Denver: 16th Street Mall

Denver opened its 16th Street Transit Mall in 1982. Unlike other North American transit-only downtown malls of the same era, a common typology in the 1970s and 80s, Denver’s 16th Street has been reserved since its inception for the exclusive use of a dedicated free shuttle service called “MallRide,” which operates a special bus fleet. One of MallRide’s stated goals was to reduce bus traffic through the downtown’s most important shopping corridor, while maintaining transit accessibility. Urban and suburban transit lines were instead diverted to the parallel streets or to the Union Station’s and Civic Center’s transportation hubs located at each end of the Transit Mall.