DENVER — Public transportation in the Denver area is about to get a boost, according to Gov. Jared Polis, after the governor signed Senate Bill 26-150 into law aboard a Regional Transportation District bus Tuesday.
The bill, introduced to the State Senate in March and sent to Polis’ office last week, promises to modernize the troubled transit district by shaking up RTD’s board structure and sharpening the agency’s focus on accessible transit.
“The Denver metropolitan area deserves an A+ transit agency, and I think we all know through our own ridership, through stories from our constituents, through many others, that we are not there, and we really need to energize, improve the efficiency of RTD,” Polis said, surrounded by the bill’s Democratic sponsors on RTD’s 16th Street free shuttle.
One of the biggest changes impacting RTD under SB 26-150 will be a reorganization of the agency’s board, which means the current 15-member board will shrink to just nine, with a mixed elected and governor-appointed structure.
State Sen. Matt Ball, D-Denver, a prime sponsor of SB 26-150, joined the governor aboard the free shuttle Tuesday. He expressed confidence that the new governance changes will bring in more expertise to RTD and streamline the board to a more workable number.
“I'm very confident that what we have arrived at will add expertise to the board, will shrink the board to a more manageable size, and will maintain representation,” Ball said.
The legislation will also raise board member salaries from $12,000 to $36,000 for those elected or appointed after 2028. Lawmakers hope to attract high-quality candidates with the higher salary.
But one of the biggest shifts for RTD under the new law will be major operational changes, including a renewed push for disability-accessible transit through a mandatory study and improvement plan.
Additionally, RTD will face more systematic measurement of service quality and greater potential for collaboration with local governments and service providers to close gaps, which State Sen. Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora, said will build on the state’s earlier commitment to transit-oriented communities.
“Colorado, a few years ago, made a commitment to transit-oriented communities, and this is the perfect complementary bill to that, to make sure that people can age, live, work in the communities that they want, because they have reliable rail and fixed transit, and that's what's really important about this bill,” Jodeh said.
Despite the optimism from lawmakers on board RTD’s free 16th Street shuttle on Tuesday, the bill appears to fall short of addressing some of RTD’s biggest problems, such as severe budget deficits and low ridership.
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