southwest Corridor in 2000, the Central Platte Valley Spur in 2001, and the Southeast Corridor scheduled to open in November The LRT Design Criteria Manual went through a number of revisions prior to the design of each subsequent corridor, including a significant revision in 2000 which included a new section dedicated to system safety. The system safety section was originally developed from a combination of RTD s System Safety Program Plan (SSPP), Military Standard 882, APTA guidelines, FTA requirements and recommendations, and a safety criteria model of the Portland, Oregon transit system. In addition, safety revisions were also incorporated from lessons learned from previous RDT LRT projects. In November 2004, the Denver metropolitan area voters approved RTD s FasTracks program, consisting of 6 new rail corridors (119 miles total) including commuter rail, LRT, and possibly Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). To address the ambitious needs of the FasTracks program, the LRT Design Criteria Manual was again revised in This revision not only updated the safety criteria but also introduced security criteria for the first time. RTD developed all of its security criteria based on their System Security Plan (SSP), RTD requirements, FTA requirements and recommendations, and as a result of security assessments and Threat and Vulnerability Assessments (TVA) after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These assessments were conducted through a number of avenues, which included in-house efforts using the Department of Justice Threat and Vulnerability Assessment (TVA) model, FTA (consulting contracts), State of Colorado Department of Home Land Security (National Guard), and the Transportation Security Administration s Surface Transportation Security Inspectors. As a result of the earlier success with the LRT Design Criteria Manual and the agency s approval of the safety and security design criteria, commuter rail and bus transit facilities Design Criteria Manuals are now under development. Reason for Proposed Solution The primary reason for integrating safety and security design criteria in an initial project design and/or procurement specification is to proactively address these requirements thereby including them in an initial overall project budget. This could potentially save a transit agency hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition, this process can reduce the number of safety and/or security related project construction and/or procurement change orders, thus preventing potential project and procurement budget overrun. Solution Proposed/Implementation General Implementation RTD developed and implemented the LRT Design Criteria Manual initiative with the General Manager and senior management support and approval. This task was accomplished through an 31

4 integrated approach that involved all staff sections of management as well as supervision of the Executive Safety and Security Committee. The LRT Design Criteria Manual revision and approval process in 2005 were challenging and time consuming. RTD convened a group of subject matter experts from engineering, construction, rail operations, bus operations, planning, facilities maintenance, scheduling, safety and security. An orientation outlining the process, as well as the goals and objectives of the task was presented to the participants to standardize the process. Each section of the manual was assigned to a committee with a lead person responsible for the section revision. Once the sections were initially revised a draft revision was submitted for review and comment. A specific process was developed to allow all disciplines to provide comments, and for all comments to be reviewed and discussed by the entire group for proper disposition of the comments a true systems approach. A final draft was then compiled and received a final review by the senior management from rail operations, engineering, safety and security. The final document was then approved by signature of senior management. Even though the process was arduous, a 6-9 month process of meetings and 4 half day workshops, the end result was a comprehensive document that was well accepted throughout the organization. The newly-developed commuter rail and bus transit facilities Design Criteria Manuals were developed in a similar, but not as comprehensive, fashion, primarily because much of the same design criteria outlined in the LRT Design Criteria Manual carried over to the new manuals. These two new documents are currently in the final review and approval stages. Each Design Criteria manual has a section dedicated to system safety and system security. However, the safety and security section does not capture all the safety and security design criteria established in the manual. Specific system safety and security design criteria have been integrated throughout sections that address landscaping, stations, operations facility, fare collection equipment, and light rail vehicles, to mention a few. The system safety and system security section of the LRT Design Manual establishes the foundation for safety and security designs and detailed criteria are captured and integrated throughout the document. The LRT Design Criteria Manual establishes basic criteria to be used in the design of new RTD LRT systems. In addition, drafting standards, directive or sample drawings and management procedures were prepared to standardize and guide the design activities and the preparation of contract documents. The safety and security design criteria that were included in revisions to the LRT Design Criteria Manual addressed emergency access/egress, station design and walkways. The criteria require the design to identify emergency access and egress locations and provide a list or matrix of the necessary elements to be provided at each exit, such as lighting, signage, lock hardware, intrusion detection, and other elements. 32

5 Evans Light Rail Station, one entrance/ exit, in compliance with NFPA 130 Littleton Downtown Light Rail, non exit, multiple entrances, in compliance with NFPA 130 In addition, the criteria established the requirement for video surveillance equipment into capital projects. The Design Manual requires that video surveillance systems be capable of transmitting real-time (30 frames per second per camera) video to RTD s Security Command Center via a fiber optic transmission backbone. The manual requires all designs to include system elements including communication houses, transmission infrastructure, color cameras, and digital video recorders. The manual establishes that designs must incorporate video surveillance covering station platforms, emergency telephones, elevator waiting areas, stairwell entries, parking structures, pedestrian tunnels and pedestrian bridges. Digital Cameras Union Station, light rail with no video surveillance Littleton Light Rail Station with video surveillance 33

6 RTD Security Command System Console camera placements and coverage, Littleton/ Mineral Park-and-Ride Boeing, Visual Security Operation Console (VSOC), 3-dimensional geographic presentation The LRT Design Criteria Manual also requires the placement of emergency telephones in the design elements of capital projects. The manual requires that all emergency telephones be consistent with existing RTD units and meet the performance requirements of RTD s existing emergency telephone network. Emergency telephones are required in designs for all station platforms, elevator waiting areas, stairwell entries, parking structures, park-nrides, pedestrian bridges and tunnels. Digital Camera Union Station, Light Rail Emergency Phone I-25 & Broadway Light Rail Station, Emergency phones being installed no emergency telephones 34

7 The manual also addresses the design requirements for parking structures, as well as underground and/or below grade transit facilities. Stairwell and elevator designs must maximize the interior visibility of stairwells, elevators and elevator shafts. It also requires that wall construction materials be transparent, such as glass, and must allow visibility from at least three sides. For underground, enclosed and/or below grade facilities, it was recognized that these present unique security challenges. The manual recognizes the importance of maximizing patron safety and security through various counterterrorism measures. Specifically, the design elements of these facilities must include the provision of video surveillance in the perimeter areas, portals, entrances, exits, the interior of the facilities and all fare vending locations. University Park-and-Ride, T-Rex Project, elevators and stairs with no portal protection Market Street Bus Terminal Entrance RTD made a simple change top its new bus facility Design Criteria Manual that has proven to be a significant cost savings. Due to a serious issue with acid etching, graffiti, glass replacement and general maintenance with their glass panel bus shelters, they changed the design criteria to have perforated metal sidings instead of glass and a curved shape roof line. These changes have saved the agency roughly $150,000 in annual maintenance costs with a 3-4 year pay back benefit with their current inventory of bus stop shelters. All new bus shelter procurements must now be in compliance with the new design criteria. Cost/Benefit Analysis RTD did not conduct a cost/benefit analysis on this design criteria initiative. However, RTD s success of integrating safety and security design criteria early in the project planning and design phases and cost requirements included in the project budget will prove to be a significant longterm cost savings to the agency. 35

8 Old design with glass panels One of many new design configuretions with perforated metal siding Measure Effectiveness of Implementation/ Performance Indicators RTD s effectiveness in implementing this initiative has been proven by the continued support of the General Manager and senior management. This includes the success experienced by the agency s staff and the Executive Safety and Security Committee accepting this process and approving the RTD Design Criteria Manual. In addition, just the fact that the agency continues to update the LRT Design Criteria Manual to remain in compliance with accepted practices and applicable codes and develop new Design Criteria Manuals for upcoming capital improvement projects proves that the implementation was successful and effective. Lessons Learned/Conclusion The initiative of having Design Criteria Manuals with safety and security design criteria must have senior management s approval and support. An integrated, horizontal approach with the agency staff is imperative for developing a comprehensive product such as the LRT Design Criteria Manual and the other Design Criteria Manuals. A reasonable and practical approach is essential when developing the framework for identifying specific safety and security design criteria. The difficult part of the process is establishing the right balance between having the essential safety and security requirements in accordance with codes and regulations verses having the latest technology or capability. With the integration of design criteria early in the project, project budget constraints may be a challenge. This can apply during design review and the project Value Engineering process. The establishment of this process which approves changes and/or deviations at 36

9 the RTD Executive Safety and Security Committee level has proven extremely important. This process not only controls changes but can initiate a compromise and/or elevate an issue to the General Manager level for a final decision on project priorities and design criteria changes. To ensure the Design Criteria Manual requirements are included in the projected project costs, a design manual should be given to the engineers and architects as early as the Alternative Analysis (AA) portion of the project system planning phase. This is the phase where the initial foundation of the preliminary project budget forecast is developed and a specific amount is allocated for security requirements. When new safety or security technologies are introduced for consideration, a detailed analysis is needed to identify desired technological configurations, testing and monitoring capabilities, training requirements, routine maintenance, management responsibilities, and long term life cycle costs for sustainability reasons. This analysis and findings are not only essential for the approval process, but once approved and in place, it provides sustainable funding requirements that must be integrated into an agency s long range budget forecast cycles. More information on the LRT Design Criteria Manual and specific fact sheets on LRT corridor projects can be obtained through RTD s website under Light Rail at 37

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