2020 ANNUAL REPORT
Transportation
Building Sustainability by Advancing Environmentally Friendly Options
Northeast Transportation Connections
In 2020 Northeast Transportation Connections (NETC) continued its well-respected outreach to the diverse neighborhoods of northeast Denver.
The bulk of this work was funded through our contract with the Colorado Department of Transportation to act as community liaison for the Central 70 construction project.
This partnership began in late-2017 after NETC won a $2.5 million contract to conduct the transportation demand management (TDM) portion of the five-year expansion of I-70 that runs through the Central Park, Park Hill, Globeville and other neighborhoods (I-25 east to Chambers Road). TDM involves activities that help people use the transportation system more efficiently, while reducing traffic congestion, vehicle emissions and fuel consumption.
During the unsettling year we continued to develop programs to address unique challenges in the region. We have met with community members and leaders to determine the best fit for programs in each neighborhood.
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NETC PROGRAMS
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We acquired funding from Kiewit, lead construction company on the I-70 project, and partnered with GrowHaus, GES Coalition, and Birdseed Collective to put meat in two of their food box deliveries in December 2020. Approximately 1,500 houses received meat in their food boxes due to these efforts. Since this catalyst, GrowHaus has secured a supplier and is periodically able to offer meat in the boxes they give out weekly.
DELIVERIES TO ELDERLY RESIDENTS
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In 2020 our subcontractor, Walk2Connect, served approximately 180 folks from the community, mostly families. To assist with COVID mitigation, Walk2Connect did a one-week delivery for elderly shut-ins after a community church group asked if they could help with household items. They made 37 deliveries. Items in the boxes included perishable food staples, hygiene items, and reusable cloth face masks.
COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERS
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We sent out two community newsletters highlighting NETC’s programs and resources, the work of community partners, as well as COVID restriction information and resources available. These newsletters reached 5,400 homes.
WALKING SCHOOL BUS
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Our Walking School Bus helped reduce the number of cars going to Swansea Elementary School during peak traffic times and allows for safe, healthy alternatives to get children to school. It employs one coordinator from the community and four women from the school. We gave each child who walked regularly a 4-pack of free tickets to the Museum of Nature and Science. In the 2019-2020 School Year we had 40 kids registered.
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We were able to pay our walking school bus leaders through the end of the school year in 2020, even though the pandemic shut down the schools.
MORE NETC PROGRAMS
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We gave $100 gift cards to families during the holidays to help with expenses. Families were identified through Swansea Elementary and Garden Place Academy. Fifty families received gift cards through this effort.
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We provided rental vans to local organizations like GES Coalition and The GrowHaus so that they could transport kids on field trips and to summer camp. Most recently we have been supporting Globeville First RNO and GES Coalition get food boxes to housebound community members twice a month.
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We maintain monthly office hours at various locations in the community to take questions, provide information and sign people up for programs. We also offer a Spanish-language phone line for Spanish speakers. We held 250 office hours
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We operated free shuttles to help employees get to work. In 2020 a total of 2,897 trips were taken on the business shuttles, even though we had to shut down service from March through May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To date 3,000+ trips have been taken on the business shuttles.
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In 2020 our business outreach reduced single-occupant vehicle miles traveled in the region by 328,197.
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We helped employees form carpools.
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We partnered with Walk2Connect to organize community walks for seniors and families.
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We consulted with real estate developers to ensure that their new buildings are pedestrian- and bike-friendly.
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We continued to advocate for a better transportation network in the region by supporting city-wide plans such as Blueprint Denver and the East Area Plan.
BIKE LIBRARIES
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We have two Bike Libraries up and running in Swansea — one at Prodigy Coffeehouse and one at Focus Points. The libraries give community members access to a bike any time they need one for a small annual donation of $20.
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During the 2020 Bike Library season we hired local community member Mick Hogan to operate and manage our Prodigy Bike Library. He fixed more than 40 community members’ bikes over the summer.
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We partnered with Denver Bike Sharing to give out 350 former B-Cycles to community organizations.
We partnered with Bicycle Colorado and the Colorado Energy Office on the Can Do eBike Mini-Pilot. Through this program we were able to get 13 individuals their own eBike in exchange for reporting on their usage of the new eBikes.
RESUABLE CLOTH MASKS DISTRIBUTED
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We distributed reusable cloth masks and hand sanitizer during our community office hours. We purchased these masks from the Sewing Coalition started by Denver City Councilwoman Debbie Ortega to employ women in the GES community to sew masks during the pandemic.
NETC Videos
NETC is proud to be a part of the Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities. We look forward to serving our neighbors in 2021.