In this Issue:

• Executive Director's Note
• NFRMPO wraps up Summer Outreach
• 2024 Safe Routes to School National Conference is coming to Fort Collins!
• Vanpooling: a Practice in Collaboration
• Partner Agency Updates
• City of Greeley Awarded $200,000 Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Grant
• Mobility News in Northern Colorado
• RideNoCo Coordination Project Launches
• Get Involved!

Read on for the latest transportation updates along the North Front Range.

Dear North Front Range Community Members and Partners,

Since stepping into the NFRMPO Executive Director role in July, I’ve experienced such a warm welcome. I’m deeply appreciative to the elected officials and staff of our member communities, and to regional partners and stakeholders who have extended opportunities to learn about your unique transportation needs and aspirations.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of visiting most of our member communities, and a few key takeaways stand out to me. 

First, there is a strong shared recognition of the importance of regional connectivity and travel choices. Across the board I’ve heard that residents don't just live, work, and play within the borders of one town or city; we are an interconnected region. 

Additionally, I’ve been impressed by how important mobility is to our member communities, especially for residents who want to remain where they live as they age. I’ve learned how the cities, towns, and counties in our region are embracing innovation and new technology so that everyone has access to essential services like healthcare, groceries, and social connections.

Finally, I’ve observed an inspiring and universal commitment to roadway safety for all road users. In addition to traffic safety improvements, many of our communities are working hard to create safe routes to school by building new sidewalks, trails, and safe street crossings.

As I enter my third month with the organization, I’m increasingly grateful to have joined the talented and knowledgeable staff at the MPO. The more I learn, the more excited I am to work with member communities on these projects to make our region safer, more connected, and sustainable.

Thank you again for the warm welcome. I look forward to continuing this important work with all of you!

Sincerely,

Paul Sizemore

Executive Director

NFRMPO Wraps Up Summer Outreach

Between April and September, NFRMPO and RideNoCo staff attended 15 events and co-hosted five Bike to Work Day Stations around the region. During the events, Staff interacted with 5,859 community members across 12 communities. Throughout these events, community members of all ages played Transportation Trivia, learning about transit, air quality, bike and ped trails, mobility options, and transportation safety. Trivia questions spark conversations allowing NFRMPO staff to learn about transportation needs and concerns in the region, and community members to learn something new about transportation in Northern Colorado. 

For more information about the NFRMPO’s public outreach, check out the 2022 Public Involvement Plan on the NFRMPO Public Involvement webpage. To see when and where the NFRMPO staff will be, including community events and public meetings, check out the NFRMPO Callender. 

The 2024 Safe Routes to School National Conference will be in Fort Collins at the Fort Collins Hilton from October 22-24! The Safe Routes to School National Conference will provide opportunities to connect with active transportation, public health, and Safe Routes to School champions across the country. Safe Routes to School programs aim to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to walk and bike to school. For more information on the conference, go to the conference website.

It’s been said that “alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” (Helen Keller). This idea was brought home recently in working to a form VanGo™’’s newest route from Denver to Colorado State University.

Originating from a larger lunchtime webinar hosted by CSU, a group of four, scattered amongst the Denver Metro area, joined the Operations and Fleet Manager of VanGo™  in a ‘quick’ Teams meeting to discuss the possibility of a new route. All working or studying at CSU the dynamic amongst the group clicked from the start and in less than hour we had a new route formed. One person mapped where everyone was coming from while another vetted potential meeting points. In a world that can seem to grow more divisive by the minute, these strangers came together, worked together, and VanGo™ was able to facilitate getting them all on a route that makes each person’s commute an easier and more affordable one. 

Since that start another commuter has joined, making this a nearly full route to CSU.

This is vanpooling. Are you ready to give it a try? Check www.vangovanpools.org to see if we have a route for you. 

The City of Greeley was awarded $200,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to develop an Action Plan through the first round of the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program. This plan, “Greeley on the Go: Vision Zero,” will be the roadmap for Greeley to identify and address traffic safety issues through a community-led and data-driven planning process. This plan introduces (1) Vision Zero, the belief that all traffic fatalities and serious injuries are preventable and unacceptable, and (2) the Safe System Approach, a comprehensive approach which recognizes that people will make mistakes and transportation systems must be designed to protect the road user from the consequences of those mistakes.

The plan, which is expected to be completed by December 2024, investigates Greeley’s crash history over the past ten years and identifies where the highest number of people are being killed and seriously injured and what factors (environmental, the presence/lack thereof of infrastructure, behavioral factors, etc.) contribute to this. During this process, several different types of crash mapping have identified hot spots on Greeley’s roadways and intersections. From this analysis, Greeley will construct strategies and countermeasures they can enact to start reducing these kinds of crashes and to make Greeley a safer place for all its residents to move, regardless of how they choose to get around town.

Culminating years of planning and development of the NFRMPO's expanded Mobility Program is the RideNoCo Coordination Project that launched in July 2024, completing the third and final phase of the RideNoCo implementation.

Utilizing the Transactional Data Specification (TDS), the RideNoCo Call Center is now directly connected with the scheduling systems of three regional volunteer transportation providers: 60+ Ride, Rural Alternative for Transportation (RAFT), and SAINT Volunteer Transportation. The TDS technology allows RideNoCo Mobility Specialists to conduct initial intake over the phone and seamlessly send prospective client information over to the referred agency, thus cutting down on the time and number of phone calls necessary to get new clients registered with and utilizing transportation providers in the region.

Additionally, the TDS technology allows participating providers to share client information and trips with one another as well as coordinate trips across multiple agencies, opening up new destinations and service efficiencies for riders and agencies alike.

For more details on the RideNoCo Coordination Project and other deployments of the emerging Transactional Data Specification nationwide, please read a recent report released by the Shared Use Mobility Center and AARP titled Connecting Community Transportation: The Transactional Data Specification.

See what's happening at the NFRMPO and join us virtually or in person at one of our upcoming events or meetings. For a comprehensive and up to date calendar of events, visit https://nfrmpo.org/calendar, and to download meeting materials, visit https://nfrmpo.org/meeting-materials.