The Regional Transportation District will hold meetings in Longmont and Lafayette over the next two weeks to gather feedback about proposed cuts to the LD bus routes that runs from Longmont to downtown Denver.
RTD officials say the grant-funded routes have low ridership and must be cut as RTD struggles amid driver shortages. Boulder County officials say that the route is an important way for residents to get back and forth to Denver and forcing people to transfer buses halfway through will hurt ridership even more.
Currently, the LD1 and LD2 buses carry riders from local stops along Main Street in Longmont, southward on Highway 287 to stops at the Lafayette Park and Ride and others along the way to the intersection with U.S. 36. The bus stops at the U.S. 36 stops. then heads southeast to meet up with Interstate 25 south to Denver Union Station. There is limited Saturday service and no Sunday service.
A separate LX bus carries Longmont riders from Longmont, south on I-25 to Union Station. The LX route only operates on weekdays and is geared toward work commuters. all southbound routes leave Longmont for Denver before 8 a.m. and most of the northbound routes leave Union Station between 4 and 6 p.m.
Under the proposed plan, Longmont riders who use the mid-day and evening all-stop LD service will need to make a transfer along U.S. 36. Riders who are riding only between Longmont and Broomfield will see an increase in bus service and LX riders won’t be affected.
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