MallRide Detour Extends to Civic Center Station
The below map outlines where the MallRide will operate beginning Sunday, February 26. In April 2022, RTD began detouring its Free MallRide service around construction associated with Denver's large-scale reconstruction of the 16th Street Mall. Construction is taking place in phases, during which time Free MallRide vehicles are operating on 15th and 17th streets to ensure RTD can continue to provide Free MallRide service to the area. Sign up for RTD Service Alerts for the latest updates, and click here to learn more about Denver's 16th Street Mall Project.
New Look, Same Free Service
16th Street Free MallRide Buses
The 16th Street Free MallRide vehicles operate with new electric buses. The 2018 vehicles are powered by battery and are fully electric, and have three doors, 18 seats, two wheelchair spaces, and can hold a maximum of 88 passengers and are air-conditioned!
The 36 new buses replaced the older fleet that is approximately 17 years old and have more than 200,000 miles each. The 16th Street Mall is approximately 1 mile long – that’s a lot of trips up and down the mall!
Schedule
Traveling from one end of Denver's bustling 16th Street Mall to the other, the Free MallRide runs seven days a week between Civic Center Station and Union Station.
History of the Mall and Transit in Downtown Denver
- 1982
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16th Street Mall opens as a pedestrian and transit mall with FREE bus service between Market Street Station and Civic Center Station. Construction of the mall was funded by a $75 million grant from the Federal Interstate Highway Transfer Funds and Federal Urban Mass Transit Administration, with RTD providing a local match.
The new transit and pedestrian mall provided transit hubs for RTD buses at either end of downtown, removing more than 600 bus trips per day that traversed up and down 16th and 17th streets, contributing to both air and traffic congestion.
- 1982-1999
- First generation diesel fuel Free MallRide buses used to transport millions of passengers per year.
- 1994
- Light rail service begins operating between 30th & Downing to I-25 & Broadway on October 7. A total of 11 light rail vehicles operate along the 5.3 miles carrying 16,000 passengers per weekday. This section is what is now called the D Line.
- 1999-2016
- Second generation ultra-low emission hybrid-electric Free MallRide buses used to transport more than 13 million passengers a year (2014-2015 ridership statistics).
- 2000
- Light rail service extends 8.7 miles southwest to Mineral Avenue.
- 2001
- RTD purchased Union Station and begins developing the master plan for redeveloping 19.85 acres in LoDo.
- 2002
- Light rail begins operating on a 1.8 mile light rail extension to Union Station through the Central Platte Valley (C Line).
- 2006
- Light rail service extends 19 miles south to Lincoln (E, F, and H Lines) and Nine Mile.
- 2010
- Construction on Union Station begins.
- 2011
- Light rail (C and E Lines) relocated to west end of Union Station.G Line opens to the public!
- 2013
- W Line to Golden opens.
- 2014
- Union Station Bus Concourse opens and Market Street Station closes after 30 years of service. The historic Union Station building is reopened.
- 2016
- Commuter rail service begins operating out of Union Station with the A Line to DIA, B Line to Westminster and G Line to Wheat Ridge.
- New all-electric Free MallRide shuttle buses go into service.