The FlatIron Shopping District in Broomfield, Colo., is spread out across three main developments: FlatIron Crossing, FlatIron Marketplace and Main Street at FlatIron. That could have created a nightmarish transit and parking situation. But, working with the district's three developers, Broomfield has installed a unique free public transit system that connects the properties and responds to residents' desires for a low-impact shopping facility.

The ZIP Shopping Shuttle is a passenger-friendly, low-to-the-ground, European-born tram that calls to mind theme parks more than it does traditional transit. The bi-directional circulator system operates seven days a week and runs on its own 2.6-mile landscaped pathway. It connects the three developments and a new US 36/FlatIron Circle transfer facility operated by the area's Regional Transportation District (RTD).

Called City Roamers, the ZIP vehicles are the first of their kind to be used in the United States. (They were introduced in London at the 2000 Millennium Dome.) Designed by United Kingdom-based Severn-Lamb and built by Dotto Trains of Italy, they operate on clean-burning propane.

The system was an outgrowth of an agreement between the city and the three developers — Phoenix-based Westcor, Denver-based Koll Development and Lakewood, Colo.-based Coalton Acres. Broomfield residents and Mayor Bill Berens convinced the developers that installing the transit infrastructure would provide long-term benefits for their shopping centers.

“When FlatIron was just a concept in some planning documents, we decided we would seek only retail partners who shared our ideas about quality development from the look and feel of the shopping environments down to the need for an inner ring of transit,” Berens says. “Together, we've created a dedicated transportation look that is fun to ride and, most important, solves some of the congestion that plagues so many suburban shopping areas.”

Developers funded the ZIP infrastructure and joined the city to create a special district — the FlatIron Improvement District — which operates the system using a small portion of the local sales tax. Eventually, the city will return to developers the money they invested in infrastructure development via sales tax dollars generated at the shopping centers.

The shuttle also provides an easy way for employees to reach the shopping district. Grant support from the Denver Regional Council of Governments and RTD allows the district to offer free RTD EcoPasses to employees of participating retailers.

“The ZIP is an incredibly positive example of how private industry, a city government and a transit agency can work together to create a highly responsive transit subsystem to meet the specific needs of a major employment and business center,” says Cal Marsella, RTD's general manager and chief executive officer.