Route reward

COMMERCE CITY — Local commuters are the beneficiaries of one of the few new bus routes offered by the Regional Transportation District this year.
    Route 104X is an express bus that leaves from northern Commerce City during morning rush hour for Market Street Station in downtown Denver.
    Commerce City spokeswoman Michelle Halstead said the addition of the route is due in part to a grant from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, as well as about three years of work between Commerce City and RTD to expand transit options for residents.

Photo by John Carr

Jenny Axmacher with the Commerce City Planning Department greets Chris Kramer, of Commerce City, as he boards the RTD 104X bus at the Revere Park and Ride on East 104th Ave. early Monday morning. City staff were on hand to welcomed riders on the inaugural running of the new route by distributing coffee and doughnuts. The bus departs each morning with a final destination of Market Street in downtown Denver.

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    According to Halstead, more than 2,690 Commerce City residents list Denver as their city of employment. The hope is for the route to ease the traffic crunch of many other thousands making their way into downtown Denver each morning.
    City staff greeted the first riders of the route Monday, Jan. 7, with coffee and donuts and information about the route.
    The city secured federal grant funding in the amount of $148,000 for the next three years for the 104X route, part of an effort to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicles on the road. The city will contribute $37,000.
    The route runs along East 104th Avenue to Market Street Station in downtown Denver, with three morning and afternoon rush hour drop off/pickup times.