System Evaluation
The existing transit network and 2050 system vision network were evaluated based on a set of various metrics associated with three of the goals: Choice, Accessibility, and Equity. The methodology employed for the evaluation of different metrics associated with each of the goals is discussed next.
The evaluation of the ‘Choice’ goal is based on two metrics: population and the number of jobs within ¼ mile buffer of routes with 15-minute weekday frequencies (or better) in the existing and proposed network. For assessing the number of people and jobs, a circular buffer with a ¼ mile radius was drawn around the routes in GIS. The population and jobs data at the TAZ level (obtained from PPACG) for the year 2020 and 2040 was then reduced to the circular buffers of the routes using the ‘summarize within’ analytical tool of GIS. It is useful to note that the ’summarize within’ tool of GIS was used for assessing other metrics as well that are discussed next.
The evaluation of the ‘Accessibility’ goal is based on five metrics. The metric ‘population within ¼ mile buffer of the transit system’ is assessed by capturing the 2020 and 2040 population at TAZ level within the ¼ mile circular buffer of the existing and proposed network respectively. Similarly, the metric ‘jobs within ¼ mile buffer of the transit system’ is evaluated by summarizing the numbers of jobs at the TAZ level. The metric ‘percentage of UZA population within ¼ mile of the transit system’ is assessed by summarizing 2020 and 2040 TAZ population within the existing and future UZA boundaries respectively. The future UZA boundary includes all the TAZs where the housing density is predicted to be greater than or equal to 200 units per square mile per the 2040 TAZ data obtained from PPACG. The metric ‘percentage of existing public health facilities within ¼ mile buffer of the transit system’ is assessed using ‘select by location’ tool within GIS. All the existing public health facilities in the region (with employee count greater than or equal to 20) are determined using ESRI’s Business Analyst dataset and then ‘select by location’ tool is used to count all the entities fulfilling the selection criterion. A similar approach is adopted for assessing the number of education facilities within the ¼ mile buffer of the transit system.
The evaluation of ‘Equity’ goal is based on two metrics. The metric ‘population within equity focus areas within ¼ mile buffer of the transit system’ is assessed by summarizing the equity population (2040 population living in an equity area) within the ¼ mile buffer of the existing and proposed transit system. The equity areas identified from CEJST using the eight indicators are depicted in Figure 54 for the region. The metric ‘low-income jobs within ¼ mile buffer of the transit system’ is evaluated by summarizing the low-income jobs (per the LEHD 2021 count of jobs with wages less than $3,333/month) within the quarter mile buffer of the existing and proposed transit system.
Project Prioritization
The six metrics that were used for project prioritization include: existing population density, existing employment density, population growth, employment growth, population growth within equity zone and implementation readiness. Prioritization scores for each metric are reflected on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 referring to “high” performance and 1 referring to “low” performance. The overall score is calculated by summing up the scores of all the individual metrics. Based on the overall scores, each project was allotted with a category rank indicative of the priority of the project’s implementation. The prioritization metrics included a qualitative metric describing the project’s readiness for implementation that represents the project team’s best judgement of how ready a project was for implementation based on the surrounding land use, existence of the street network, cost-effectiveness, and whether or not previous planning had identified the project in the short- or medium-term.
Project Prioritization metrics
| Investment Theme | Project | Area/ Buffer Area (Sq. Miles) | 2020 Population | Existing Population Density | 2020 Jobs | Existing Job Density | 2040 Population | Population Growth Percentage | 2040 Jobs | Job Growth Percentage | 2020 Equity Population | Equity Population % | People Score | Job Score | Pop Growth Score | Job Growth Score | Equity Score | Readiness | Overall Score | Overall Rank | Category Rank | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | Academy Blvd ETC | 8.6 | 31,191 | 3,640 | 36,951 | 4,312 | 33,738 | 8% | 39,757 | 8% | 12,912 | 41% | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2030 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | North Nevada ETC | 5.1 | 12,962 | 2,546 | 44,155 | 8,675 | 15,062 | 16% | 48,886 | 11% | 3,709 | 29% | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 2040 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | South Nevada ETC | 4.2 | 15,020 | 3,603 | 34,964 | 8,387 | 19,026 | 27% | 38,530 | 10% | 5,632 | 37% | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2040 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | Platte Ave ETC | 2.0 | 6,980 | 3,490 | 27,752 | 13,876 | 7,294 | 5% | 30,355 | 9% | 4,429 | 63% | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2030 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | Colorado Ave ETC | 3.1 | 7,613 | 2,492 | 27,416 | 8,972 | 9,000 | 18% | 30,224 | 10% | 2,900 | 38% | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2040 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | Airport ETC | 6.1 | 22,154 | 3,651 | 29,180 | 4,809 | 28,104 | 27% | 35,155 | 20% | 13,707 | 62% | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2050 |
| Enhanced Bus/Core Transit Corridors | Tutt Blvd ETC | 5.0 | 16,031 | 3,206 | 16,338 | 3,268 | 19,696 | 23% | 17,652 | 8% | 5,353 | 33% | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 2050 |
| Enhanced Crosstown Routes | Union Blvd | 7.9 | 30,446 | 3,839 | 26,601 | 3,355 | 33,033 | 8% | 28,605 | 8% | 12,714 | 42% | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 2040 |
| Enhanced Crosstown Routes | Garden of the Gods/Austin Bluffs | 5.8 | 14,692 | 2,533 | 22,457 | 3,872 | 16,790 | 14% | 24,429 | 9% | 1,817 | 12% | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 2050 |
| Enhanced Crosstown Routes | Lake | 6.0 | 16,253 | 2,709 | 36,453 | 6,076 | 18,353 | 13% | 40,123 | 10% | 7,898 | 49% | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 2030 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Tutt North/Briargate | 7.2 | 21,524 | 2,990 | 30,617 | 4,253 | 27,529 | 28% | 32,321 | 6% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 6 | 2040 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Woodmen | 6.7 | 14,407 | 2,146 | 12,267 | 1,828 | 23,385 | 62% | 13,110 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 2040 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Citadel to Astrozon | 4.5 | 12,799 | 2,819 | 11,483 | 2,529 | 14,672 | 15% | 12,788 | 11% | 8,453 | 66% | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2030 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Banning Lewis Ranch (North) | 5.3 | 9,238 | 1,727 | 5,391 | 1,008 | 18,227 | 97% | 5,741 | 6% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 6 | 2040 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Banning Lewis Ranch (South) | 10.4 | 14,683 | 1,417 | 4,926 | 475 | 21,559 | 47% | 11,093 | 125% | 1,955 | 13% | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 2050 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Manitou/Garden of the Gods Shuttle | 2.4 | 4,624 | 1,945 | 2,390 | 1,005 | 4,715 | 2% | 2,538 | 6% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 6 | 2030 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | Voyager to Monument | 7.1 | 11,374 | 1,599 | 19,175 | 2,695 | 17,524 | 54% | 21,968 | 15% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 6 | 2040 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | I-25/Voyager Express Service | 12.0 | 21,324 | 1,773 | 52,892 | 4,399 | 29,739 | 39% | 58,918 | 11% | 3,772 | 18% | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 2030 |
| New Fixed-Route Bus Service | US 24/Falcon Express Service | 8.7 | 14,398 | 1,663 | 33,288 | 3,846 | 18,287 | 27% | 36,795 | 11% | 4,332 | 30% | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 2040 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | Northeast | 35.2 | 69,832 | 1,986 | 20,016 | 569 | 120,900 | 73% | 22,145 | 11% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 5 | 2030 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | Central | 13.4 | 66,934 | 5,010 | 13,444 | 1,006 | 68,046 | 2% | 15,358 | 14% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 2040 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | Northwest | 8.5 | 17,384 | 2,050 | 10,316 | 1,216 | 18,060 | 4% | 11,338 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 6 | 2050 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | Southeast | 32.8 | 27,625 | 841 | 9,553 | 291 | 45,929 | 66% | 19,913 | 108% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 2040 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | South | 8.8 | 29,186 | 3,324 | 3,544 | 404 | 31,340 | 7% | 10,635 | 200% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 2030 |
| Innovative Mobility Zones | Northgate_gleanagle | 9.6 | 21,949 | 2,289 | 12,783 | 1,333 | 28,098 | 28% | 14,417 | 13% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 2040 |