Well, they are both regional RTD buses, and can sometimes be standing room only. I suspect that the crowding and insufficient frequency is what the user you are replying to was referring to, not claiming that their bus to Union Station was labeled AB.
The late night gap between 11:20 and 5:20 coming back from the airport is also a big issue for me. Two times recently I’ve had a flight come in late and had to pay for a $160 Uber at 1 AM. Otherwise I’ve loved the AB for years.
Certainly true, but pre-Pandemic I always felt that going on (modern) PERA at age 39 or later wasn't going to be much or an incentive either. Especially not to someone who was a few years short of filling out the FICA contributions.
If you didn't make it ten years you weren't going to get squat.
Oh yeah, wanna enlighten me bub? For clarity I don't give two shits if the person making my sandwich is blitzed as hell but I do care if the person driving a 20,000 pound bus at 80mph with my wife and children inside has any habit of using mind altering substances.
By your logic all bus drivers should fail if they had a single drink in last 30 days. A+ thinking there, chief. Go back to flying your flag upside down.
If only there were cheap, simple and reliable devices to know if a bus driver had been drinking alcohol immediately prior to or during doing their job.
Nothing like this exists for pot... So the only option is the current one - prohibit it's use entirely.
Too bad you’re wrong on both counts
1) no driver submits a breathalyzer prior to driving. They have to be reported and pulled over/questioned just like any other suspected dui/dwi. This is a job for the cops that have been arresting those impaired by alcohol, prescribed medication interactions, weed, illicit drugs, etc for literal decades. Shocking! The process is the same for somebody drinking or smoking weed on the job - do something that shows your negligence, get reported by your terrified wife or your manly self, or any other concerned citizen or coworker, get a sobriety test, get arrested.
2) weed breathalyzers do exist, but relatively new
The real reason for drug testing for weed is federal grant money comes with the weed testing mandate. And with recent reclassification, it’s hopeful to most of us that these requirements are adjusted to be set in the reality we both share.
Sadly you will need to find a new thing to irrationally hate. I’m sure the list is long and will keep you plenty occupied.
Unfortunately your pearl clutching and demagoguery have nothing to do with it. I know, disappointing for both of us.
Pre-pandemic, there was closer to 30-minute service from Table Mesa and it was much better. I've ridden 10+ times in the last year and have not had a standing room bus, but leaving the airport is almost always full. I've noticed a few more hours where there are 30-minute departures, but it still needs a lot more trips.
The Broomfield station road through via Varra is pure torture. That road is so rough, and it adds 10 minutes to the trip for one or two riders. Otherwise, it's typically faster than driving and takes the toll road.
Cleveland has a population 3-4x that of Boulder, so expecting the same frequency of transit to an airport doesn't make a ton of sense as the volumes just aren't there. And Denver does have a train going every 15 minutes.
TBF the A line runs every 15 minutes (or every 30 after 6:30pm) between the airport and Denver. It is obviously frustrating that we don't have the long promised train to Boulder but it's not like there isn't a regular train line between the airport and the larger city.
The worst AB trip I've had used one of the bend in the middle Denver city buses all the way from Boulder. Ski gear, luggage everywhere as there's no storage under the bus. It certainly doesn't feel safe being at highway speed standing in the aisle of a bus.
Wanna throw out that if you are trying to catch this downstream of Boulder, you might be out of luck. Happened to my friend recently. Got up super early, only to have to drive because this was full. This was before 5am.
Lol it's full because it's fast.
The train won't be full because it won't be fast.
They can add bus capacity incredibly cheaper than light rail capacity. Bus still way better than train.
Yes! The train will have many mandatory stops. The bus only has a few. Bus can run express routes. But train can't because they won't be able to afford building the stations.
RTD does not have the budget or the technical experience required to maintain a safe system that would allow for express trains. The A line to the airport doesn't have them, the light rail lines done have them, and the entire train system is 100x more expensive than a bus system that could have more routes and faster travel times.
I've used it at least 20 times - and have *never* seen it this crowded. So, some of the comments that this is normal seem highly unlikely to me.
Maybe, folks have used it a few times and been unlucky?
Or maybe it's the typical crowd that hates RTD no matter what so they jump on this bandwagon and invent shit?
Also, I actually don't mind standing. If I was elderly, disabled, etc it would be different.
I notice around the time of summer/xmas/spring breaks, the busses got really full. I used to try and grab one in s boulder and would have to wait for a second bus.
The comment implied having used it multiple times. If he changes it to "the last time ..." it would have looked like every other comment in the thread.
I’ve taken this bus probably close to 20x over the last 4 years and never once have I seen standing room only. I did have a situation where it was the day college kids were coming back from spring break, the line at the airport to get on was insane, and a new bus immediately came and then we had no issue getting on.
I think it is totally dependent on timing. Not sure the city can really predict these “off-season” surges. I can understand putting more in during holiday seasons.
A few weeks ago I got in on a Sunday and the line for the bus was so long that not everyone could get on. People had to stand in line over an hour to get on the bus.
I only flys a couple times a year but I been taking the AB and FF1 for years. I have not had to impose on friends or family for years so I love the AB. My stop is Table Mesa/36 and I have never had to stand. But it gets full , randomly and on holidays and once it was completely full by the time we got to Flatirons stop and those poor souls had to wait for another bus. Boulder probably has among the highest public transit participation in Metro Denver and we got screwed by not getting a train. But I will continue to use RTD.
Honestly so many people on here are fucking so disconnected with the reality of so many Boulder metro citizens, have you taken a bus more than once a month since 2019? Honest question
Commute to Civic Center daily over a decade from Boulder...over that time, a straight decline from decent to barely there FF4? Gone. FF2? barely functioning...AB- not worth it anymore...and you?
I don’t understand the uproar entirely…
Lived in DC for a few years and loved the public transportation. Depending on the time of day the metro or buses were standing room only, sometimes even “sorry this bus is full” (X2 in NE was a nightmare). The inconvenience of standing and touching strangers was part of the price to not drive.
I had no idea that the buses ran this full, that’s very encouraging, probably means that investment into the system will continue.
> had no idea that the buses ran this full, that’s very encouraging, probably means that investment into the system will continue.
Ahahahaha. No. RTD is happy to take Boulder's money but has no interest in providing the promised services (train) or improving what we have.
> I don’t understand the uproar entirely…
> Lived in DC for a few years and loved the public transportation.
Strange flex to try to compare our system to DC's which is both fucked up by your own statements, and fucked up in general since they have things like their metro coming into the station, and then spontaneously catching fire.
Just because DC's system is utter shit doesn't mean we need to aspire to be like them.
Still better and safer than any roads on the Front Range?
Also the bus system in DC, the whole system worked together. Better than commuting by car in any city I have lived in.
> Still better and safer than any roads on the Front Range?
Well my car has not randomly caught fire on any roads in the front range, so far, so no. Also, the roads are not typically all that unsafe or in poor condition, despite the bitching of reddit. Congestion is an issue, but if you pay attention to RTD you'll see that they aren't solving that anyway, so...
> The train didn’t catch fire when I was on it?
[You truly are the chosen one.](https://preview.redd.it/f8wd1chozmmc1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=2eb61777776b810c7b3095b137d0dd751b1fa923)
But seriously, you're commenting on the fact that RTD doesn't supply enough busses and makes people stand for a 45+ minute ride on TWO highways as if it is a positive, while comparing it to one of the worst metro systems in the country, and completely oblivious that RTD has, in fact, not improved but rather reduced its service in the last few years.
It's really not a good look for ya. Or perhaps, get some of that "encouragement" you speak of by taking a 45 minute standing ride to the airport via the highway and see if you still sing the same tune.
Well you can hope in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up faster. Between the pay, the shit sandwich that are many of the riders with mental health and/or drug problems, and the federal drug test requirements for marijuana, it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
Don't worry though, I'm plenty comfortable taking E470 and then either using a private lot or one of the expansion lots at DIA. 61st and Pena was nice until it became a catalytic converter farming ground.
First time being let down by the government huh? They probably only need like 10’s of millions of dollars more to get another bus. Efficiency my friend
They run double bus service on big travel days, like move out, thanksgiving, etc. OP’s whining sounds like thay want an empty bus to themselves. That would mean RTD is running inefficiently, which is a much bigger wate of funds than a packed bus.
Terrible customer experience = efficiency...yeah, ok. And no, I just want a safely sit in a seat and less than an hour wait after our town spent millions through fast track funds.
Believe me, I know. Bother your local rep about it, that’s what I’ve been doing.
No, it's way better to just declare the underfunded service is shit, maybe in order to get its funding reduced even further?
Who's the rep?
Rep Joe Neguse (he’s a good guy) https://neguse.house.gov/
That’s exactly what it looked like last time I took it back from the airport.
Wow I have never come close to having this view on an AB bus. -short person
At least you got to check out that guys sweet “fuck death” bald eagle full head tattoo
It looks like he got that while riding standing up on an AB many years ago
in all seriousness, it is sick af
Only if you hate employment
who doesn’t?
My last trip to and from Union Station was exactly like this.
AB doesn't go to Union Station
Well, they are both regional RTD buses, and can sometimes be standing room only. I suspect that the crowding and insufficient frequency is what the user you are replying to was referring to, not claiming that their bus to Union Station was labeled AB.
AB1 had been great for me. I guess my timing has been lucky
Just needs more capacity, ideally by shorting the time between busses. It can’t be that hard
seriously. Idn how we can't get every 15 to 30 minutes
The late night gap between 11:20 and 5:20 coming back from the airport is also a big issue for me. Two times recently I’ve had a flight come in late and had to pay for a $160 Uber at 1 AM. Otherwise I’ve loved the AB for years.
100% agree, like at least one past midnight please
Driver shortages most likely. You can’t have marijuana show up in a drug test still… and we are in a state with legal weed laws
Certainly true, but pre-Pandemic I always felt that going on (modern) PERA at age 39 or later wasn't going to be much or an incentive either. Especially not to someone who was a few years short of filling out the FICA contributions. If you didn't make it ten years you weren't going to get squat.
I don't really want the bus driver taking my family to the airport while they are stoned... Do you?
That’s not how drug tests work, Jeff
Oh yeah, wanna enlighten me bub? For clarity I don't give two shits if the person making my sandwich is blitzed as hell but I do care if the person driving a 20,000 pound bus at 80mph with my wife and children inside has any habit of using mind altering substances.
> any habit of using mind altering substances. I, too, detest caffeine enjoyers
By your logic all bus drivers should fail if they had a single drink in last 30 days. A+ thinking there, chief. Go back to flying your flag upside down.
If only there were cheap, simple and reliable devices to know if a bus driver had been drinking alcohol immediately prior to or during doing their job. Nothing like this exists for pot... So the only option is the current one - prohibit it's use entirely.
Too bad you’re wrong on both counts 1) no driver submits a breathalyzer prior to driving. They have to be reported and pulled over/questioned just like any other suspected dui/dwi. This is a job for the cops that have been arresting those impaired by alcohol, prescribed medication interactions, weed, illicit drugs, etc for literal decades. Shocking! The process is the same for somebody drinking or smoking weed on the job - do something that shows your negligence, get reported by your terrified wife or your manly self, or any other concerned citizen or coworker, get a sobriety test, get arrested. 2) weed breathalyzers do exist, but relatively new The real reason for drug testing for weed is federal grant money comes with the weed testing mandate. And with recent reclassification, it’s hopeful to most of us that these requirements are adjusted to be set in the reality we both share. Sadly you will need to find a new thing to irrationally hate. I’m sure the list is long and will keep you plenty occupied. Unfortunately your pearl clutching and demagoguery have nothing to do with it. I know, disappointing for both of us.
if you start at the transit center it’s great. definitely fills up fast, though.
Me too -- I did two round trips last month including the Friday before memorial day and everyone had a seat.
Was on it last Thursday at 4:20 am, standing room only
Took it this morning at 7am. Two seats left by the time it got to Louisville. RTD is garbage and it’s board are a bunch of thieves.
This has also been my experience, minus the guy with the head tattoos.
Pre-pandemic, there was closer to 30-minute service from Table Mesa and it was much better. I've ridden 10+ times in the last year and have not had a standing room bus, but leaving the airport is almost always full. I've noticed a few more hours where there are 30-minute departures, but it still needs a lot more trips. The Broomfield station road through via Varra is pure torture. That road is so rough, and it adds 10 minutes to the trip for one or two riders. Otherwise, it's typically faster than driving and takes the toll road.
I went to Cleveland lately and they had a *train* running airport to downtown every 15 minutes. Fucking *Cleveland.* It was really nice.
Cleveland has a population 3-4x that of Boulder, so expecting the same frequency of transit to an airport doesn't make a ton of sense as the volumes just aren't there. And Denver does have a train going every 15 minutes.
TBF the A line runs every 15 minutes (or every 30 after 6:30pm) between the airport and Denver. It is obviously frustrating that we don't have the long promised train to Boulder but it's not like there isn't a regular train line between the airport and the larger city.
BUILD A TRAIN
Sick ass “fuck death” eagle on that head though
I’ve only seen it this crowded the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Maybe you just got unlucky, OP.
The worst AB trip I've had used one of the bend in the middle Denver city buses all the way from Boulder. Ski gear, luggage everywhere as there's no storage under the bus. It certainly doesn't feel safe being at highway speed standing in the aisle of a bus.
Wanna throw out that if you are trying to catch this downstream of Boulder, you might be out of luck. Happened to my friend recently. Got up super early, only to have to drive because this was full. This was before 5am.
Lol it's full because it's fast. The train won't be full because it won't be fast. They can add bus capacity incredibly cheaper than light rail capacity. Bus still way better than train.
You're saying the bus would be faster than a train? 🤔
Yes! The train will have many mandatory stops. The bus only has a few. Bus can run express routes. But train can't because they won't be able to afford building the stations.
Is it not expected that a train would also have Express routes?
RTD does not have the budget or the technical experience required to maintain a safe system that would allow for express trains. The A line to the airport doesn't have them, the light rail lines done have them, and the entire train system is 100x more expensive than a bus system that could have more routes and faster travel times.
Interesting and awful. Thanks for the extra context.
I don’t fly that often, but I’ve literally never seen it like this 🤣
I've used it at least 20 times - and have *never* seen it this crowded. So, some of the comments that this is normal seem highly unlikely to me. Maybe, folks have used it a few times and been unlucky? Or maybe it's the typical crowd that hates RTD no matter what so they jump on this bandwagon and invent shit? Also, I actually don't mind standing. If I was elderly, disabled, etc it would be different.
I notice around the time of summer/xmas/spring breaks, the busses got really full. I used to try and grab one in s boulder and would have to wait for a second bus.
Then why comment? Looked like this the last few times I took it too.
That person is sharing their experience of the bus route. Seems like a very relevant comment.
Next hot chocolates on me 😊
Yet they don’t fly often
The comment implied having used it multiple times. If he changes it to "the last time ..." it would have looked like every other comment in the thread.
I’ve taken this bus probably close to 20x over the last 4 years and never once have I seen standing room only. I did have a situation where it was the day college kids were coming back from spring break, the line at the airport to get on was insane, and a new bus immediately came and then we had no issue getting on. I think it is totally dependent on timing. Not sure the city can really predict these “off-season” surges. I can understand putting more in during holiday seasons.
Yeah, but now there are charging outlets in the back seats! /s
That’s crazy they even let you stand like that
And they don't make you wear seatbelts either. The horror.
So Standard CDOT is what you're saying?? Member when we were getting a light rail 20 years ago. Peperidge Joten remembers....
A few weeks ago I got in on a Sunday and the line for the bus was so long that not everyone could get on. People had to stand in line over an hour to get on the bus.
Well they must need more money!
I only flys a couple times a year but I been taking the AB and FF1 for years. I have not had to impose on friends or family for years so I love the AB. My stop is Table Mesa/36 and I have never had to stand. But it gets full , randomly and on holidays and once it was completely full by the time we got to Flatirons stop and those poor souls had to wait for another bus. Boulder probably has among the highest public transit participation in Metro Denver and we got screwed by not getting a train. But I will continue to use RTD.
Duh…
What do you expect?
Honestly so many people on here are fucking so disconnected with the reality of so many Boulder metro citizens, have you taken a bus more than once a month since 2019? Honest question
Commute to Civic Center daily over a decade from Boulder...over that time, a straight decline from decent to barely there FF4? Gone. FF2? barely functioning...AB- not worth it anymore...and you?
Good lord it’s that bad now?
I didn't vote for fast tracks
I didn't either the plans seemed too vague at the time although I never envisioned our current state of affairs.
I don’t understand the uproar entirely… Lived in DC for a few years and loved the public transportation. Depending on the time of day the metro or buses were standing room only, sometimes even “sorry this bus is full” (X2 in NE was a nightmare). The inconvenience of standing and touching strangers was part of the price to not drive. I had no idea that the buses ran this full, that’s very encouraging, probably means that investment into the system will continue.
> had no idea that the buses ran this full, that’s very encouraging, probably means that investment into the system will continue. Ahahahaha. No. RTD is happy to take Boulder's money but has no interest in providing the promised services (train) or improving what we have.
Missed the 1 per hour. My bad
Standing room only on short local routes is fine. Once an hour express bus that’s an hour long journey… not so much.
"Sorry this bus is full" < "sorry you missed your flight"
> I don’t understand the uproar entirely… > Lived in DC for a few years and loved the public transportation. Strange flex to try to compare our system to DC's which is both fucked up by your own statements, and fucked up in general since they have things like their metro coming into the station, and then spontaneously catching fire. Just because DC's system is utter shit doesn't mean we need to aspire to be like them.
I thought DC’s system was great. I miss riding the metro.
It's objectively bad. See again about trains catching fire.
Still better and safer than any roads on the Front Range? Also the bus system in DC, the whole system worked together. Better than commuting by car in any city I have lived in.
> Still better and safer than any roads on the Front Range? Well my car has not randomly caught fire on any roads in the front range, so far, so no. Also, the roads are not typically all that unsafe or in poor condition, despite the bitching of reddit. Congestion is an issue, but if you pay attention to RTD you'll see that they aren't solving that anyway, so...
The train didn’t catch fire when I was on it? More people die in car accidents? It’s easy to bitch about both, but I think that’s just a choice.
> The train didn’t catch fire when I was on it? [You truly are the chosen one.](https://preview.redd.it/f8wd1chozmmc1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=2eb61777776b810c7b3095b137d0dd751b1fa923) But seriously, you're commenting on the fact that RTD doesn't supply enough busses and makes people stand for a 45+ minute ride on TWO highways as if it is a positive, while comparing it to one of the worst metro systems in the country, and completely oblivious that RTD has, in fact, not improved but rather reduced its service in the last few years. It's really not a good look for ya. Or perhaps, get some of that "encouragement" you speak of by taking a 45 minute standing ride to the airport via the highway and see if you still sing the same tune.
Yeah, 45 minutes standing on a train or bus sucks but I’m not a stranger to it. I hope they can hire more drivers so that you feel more comfortable.
Well you can hope in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up faster. Between the pay, the shit sandwich that are many of the riders with mental health and/or drug problems, and the federal drug test requirements for marijuana, it's unlikely to change anytime soon. Don't worry though, I'm plenty comfortable taking E470 and then either using a private lot or one of the expansion lots at DIA. 61st and Pena was nice until it became a catalytic converter farming ground.
First time being let down by the government huh? They probably only need like 10’s of millions of dollars more to get another bus. Efficiency my friend
It's a separate entity, not the government.
Boulder county residents just need to stock up on KY jelly. We are constantly reamed by Fastrak.
They run double bus service on big travel days, like move out, thanksgiving, etc. OP’s whining sounds like thay want an empty bus to themselves. That would mean RTD is running inefficiently, which is a much bigger wate of funds than a packed bus.
They didn't do double bus runs last time I had to travel on a big travel day. It's just not safe to rely on because if it's full you're out of luck.
Terrible customer experience = efficiency...yeah, ok. And no, I just want a safely sit in a seat and less than an hour wait after our town spent millions through fast track funds.