DENVER — RTD is working to improve its image in metro Denver as the agency invited a member from each TV station in town to interview a member of its board of directors.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, RTD has dealt with a host of issues: delays, staffing, safety, public scrutiny — you name it. But the agency is now putting itself out there to, in its words, improve trust and ridership.
Denver7 sat down with Julien Bouquet, one of the youngest members of the board who represents District G in Douglas County, to ask some of the most asked questions from viewers.
The two talked about RTD’s vision both short-term and long-term, its safety issues, and delays both in schedules and projects. Denver7 asked if Bouquet feels like there’s a trust issue and how the department is earning it back.
“One of the goals we set forward as a board is to try to engage more with the public, the stakeholders know who their elected board is,” Bouquet said. “It's a $12,000 salary job a year. It's a job where most of us, you know, have to work part time. But we all have a shared, common goal and vision, and that is a better transit system.”
- Watch the full interview with Bouquet in the video player below:
Reaching out for media publicity is part of that goal.
But trust doesn’t just come in media interviews, it comes in action.
RTD has faced a concerning number of violent attacks on its buses and trains in recent years — the most recent involving an attack on a blind woman and her seeing eye dog.
To address the issues, RTD has gotten a new police chief and worked to fully staff its own force. Denver7 asked for report numbers to see if the plan has been working, and this is what we found: each month this year, security-related calls have fallen by at least 28% since 2024.
RTD data also shows customer reports of illicit drug activity have fallen by at least 60% each month as well. RTD said it hopes the trend continues as it says it will have a police detective bureau up and running by year’s end.
We asked Bouquet what RTD’s biggest issue is right now and he said it’s changing ridership. Since the pandemic, far fewer people are commuting into and out of the city regularly so he said it’s about identifying its core base so it can work to recruit others.
RTD said it plans to have a similar sit down with its CEO Deb Johnson in the next few months where Denver7 will continue to follow up with more questions.
- If there's anything you want Denver7 to ask, reach out to Dan Grossman in the form below:
