Why RTD’s Feeling Heat Over Priorities, And What It’s Doing About It

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Photo: Winter Storm March 23 RTD Bus Not In Service Park Hill Denver
An RTD bus crawls along 23rd Avenue in Denver during a March 2016 snow storm.

The Denver area continues to grow, and local leaders are grappling with a strained public transportation system CPR’s Allison Sherry tells Colorado Matters that the Regional Transportation District is coming under fire from non-profit groups and community organizers that RTD is not as customer service oriented as it should be. Bus service is thin in some of the poorest parts of the metro, and bus riders subsidize the trains, for example.

RTD is pushing back, saying various programs help people, including a non-profit program that offers a sort of grant to groups that serve needy people to get bus passes. It points out they increased the money for that program since there was such a need. They also point out there is a working group meeting to evaluate eco passes and other discounted ways to get on to RTD. That group will release some recommendations next month.

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