RTD board candidates focus on better service and more drivers

The board of the Regional Transportation District, which regulates public transit around the Denver metro area, could gain two front-line bus drivers who have road knowledge and a 25-year-old who promises to take up driving for a new one after the November election to make the generation safer.

Another candidate asking voters for a seat on the 15-member RTD board doesn’t own a car and says he’s tired of waiting longer than expected for buses and trains. A transit policy veteran is determined to activate rail service from Denver to Longmont and Boulder.

They’re part of a diverse slate for the Nov. 5 election that will bring seven new decision-makers to RTD’s mix — overhauling the management of Colorado’s premier public transportation agency at a time when state lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis are looking for a better one Demand local transport as a necessity for urban housing renovation.

The 13 candidates vying for the seven seats (four contests) are seeking “reform” of the RTD, which has a taxpayer-funded budget of $1.1 billion to help people get around in a 2,342-square-mile area to help the large area of ​​Delaware, one of the largest transit service areas in the country.

The future depends on attracting “rider wannabes” and “would-be riders,” said former bus driver Bob Dinegar, who is running in a three-way race for the southeast-central Denver seat.

“You have to be able to show up at a stop, not need a schedule and know that you will be taken to your destination in 10 to 15 minutes tops,” he said. “If we have the staff, we can do it.”

Passenger numbers are falling

Declining ridership (from 106 million in 2019 to 63 million) and complaints that RTD buses and trains are neither reliable nor safe have led to increased scrutiny from state lawmakers. Gov. Polis interviewed RTD board candidates and asked how they would handle issues such as completing a long-planned northwest rail link between downtown Denver’s Union Station and Longmont – a project that candidate Karen Benker, A former state budget employee, was a member of the RTD board two decades ago and strongly supports it.

Colorado lawmakers, who this year tried to legally restructure the RTD board to add political appointees, are calling for better public transit as key to meeting the state’s climate goals and allowing residential development focused on bus and rail hubs.

“The RTD has a culture of saying ‘no’ by default,” said Rep. Meg Froelich, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee. “Can we have some people on the RTD board to figure out how to get to ‘yes’?”

Denver leaders are also prioritizing mobility when approving high-density housing. “How do the policies we enact bring people closer to meeting their basic needs? That should shape our policy,” said Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, who served as RTD director from 2018 to 2022.

Delays, interference, reduced frequency

Bus and train frequency is a key concern for candidates, who say higher frequency would lead to more ridership, which in turn would help curb violence and illegal drug use on public transit.

“If passenger numbers decline, it affects everyone. You see a bus passing by, no one is sitting in it. This is a waste of taxpayer money,” said Kathleen Chandler, who is running for Aurora, where a trip downtown on public transit can take an hour and 40 minutes. Too many non-riders see RTD as “crazy,” said Chandler, who leads a citizen engagement project for the Independence Institute think tank. “We are not getting the service we paid for. Reliability and safety need to be improved.”

Ahead of this year’s election, seven candidates signed a joint platform calling for a “fix” of RTD and promising a new commitment to customer service and quality.