RTD will start a zoned fare system for the southwest light-rail line July 1 that will eliminate expensive short-distance trips for some travelers.
Under the new system, train riders will be charged local fares if they travel in one or two zones, and the higher express fare if they travel in all three zones.
Since the southwest line opened in 2000, fares have been set by a cruder method – with West Hampden Avenue serving as the “fare boundary,” and a requirement that any rider who crossed Hampden must pay the express fare.
The regular cash express fare is $2.75; the local cash fare is $1.50.
With Hampden as the fare boundary, some travelers riding the train between the Oxford and Englewood stations were hit with the higher express charge even though the distance between the platforms is only 1 mile.
“In the past, it’s really torqued me,” said rail rider Robin Conn, before she boarded a northbound train at Oxford on Friday morning.
“Why should I pay $2.75 to go from here to Englewood,” Conn said, noting the next station up the line.
The new zoned system “will work a lot better,” added traveler April Corbett, after getting off a train at Oxford. “I don’t think it was fair to go one stop and be charged $2.75.”
The zoned fare structure will charge a rider the local cash fare of $1.50 for the Oxford-Englewood hop because it stays within two zones.
Corbett lives between the Oxford and downtown Littleton stations and often travels the short distance to Englewood.
“No one will pay more, and some will pay less,” said Tony McCaulay, the Regional Transportation District’s assistant general manager for customer service, about the zoned pricing.
When the southeast light-rail line opens for service Nov. 17, it too will use a zoned system.
Because the southeast line’s track from Broadway to Lincoln Avenue extends 15 miles, it will have four zones.
Commuters riding between central Denver and the County Line and Lincoln stations will pay RTD’s $3.75 regional fare because they will travel in four zones, McCaulay said.
Waiting for a train at the downtown Littleton station Friday, RTD patron Farill Naqvi welcomed the change coming July 1. “It’s more fair; I like it.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
