Recent Changes to Colorado Transportation Law and the Impact on RTD
- law-tlj
- Sep 8
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 15
Callan Garber
In recent years, Denver’s public transit service, or RTD, has struggled to increase ridership.[1] Most riders cite safety concerns as their main reason for not taking public transportation.[2] On average, in 2024, riders made 3,592 calls a month seeking help, contacting RTD dispatchers by voice, text, or through RTD’s “Transit Watch” app.[3] Reports made on the Transit Watch app provide some insight into the issues RTD regularly faces; specifically, riders report incidents of illegal drug use, fights and disturbances, indecent exposure, and non-violent sexual harassment.[4]
On February 11, 2025, during the 2025 General Session, Colorado legislators introduced Colorado Senate Bill 161, a bill aimed at improving the performance of the regional transportation district (RTD).[5] The bill was signed into law on May 13, 2025.[6] It includes a legislative declaration, stating that “transportation is critical to daily life and commerce . . . .” and that “expanding mass transportation presents a vital opportunity to reduce household transportation costs, decrease pollution, reduce congestion. . . and stimulate regional economic development.”[7]
The original version of the bill alarmed many because it proposed eliminating 10 of RTD’s 15 elected board positions, replacing them with appointed and at-large seats, an overhaul critics said would undermine local representation and destabilize the agency’s governance.[8] Public fears that the bill would “annihilate” Colorado’s largest transit agency brought legislators back to the drawing board,[9] who took a different approach in drafting S.B. 25-161. The new bill was drafted to align RTD with Colorado Governor Jared Polis’s climate goals for the state, which seek to increase affordable transportation options, and decrease Colorado’s reliance on single family vehicles.[10] Specifically, the plan sets a goal to increase public transportation by 83% by 2035, resulting in 145 million revenue miles.[11] These goals will “require aggressive actions from transit agencies across the state, especially from RTD which serves more than 50 percent of the state’s population.”[12]
Most of the bill is aimed at enhancing transit services, aligning RTD with Colorado’s climate objectives, and improving the accountability of RTD to Colorado riders.[13] By September 30, 2026, RTD must develop a ten-year strategic plan in collaboration with local governments and subregional service councils.[14] The plan must identify performance measures for service, ridership, EcoPass program[15] enrollment, and the percentage of residences and jobs within one-quarter mile of a frequent transit route. [16] RTD must identify both fiscally constrained and unconstrained options for all goals over the ten-year period, and the plan must be updated in conjunction with major updates to the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ regional transportation plan.[17] RTD is also directed to improve the EcoPass program by conducting outreach to bulk purchasers, minimizing administrative workload for bulk purchasers and recipients, and updating the pricing strategy by July 1, 2026.[18]
The bill also requires RTD to maintain public dashboards providing transparent information to riders on ridership growth; employee retention, recruitment, and vacancies; transit safety data for passengers and drivers; planned service changes, including timing, reasons, and impacts; and progress toward meeting performance measures and targets.[19] Finally, unlike H.B. 24-1447, S.B. 25-161 establishes a Regional Transportation District Accountability Committee, consisting of fourteen voting members and one ex officio nonvoting member.[20] The purpose of the committee is to evaluate and make recommendations on RTD’s structure and leadership compensation, paratransit services for individuals with disabilities, and how to align its operation with state climate goals.[21]
While Colorado S.B. 25-161 certainly increases RTD’s accountability to Colorado riders and the Colorado legislature the bill is largely devoid of any plans to improve rider’s safety while on RTD. Despite safety being the number one concern for many RTD riders,[22] the only mention of safety in S.B. 25-161 is in the establishment of a safety public dashboard, designed to publicize safety data and incident reports.[23] However, data does little to address the root cause: the fact that riders feel unsafe taking RTD. In September of 2020, RTD was granted a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, designated for the installation of “live-look” video cameras on all RTD light rail trains and buses.[24] While all RTD buses were retrofitted with live-look technology by July of 2024, 81% of RTD light rail trains remain without the technology.[25] However, it seems that the live-look cameras have improved rider safety on RTD buses; in 2024, 203 safety incidents were reported on buses, compared to 1,627 incidents on trains and 943 incidents at bus and rail stations.[26] RTD has until June of 2027 to retrofit all of its trains with the live-look cameras, but until then, riders are left feeling unsafe and unprotected on RTD.
While Colorado S.B. 25-161 addresses many of the logistical issues RTD currently has, it ignores the primary concern shared by most RTD riders—that RTD is not a safe transportation option. Additionally, Colorado legislators have tried and failed in the past to make sweeping changes to RTD; Gov. Polis’s statement that RTD is “not provid(ing) the transit services our growing metro area needs,” echo the words of former Colorado Governor Bill Owens, who called on RTD in 1999 to “shoulder more of the transportation burden in the Denver area.”[27]
Though S.B. 25-161 sets out new goals for RTD, it largely fails to address the issue of funding. RTD’s operating expenditures have struggled to keep up with Denver’s population growth and inflation; in 2002, RTD’s budget represented about 0.27% of the Denver metro’s GDP, and in 2019, the ratio was 0.29%.[28] Despite criticism that RTD is wasteful and inefficient with its resources, data collected from the Federal Transit Administration shows that RTD actually provides bus services well below the national average, and operates the third most effective light rail system in the country.[29] The issue is funding: RTD relies heavily on in-district tax revenues, unlike any other transit agency of its size.[30]
S.B. 25-161 does not directly appropriate funds to RTD but rather mandates several initiatives that will impact RTD’s budget.[31]
Figure 1: RTD-Specific Expenditures
Comprehensive Operation Analysis | Estimated at $3 million every five years to assess and improve RTD’s services. |
Ten-Year Strategic Plan | A one-time cost of approx. $2.5 million to develop a long-term plan aligning with state climate goals and transit needs. |
Income-Based Program Enhancements | Ongoing annual costs of about $376,000, including $200,000 allocated to Denver Human Services for income verification processes. |
Special Events Coordination | An additional $100,000 annually to coordinate transit services for special events. |
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