Democracy works.
Nearly all of the three dozen daily riders of the U regional bus route from the U.S. 285 corridor to the Denver Tech Center showed up at RTD’s monthly board of directors meeting Tuesday night with pleas to save the route from elimination.
They won.
After hearing at least a dozen riders speak of the U as a vital commuter route from foothills communities to the Tech Center, and how they intend to build ridership, directors exempted it from a planned elimination.
Directors did vote for bus and light-rail cuts that should save the agency $2.9 million a year. The service changes begin in August.
RTD General Manager Cal Marsella said RTD will work with the U route riders coalition to alter late-afternoon departure times from the Tech Center in a way that could increase ridership.
The RTD board also exempted peak-period call-n-Ride service in Highlands Ranch and Parker from planned elimination.
RTD had proposed numerous service changes as a way to compensate for budget problems brought on by the rising price of diesel fuel and lower-than-expected sales tax receipts.
Officials also said they hope by the end of this week to have bugs worked out of a new reservations, scheduling and dispatch system for RTD’s access-a-Ride service for disabled riders.
They installed the new computerized “Route Match” system about 10 days ago and problems with it have led to longer than desired telephone wait times and other problems.
