Having a car on campus is a major advantage for most students. Those who don’t have a severely difficult time leaving campus.

RTD may provide some answers, since it includes the new light rail and Sky Ride systems.

Every undergraduate student is given a free pass for all RTD services. Graduate students can purchase the Echo Pass.

Although RTD requires a significant amount of travel time, for students without a car, it may be an effective way to explore the metro Denver area.

Students have the ability to ride RTD buses to the lower downtown area or even outside of Denver city limits. In addition, undergraduate students are given free access on both the Sky Ride system and light rail track.

Sky Ride is an RTD bus system that connects the city to Denver International Airport. The light rail begins at the Mineral Avenue station in Littleton and ends at Union Station on the 16th Street Mall.

Soon, the light rail will even connect to a park-n-Ride station just outside of campus at Buchtel Boulevard.

In addition to being free, the RTD system of buses and light rail can take students to the Pepsi Center for events, Elitch Gardens amusement park, lower downtown’s night life, and even to Boulder.

B-Line and B-Line Express buses are two routes that travel through Broomfield to the Table Mesa park-n-ride in Boulder, which is walking distance to the University of Colorado campus.

Undergraduate Bryan Corell travels to different parts of Colorado to visit friends and generally finds alternatives to campus activities.

“Having friends take you to Boulder or somewhere in Denver is really nice and quick,” he said, “but RTD is typically more reliable and guaranteed.”

Although RTD typically runs every 15 minutes during the week, it is recommended that students check time schedules of individual buses and plan a route.

Along with postings on RTD shelters, each route’s schedule is available online at www.rtd-denver.com.