Trip Planner is a web-based service that is designed to help RTD customers design the most efficient transit trip to their desired destination.  Unfortunately, the old Trip Planner program had many weaknesses, directing customers along exceptionally long and convoluted routes.  The problems appeared to be most acute when reaching the planned destination entailed a transfer between two transit routes.  

Aside from my personal experience with the shortcomings of the old Trip Planner function, I also heard numerous complaints regarding the system from District O constituents.  After hearing these complaints from me and other dissatisfied customers, and recognizing that the old Trip Planner program was beyond repair, RTD staff took a different tack.  Working with Google, they developed a completely new program for the Trip Planner system.  At first blush, this new Trip Planner program appears to provide much more accurate and efficient route information.

You can find the Trip Planner service on the RTD web site, www.rtd-denver.com.  If you get a chance, please give the new system a test-drive and let me know how it performs for you.  Staff is still working-out a few kinks and would appreciate receiving customer feedback, good and bad, during this initiation phase.