Metro Denver residents who frequent Regional Transportation District bus routes and light-rail lines can expect to see reduced service next year after agency leaders voted earlier this week to pursue $20 million in service cuts to try to gain control of the transit agency’s looming budget crisis.
RTD’s Board of Directors also voted down a proposal to increase rider fares, which could have generated between $8 million and $12 million, after a lengthy discussion and multiple failed amendments aimed at trying to persuade a majority of directors to pass the motion.
The voted 9-6 late Tuesday night to direct staffers to build the 2027 budget with $20 million in service reductions that would go into effect no later than the spring.
The board’s vote did not include specific cuts to any route, line or service, which have yet to be decided.
Earlier in the meeting, RTD directors rejected the proposal to explore fare increases with six voting in favor and nine against.
Several directors said they were concerned how fare increases and service cuts could affect a future ballot measure and whether they would help or hinder the agency’s potential ask for more money from voters.
“If we can’t make these hard decisions now, they are going to look at us in 2027 and 2028 and say, ‘These guys don’t know how to balance their budget. These guys don’t know how to manage a dollar. Why in God’s name would we trust them with $700 million more?’ ” Director Chris Nicholson said during the meeting.
But Director Michael Guzman, who voted against the measure, raised concerns about the board’s priorities, including previous decisions to spend money on the Front Range Passenger Rail and high-service events like Broncos and Nuggets games while also rejecting revenue boosts like wrapping buses with advertising.
“We can’t tell our staff to both press the gas pedal and the brake at the same time,” he said. “What are we doing?”
Earlier in July, agency staffers compiled a list of hypothetical route cuts that could save different sums of money — a list which sparked public backlash after it was posted online so two RTD committees could make recommendations to the full board.
One of those committees recommended looking at fare increases but no service cuts, while another recommended 10%, or $31 million in service cuts. (The second committee did not vote on a recommendation for fare increases.)
The board’s at times contentious discussions about whether to charge riders more money or reduce bus and rail service highlighted the sharp contrast in how different directors approach trying to fix RTD’s budget woes.
Director Matt Larsen on Tuesday proposed raising all fares except Access-A-Ride by 25%, a motion that was rejected by all but one other director.
But he balked at the idea of cutting any fixed route services.
“I think before we sacrifice our service to our riders we should sacrifice a balanced budget, sacrifice our fiscal policy, potentially sacrifice our bond rating, sacrifice a little financial rectitude, perhaps, and even sacrifice the maximally thorough process for raising fares,” he said.
Other board members, like Director Karen Benker, talked about both fare increases and service cuts as painful but necessary steps to start fixing the budget deficit, which agency officials previously estimated could exceed $200 million in 2027. Benker on Tuesday said that sum is now closer to $150 million.
Benker, who chairs the district’s finance and planning committee, proposed the fare increases that the board voted down on Tuesday.
She made several suggestions for what fare increases could look like, including a special fare for high-service events such as sports games and concerts, though those were not included in the motion. Benker also said she wasn’t in favor of increasing because it’s already on the high side compared to other major transit agencies.
“This is the only piece of revenue, really, that is under our control,” she said.
But the fast timeline — staff coming up with options in time for the September board meeting, rolling them out by May or June — would not allow much room for the required fare study and equity analysis, which would look at how raising fares would affect historically marginalized groups.
And while raising fares would mean more income for RTD, agency data shows it could also hurt ridership, with fewer people using buses or trains, according to board documents.
“People can’t take it right now. They’re filling our buses because gas is expensive, they are filling our trains because gas is expensive, they are filling our services and using our public transportation system because parking is a pain in the you know what,” Guzman said.
RTD staff will now work on putting together potential service reductions with the plan to finalize them in September, agency spokesperson Marta Sipeki said.
“Nothing’s been set in stone at this point,” she said. “There is no list of routes that they’re considering at this time for that $20 million.”
There will be several ways for the community to give input about the suggested cuts, which will be posted on RTD’s dedicated page for , Sipeki said.
“Routes may be proposed but nothing’s going to happen until the public process takes place, we hear all the feedback and then it will go back to the board,” she said.
