Downtown Denver Partnership Urges RTD to Protect Downtown Service Amid Potential Cuts

This week, RTD's Operations, Safety and Security Committee recommended a 10% cut to bus and lightrail routes as the agency continues to face budget constraints. As it prepares to evaluate potential service cuts in the months ahead, the Downtown Denver Partnership sent a letter today urging RTD leaders to protect the transit investments that keep downtown moving.

Recent board materials outlined a range of routes and lines that could be reduced or eliminated as part of the agency's budget-saving efforts, including the 16th Street FreeRide. In the letter, the Partnership makes the case that the FreeRide should remain at full service. Ridership is climbing, reliability is improving, and the data shows the FreeRide is a measurable driver of downtown's economic recovery, connecting workers, residents and visitors across the center city every day.

The Partnership's letter also looks beyond the FreeRide to the broader system-wide evaluation RTD is undertaking, which includes possible service modifications and new revenue opportunities. Because downtown is the highest-density neighborhood and central hub of the entire RTD network, the letter urges the board to preserve a robust, safe, reliable and affordable network here as it weighs system-wide changes. Downtown remains an economic engine for the whole region, and the Partnership argues that now is not the time to pull back on transit investments that have been decades in the making.

The Partnership acknowledges that the choices ahead are difficult ones, with real impacts on the people across RTD’s jurisdiction. As RTD's board and staff work through these decisions, the Partnership offered its continued partnership, standing ready to gather stakeholder feedback, provide input, and help amplify public engagement opportunities for the downtown community throughout the process.

Read the full letter here.

The Downtown Denver Partnership will continue to keep stakeholders informed as RTD's service evaluation process moves forward.