The House transportation committee approved a bill Tuesday that alters the formula for farming out RTD bus routes to private contractors.
The measure erases the current requirement that at least 50 percent of the Regional Transportation District’s bus service – including special service for disabled riders – be privatized.
The bill, which the full Senate already approved, would cap the amount of RTD’s privatized bus service at 58 percent while eliminating the 50 percent minimum.
Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, echoed a concern originally raised by RTD officials, that if privatized bus routes were returned to RTD, it could add millions of dollars in expenses to the agency’s budget and threaten the financial health of the FasTracks expansion plan. Swalm voted against the bill in committee.
The transit union that represents RTD workers promoted the privatization change initially. To broaden support, the union accepted an amendment that would prevent privatization percentages from becoming an issue in labor negotiations with RTD management.
The amendment specifically says a labor arbitrator will not have the power to establish a level of privatized bus service.
As long as the amendment is part of the bill, RTD’s board of directors can support the measure, director Bill Elfenbein told legislators.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, who co-sponsored the bill, said a lobbyist for a private bus operator had expressed concern about the bill, but now was “neutral” on the measure following addition of the amendment.
“We now have a bill that everybody can live with,” said Bill Jones, general counsel for Amalgamated Transit Union 1001. The measure now goes to the full House for consideration.
