DENVER – The Colorado business community heard from expert transportation and infrastructure panelists and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber’s 2022 State of the City address. The event, presented by United Airlines, provided a platform to discuss the current state of the transportation industry, as well as the goals and priorities for the future.
The event also celebrated United Airlines’ 85th year of service in Denver. As a “birthday” celebration, United distributed prizes to event attendees and discussed United’s commitment to Denver and sustainability during their sponsor remarks. After their new lease at the Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver is now the largest hub in their system, giving them the ability to fly about 700 flights out of Denver a day. As the largest private employer in Denver, United also plans to expand their employee base from 7,000 to 10,000 in three to five years, and has the goal to be carbon neutral, without using offsets, by 2050.
“We’re excited to celebrate 85 years here in Denver,” said United Airlines’ vice president of the Denver Hub, Matt Miller. “But today is less about the past and more about our future. We’ve invested in our people, our customers and the community of Denver to be the best hometown airline we can be.”
The panel featured a variety of transportation and infrastructure community leaders. Raymond Gonzales, EVP for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and president of the Metro Denver EDC, moderated the discussion. Gonzales was joined by Debra Johnson, general manager and CEO for the Regional Transportation District; Shoshana Lew, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation; Mayor Jackie Millet, City of Lone Tree and former Chair of the Metro Mayors Caucus; and Michael Sheehan, senior vice president of Special Projects for DEN.
During the panel, the conversation focused on the use of federal and state dollars for infrastructure projects, crime and safety on public transit, fair pricing of transit costs, collaboration between the organizations on increasing public transportation accessibility, sustainability goals and efforts of each organization, and the EPA’s non-attainment reclassification for Metro Denver and the Northern Front Range.
The panel lasted for an hour, and at the end, all panelists were asked, “If you had a magic wand to remove one obstacle to achieve the vision you have for the Metro Denver region, what would that be?”
Johnson focused on having a robust public transportation network. Stating that we don’t currently have one, Johnson said she doesn’t look at other transportation services as being competing, but complimentary. She stressed the need to collaborate across networks and organizations to properly serve communities.
Lew stressed that many needed projects aren’t addressed until damage has been done. Lew said that many important issues are known ahead of time, but it often isn’t until irreversible damage has started that any one takes action.
Mayor Millet’s big barrier were construction defect litigation issues. She emphasized that we all want to attract and retain talent, and in order to grow her own community, she needs more affordable and workforce housing options.
Sheehan’s desire was to continue resilience and sustainable growth for the region. He stressed that DEN is 27 years old, and many of the systems and processes are outdated. DEN’s goal is to continue their growth in a sustainable way as they prepare themselves to meet the needs of their travelers.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO, J. J. Ament, gave closing remarks, summarizing the Chamber’s insights on the state of Metro Denver. Ament focused on limiting government restrictions on businesses for Colorado, specifically mentioning the EPA non-attainment reclassification as a burden for Coloradans.
Ament stated, “The Chamber, who helped regulate the original Air Quality Commission, knows how critical our environment is to our economic success and physical health. But we also know that burdensome and expensive regulations that don’t actually solve problems facing our businesses, residents, or even the environment, are unwise.”
Ament continued to say that the Chamber is leading a coalition against the EPA reclassification. The coalition is in pursuit of more, “pragmatic, scientific and less economically damaging approaches to continue the substantial emissions reductions we’ve seen, and maintain and improve [Colorado’s] air quality.”
There was also mention of the Inflation Reduction Act, the large reconciliation deal recently passed by Congress, with Ament emphasizing the move of Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. “If we really want to address inflation, part of that is reducing unnecessary spending, such as spending $1 billion to move something that’s part of our community,” said Ament. The move of these headquarters impacts nearly 1400 Colorado jobs and many have called for the move to be challenged.
Ament closed by emphasizing that collaboration between the private and public sector is needed for innovation and growth, and he stressed, “We will strive to strike that balance to both protect our environment and our economy. We can do both at the same time.”
To learn more about the Denver Metro Chamber’s political stances, visit https://denverchamber.org/policy/current-state-legislation/
About the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
For 155 years, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce has been a leading voice for Colorado’s business community. With a membership that spans the state, the Chamber is an effective advocate for small and large businesses. The Chamber’s family of organizations includes the Metro Denver EDC, the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center, the Colorado Competitive Council, B:CIVIC and Prosper Colorado. For more information, go to denverchamber.org.
Our members work hard every day to make the Denver metro area a great place to do business. We want to keep you in the know about the important work of our members, whether they are opening new business locations, hiring more people or creating new partnerships.
Read about our members in the news:
On Wednesday, April 7 at 2 p.m., the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is hosting a webinar specifically designed for employers around unemployment fraud. You can either register for the event via Zoom or tune into the agency’s YouTube channel for a simultaneous live steam of the event. Submit your questions ahead of time and read a letter from Executive Director Joe Barela.
UCHealth has announced 2021 programming for evrē, its signature health initiative celebrating all women. The effort aims to improve lives through informative conversations, wellness advice and opportunities to connect with other women. UCHealth recently launched the evrē podcast series and offers on-demand health and wellness classes. Learn more.
RTD restored standard fares on the N Line at the end March. For the first six months in operation, the region’s newest commuter rail line operated with the local fare in place across the entirety of the line. Local fare structures are now in place.
The Denver Business Journal has opened nominations for a number of 2021 awards. Nominate a worthy candidate for 2021 Outstanding Women in Business Awards (Deadline: April 19, 2021), 2021 C-Suite Awards (Deadline: May 17, 2021) and the 2021 Most Admired CEO Award (Deadline: Aug. 9, 2021). Nominate someone today.
Our members work hard every day to make the Denver metro area a great place to do business. We want to keep you in the know about the important work of our members, whether they are opening new business locations, hiring more people or creating new partnerships.
Read about our members in the news:
RTD has joined a nationwide public transit “Health and Safety Commitments Program.” This program creates specific policies geared toward protecting riders and RTD employees by following public health guidelines from official sources, frequently cleaning and disinfecting transit vehicles and requiring customers and employees to avoid public transit if they have been exposed to COVID-19 or feel ill.
Brinkman Real Estate recently announced the hire of Brett Silverstein as its new director of acquisitions. In the role, Silverstein will identify and close on opportunistic acquisitions throughout the mountain states, all part of a firm-wide renewed focus on acquisitions in high-growth markets.
The vital role that early childhood education and child care play in a family’s ability to continue working has become more evident since the pandemic began. The Denver Preschool Program (DPP) has reaffirmed its commitment to addressing affordability by covering up to 100% of preschool tuition costs for families who live in the City and County of Denver and have a 4-year-old enrolled in a DPP-participating preschool in the year before kindergarten.
Our members work hard every day to make the Denver metro area a great place to do business. We want to keep you in the know about the important work of our members, whether they are opening new business locations, hiring more people or creating new partnerships.
Read about our members in the news:
Are you prepared for what’s ahead? Join Plante Moran for a year-end webinar series featuring personal and business tax-planning strategies, accounting updates, and short- and long-term business strategies designed to help you adapt faster and emerge stronger in 2021. Find out more and register.
Be Virtual-First in 2021 with Virtual Presenter Curriculum. Schedule now to amp up your virtual sales and virtual events with a Virtual Presenter Professional Certification. Learn more.
RTD welcomes a new GM and CEO, Debra Johnson. Debra Johnson is an executive who brings more than a quarter-century of leadership experience honed at some of the largest transit agencies in the country, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Southern California. To reinforce the historic nature of this day, Debra is RTD’s first female general manager and CEO in the agency’s 51-year history.
Colorado courts can receive much needed relief to their backlog of cases with the recent opening of the Colorado Conflict Clinic (CCC). Developed and managed by OvalOptions for Conflict Management, CCC is a statewide, online mediation service that provides disputants another route to resolve their issues outside of the congested court system. For an affordable fixed fee, mediators facilitate online settlement discussions of small claims or civil county court cases (disputes that amount to $25,000 or less). CCC also provides online mediation services for parental responsibilities, such as custody and decision making, and child support issues for qualifying domestic cases. Disputing parties can access CCC even before filing a court case.
For better or worse, cars are part of the social fabric of business. They can cue status through a coveted parking spot or fleet vehicle. They can raise anxiety levels of drivers who sit in gridlocked traffic.
But there is a revolution coming – and it’s changing how cars are woven into that fabric of business – thanks to a deluge of data we carry in our smartphones, the growing development of autonomous vehicles and a region that is increasingly connected by trains, bike lanes and buses.
“(The car) changed everything about how we build, how we interact. … Now we’re looking at another change that will move us in a very different direction,” said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the central Denver-focused transportation management association Transportation Solutions.
And, with a population the size of Oklahoma City estimated to settle in the region over the next 25 years, transportation planners have the difficult task of envisioning that future – and adjusting it as we grow and technology changes.
Since we first envisioned a project like Central 70 in the early 2000s, the first iPhone came out in 2007, Waze launched its crowdsourced map app in 2008 and Uber debuted in Denver in 2012.
And while pivoting to work with this new technology is challenging, it’s also creating opportunities, said Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Executive Director Shailen Bhatt. Those opportunities are bringing together planners and the private sector – and they’re working to find innovative solutions to congestion and safety on commutes.
“That’s how we’re going to start making smart decisions with scarce resources,” he said.
Cars, Roads Get Smart
With connections through smartphones and increasingly smart cars with sensors and software, we’re leaving a roadmap of data that shows how traffic is moving and what the road conditions are like. How that information is shared can change how quickly and safely we travel.
Over the next year, CDOT is partnering with Germany-based mapping and location tech company HERE on pilots along I-25 and the I-70 mountain corridor through CDOT’s RoadX program.
The partnership is marking firsts in the U.S. and North America for the rollout of this technology, which will share data with other cars to help drivers adjust and move them more efficiently.
RoadX is an example of a great private sector idea, and Bhatt said he wants people to bring those ideas to CDOT.
“We’re committed to deploying great ideas very quickly,” he said.
It’s a conversation happening nationally, too, which is why the U.S. Department of Transportation is offering up to $40 million to cities that propose new ways to be “smart” by incorporating innovative technology into its transportation system.
Denver is among the seven finalists vying for the Smart City Challenge Grant, and the Chamber is among the dozens of organizations working on the plan. The winner will be announced in June.
Denver’s goal is simple: connect more with less. The 50-plus partners will do that by working together to:
With a track-record of investing in its infrastructure through projects like FasTracks and using innovative public-private partnerships to get that work done, planners say Denver makes a strong case.
“Whatever city is the selected city will be a lab,” said Denver Deputy Chief of Staff Evan Dreyer.
First and Last Miles Matter Most
In April, Denver joined an elite group of cities that have a rail connection to the airport. Meanwhile, around the transit hub of Denver Union Station investment has just passed $2 billion.
In 2016, RTD will open five commuter rail lines. “We’re more than doubling our rail in the region,” said RTD Senior Public Relations Manager Nate Currey. “No other transit agency in history has ever tried anything like this.”
While transportation experts laud the vision of the FasTracks commuter corridor that connects the region, they agree that they have to develop a habit among commuters now and find ways to integrate the companies that are changing transportation so that they can work together, not against each other.
That’s because convenience will always be key for commuters. And getting to and from stations to work or home—what transportation experts call the first and last mile, can be the “Achilles’ heel of transit,” said Daniel Hutton, manager of Centennial’s i-team (short for innovation).
The i-team has been developing a pilot model to help commuters get to and from light rail stations using rideshare platforms. Working with Mobility Choice, a nonprofit of the Chamber, along with several other project partners, a commuter would be able to plan his trip, from seeing when he needs to be at the station to hailing a rideshare driver.
Ease is paramount: “Then you really only have one decision point,” Hutton said.
For car share companies like Car2Go, that specialize in short trips, Denver General Manager Mike Pletsch said that at least 1,000 trips made each month by its 37,000 Colorado members are made to transit stations. Car2Go’s white and blue Smart cars move as much as 19 times a day in the downtown core.
“It’s not competition; it’s a compliment,” Pletsch said. “Folks just want options.”
New Partnerships Emerge
With a flat gas tax, uncertainty of state funding and a population that is continuing to grow faster than the rest of the country, it’s clear that when it comes to figuring out how Coloradans will get to work today and in the future, two heads is better than one.
And, from public-private partnerships to convening local agencies, these collaborations are growing. The Chamber’s Mobility Choice is working to bring together CDOT, RTD and the Denver Regional Council of Governments with the private sector. Helmed by former CDOT director Don Hunt, the goal is to help shape a single mobility plan for the region.
It’s challenging to balance the needs of a diverse metro area, said Doug Rex, DRCOG’s transportation planning and operations director, so giving people options, especially as the region grows, matters.
“What we are trying to do here is diversify our transportation portfolio,” he said. “We are providing our trcitizens an option of transportation modes.”
But, the economics of a driverless future are too strong to sit back, Hunt said.
“That is the big change agent that will really dominate how we travel in the future.”
Sara Crocker is the communications manager for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
This was originally published in the Spring Issue of Business Altitude. Click here to read the full issue.
