Boulder, Colorado

Boulder ({{coor dm|40|1|N|105|16|W|type:city(100000)_region:US}}, MST) is a city located in Boulder County, Colorado, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 94,673. It is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, the largest university in Colorado. It has an elevation of 5,430 feet and is 50 km (35 miles) northwest of Denver. Boulder is the largest city in the county and the eighth largest in the state. It is the county seat of Boulder County{{GR|6}}.

Transportation

Boulder is easily visited from Denver via the Route B Express, which runs from Market Street Station to Downtown Boulder (right near the Pearl Street Mall, which is the first stop for any tourist). Hiking trails start just at the edge of town a few blocks away.

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Boulder is a city where the bicycle is used as a serious form of transportation, and the city has high rates of bicycle commuting and walking. The League of American Bicyclists has awarded its highest level of bicycle-friendliness, Gold level, to the city. The city is part of the Denver Regional Transit District, yet tends to go its own way with transportation policy. The city?s transportation office, Go Boulder, operates an extensive busing program, including the high-frequency small buses called the ?Hop.?

Related Topics:
Bicycle - League of American Bicyclists - Bicycle-friendliness

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Go Boulder and the RTD run several other similarly branded bus routes, including the ?Skip,? ?Bound,? ?Dash,? and ?Leap.? These have become increasingly popular and visible parts of Boulder?s public transportation; many residents and businesses pay for transit not by the ride, but by the year, under a program called ?ECO-Pass.? Under the same program, entire neighborhoods have banded together to buy a bus pass for everyone living in the area. Additionally, all students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are issued bus passes as part of their school ID, paid for by student fees. Most vehicles have a NextBus satellite tracking system.

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However, like most of the other major metropolitan areas in Colorado, the car is by far the most visible form of personal transportation. But with recent increases in traffic load and little room for further roadway expansion within the city, alternative forms of transportation have become increasingly popular even among the middle and upper classes of Boulder.

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