Rep. Jim Riesberg, a Greeley Democrat, may think twice before he offers comments again from the House floor.
In recent debate over a bill that would allow RTD to charge for some parking at its lots, Riesberg said the transit agency should concentrate on getting light-rail patrons to pay for rides.
“Everyone rides free,” Riesberg said, recounting a light-rail trip he took to a Colorado Mammoth game several years ago with his daughter.
“We would come out of the Pepsi Center. Every car would be full, standing-room only and not one single fare is paid,” he told fellow legislators. “I’ve had an RTD ticket in my pocket for years, and it’s never been punched, and I’ve never had to buy a second one.”
His comments on the floor prompted House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, to claim in a newsletter that Riesberg “proudly boasted that he has been cheating the Regional Transportation District for years.”
In response to the newsletter, RTD spokesman Scott Reed wrote a private e-mail to a handful of transit agency officials – which found its way to House Republicans – claiming Riesberg had “sent a check to RTD for a grand total of I think $7.50 for the times he rode without paying.”
The e-mail, which Republicans recirculated to others, said Riesberg had been “properly chastised and is very contrite” and that “it appears he is now very supportive of the RTD legislation.”
On Tuesday, Riesberg sounded embarrassed, but not contrite, as he clarified his House comments and his position on RTD’s bill.
When he spoke to House members, Riesberg said, “We would go down to the Pepsi Center for events.” But on Tuesday, he said the excursion to and from the Mammoth game was his only time on light rail and that he merely was commenting on RTD’s apparent lack of fare enforcement.
The legislator said he hasn’t written a check to RTD and still is opposed to the pay-for-parking bill.
For years, some RTD board members also complained that they never saw fare inspectors on trains, leaving riders with the perception that cheating was prevalent.
Recently, RTD struck a deal with the transit workers union that allows uniformed Wackenhut security guards to check for fares on trains. With the added fare enforcement, Reed said less than 2 percent of train users are fare-evaders.
Riesberg said he was only “trying to make a point that RTD has a way to make more money,” but he admits it was ham-handed at best. “I don’t go to the floor very often, and it will probably teach me to go less often.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
