Regional Transportation District leaders voted to pursue $20 million in cuts to bus and light-rail service in a marathon public meeting Tuesday night, where the elected board of directors butted heads over how handle the transit agency’s looming budget crisis.
The board also voted down a proposal to increase rider fares to generate 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.
Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, the 15-member board voted 9-6 to direct staffers to build the 2027 budget with $20 million in service reductions that would go into effect no later than May.
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 would affect a future ballot measure and whether it 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.
Tuesday’s vote also directed RTD staff to come up with the service cuts based on several priorities, including preserving and growing ridership; local transit needs; and service standards.
This is a developing story.
