GDT > RTD Rider’s Guide > Routes > Route 1 – West 1st Avenue
Route 1, ‘West 1st Avenue’, runs from Lakewood Commons to Civic Center via 1st Ave and Downtown. Despite passing through the intersection at 14th & Federal, the route does not go into Federal – Decatur Station proper.
Under the System Optimization Plan, Route 1 was diverted in January 2025 to terminate at Civic Center Station rather than continuing south to Alameda Station via Kalamath / Santa Fe. The portion to Alameda Station was taken over by the new ART District Connector.
Map & Schedule
Route 1 operates 7 days a week. Frequency is generally 60 minutes throughout the day and in the evenings.
Vehicles Used
The route is operated by TransDev on behalf of RTD using Gillig 40ft Low Floor transit buses from Platt Garage, Denver.
Ridership
| Year | Total |
| 2018 | 537,000 |
| 2019 | 563,000 |
| 2020 | 258,000 |
| 2021 | 145,000 |
| 2022 | 174,000 |
| 2023 | 199,000 |
| 2024 | 209,000 |
Note: Figures up to 2024 include former Route 1E/44 riders.
Current Issues
This route suffers from poor scheduling at ? Station, here buses are timed to depart 3 minutes before W Line trains arrive.
Future Plans
The System Optimization Plan proposes to increase weekday frequency to 15 minutes, evening frequency to 30 minutes and weekend frequency to 30 minutes.
The System Optimization Plan details no proposals to change this route.
The System Optimization Plan details proposals to create an ART District Connector (Route 1E/44) out of the eastern segment which have now been implemented. In addition, there remains a proposal to increase weekday frequency to 30 minutes.
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