Cherry Creek Perspective

MOBILITY

Waymo Begins Fully Driverless Rides for All Arizona Customers

A public debut for driverless taxis Waymo is “opening its fully driverless ride-hailing service in suburban Phoenix to the public,”said Ira Boudway in Bloomberg.com last week. The Alphabet-owned ride-hailing service began offering truly driverless rides, without a “safety driver” in the front seat, to a few hundred Phoenix residents in 2019. Last month, it expanded the test to allow the broader public to ride in driverless cars. While Waymo is the acknowledged technology leader in driverless vehicles, it found the process of building a commercial service “arduous. ”It has been “five years since Waymo provided the first-ever passenger trip in a driverless vehicle on a public road. ”The fleet of driverless minivans now numbers more than 300, operating in an area of roughly 50 square miles.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-08/waymo-one-app-offers-driverless-alternative-to-uber-in-arizona

Uber, After Years of Trying, Is Handing Off Its Self-Driving Car Project

Uber, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a self-driving car project that executives once believed was a key to becoming profitable, is handing the autonomous vehicle effort over to a Silicon Valley start-up, the companies said on Monday. Uber will also invest $400 million in the start-up, called Aurora, so it is essentially paying the company to take over the autonomous car operation, which had become a financial and legal headache. Uber is likely to license whatever technology Aurora manages to create.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/technology/uber-self-driving-car-project.html

Missing the bus (schedule): how the pandemic is boosting on-demand transit

“We lost 94 per cent of our ridership [due to the pandemic lockdown], but we still had essential workers who had to get to work [at] the food services, the hospitals, and other frontline workers,” said Buck, who explained that transit officials realized they could offer on-demand service across the entire day to still accommodate those people and get them to work.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/the-long-road-to-economic-recovery-and-the-roads-mass-transit-is-taking-now-and-in-the-future-1.5825218/missing-the-bus-schedule-how-the-pandemic-is-boosting-on-demand-transit-1.5825221

Will Transit As We Know It Survive?

Congressional leaders are inching their way towards getting a second COVID stimulus bill passed before Christmas break, and aid for mass transit looks like it will be part of the deal. But any COVID relief will be a mere Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Transit agencies large and small are still preparing for a very bleak future of long-term ridership loss and dramatically lower revenues, and most of them are responding to this prospect with proposals for dramatic service cuts.

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/will-transit-as-we-know-it-survive

RTD, Lyft and Masabi launch mobile ticketing for transit customers

The Regional Transportation District (RTD), Lyft and Masabi recently launched mobile ticketing for public transit, making customers in the Denver metro region the first to be able to purchase RTD fares through the Lyft app to ride the agency’s buses and trains. The metro region has been an area of historic firsts for Lyft, including the launch of Lyft scooters in 2018. Lyft riders in the Denver metro region will be able to purchase RTD fares directly within the Lyft app as the update gradually rolls out in the coming weeks. With mobile ticketing, customers will have one more way — alongside Lyft rideshare, car rentals and scooters — to access reliable and efficient transportation in the Denver metro area. RTD actively pursues ventures that integrate new mobility services with traditional public transportation. RTD tickets cost the same within the Lyft app as they do using any existing option. To purchase fares within the Lyft app, Denver customers can look for Transit on the Lyft app home screen.

https://www.rtd-denver.com/news-stop/news/rtd-lyft-and-masabi-launch-mobile-ticketing-transit-customers

REAL ESTATE AND MOBILITY

Sidewalk Repair Program Decades Behind Schedule

Denver’s Neighborhood Sidewalk Repair Program is decades behind schedule and was not designed for ADA compliance, according to a new audit from Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA. “Public spaces like sidewalks should be accessible for everyone,” Auditor O’Brien said.
The program does not ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards. City officials also severely underestimated how many sidewalks in Denver would need repairs and how much burden would rest with homeowners, according to the audit team’s findings.
Program managers set an initial goal of completing one of the 11 regions each year. However, the first region remains less than 25% complete and city administrators estimate it will take more than 50 years to complete the program.

https://www.denverauditor.org/project/neighborhood-sidewalk-repair-program/

REAL ESTATE

What is an accessory dwelling unit?

Denver City Council Member Kendra Black reports Denver’s planning documents–Blueprint Denver, Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Housing an Inclusive Denver–all encourage ADUs in order to increase Denver’s housing stock, provide needed affordable housing, encourage multi-generational housing, and build wealth for low- and moderate-income households. With the adoption of Blueprint Denver in 2019, it is a goal to eventually allow ADUs in every neighborhood. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are known as carriage houses, granny flats and mother-in-law suites. ADUs can be stand-alone structures on a residential lot, over a garage or part of the primary residence with a separate entrance (like a basement apartment.) In Denver, ADUs cannot be larger than 1000 square feet and the property owner must live either in the primary structure or the ADU. The Denver Zoning Code allows ADUs in limited areas without a rezoning. In areas that are not currently zoned for ADUs, homeowners can apply for a rezoning. In southeast Denver, lots in the S-SU-F zone district that are at least 150 feet deep are eligible for an ADU rezoning. There are some areas, however, in suburban zone districts that have not been eligible for an ADU. In these areas, since the adoption of Blueprint Denver in 2019, it is possible for an owner to apply for waivers and rezoning for an ADU.

https://www.denvergov.org/Maps/map/accessorydwellings

Group living update

Denver City Council Member Kendra Black reports the Denver planning department has been working on updates to the Zoning Code addressing household size and residential care. A much-altered, revised proposal includes:

• Household size will go from 2 unrelated people and unlimited family members to allow a maximum number of adults plus minor children in a household where not all adults are related.
• Council is discussing 4, 5 or 6 as the maximum number of adults in households where not all adults are related
• Residential care facilities serving non-paroled individuals will not be allowed in SU (single unit) or TU (two unit) neighborhoods
• Residential care facilities of (11-40 guests) will be limited to existing structures built for civic, public or institutional use–not houses with a maximum size of these facilities in low-intensity residential zone districts of 20 guests
• Density limitations are proposed for the smallest residential care facilities to prevent the concentration of such uses in any one neighborhood or part of the city.

A final proposal will be presented at the December 22 Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting.

https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/community-planning-and-development/zoning/text-amendments/Group_Living.html