Colorado public transit advocates on Tuesday unveiled a plan requiring $4.2 billion over the next decade to boost the ridership of metro Denver’s Regional Transportation District buses based on a simple principle: run them every 15 minutes. “Frequency is the thing people want that brings ridersh ip. This is the best strategy if we want more people using RTD services,” Colorado Public Interest Research Group director Danny Katz said. “It’s all about not needing a schedule. Once you have service every 15 minutes, you’re in a situation where people know there will be a train or bus coming soon.” RTD buses and trains already run at that frequency along some routes, such as East Colfax Avenue, but widely require 30-minute waits and sometimes 60-minute waits in outlying parts of the RTD’s 2,345 square-mile service area, which spans eight counties. The Alliance to Transform Transportation leaders have called on Colorado lawmakers to embrace the plan for investing $420 million a year to enable the RTD to meet a target that would more than double the number of routes where buses arrive at a 15-minute frequency. The coalition includes environmental, civil rights, disability rights, energy efficiency, bicycling, and union worker groups. RTD directors over the past year committed to restoring 15-minute frequencies on 34 routes by 2026, part of the agency’s efforts to regain riders lost since the COVID-19 pandemic. RTD’s overall ridership has decreased from 105.8 million in 2019 to about 65 million. The coalition plan would more than double the number of routes where buses run every 15 minutes or less to 83 by 2036. It would increase the number of miles where buses run frequently from 490 miles to 1,139 miles and extend 15-minute frequency for early morning, evening, and weekend service. Related Articles Denver pedestrian dies after being hit by 16th Street Mall RTD bus Pedestrian injured in crash involving RTD commuter rail train 2 suspects arrested on suspicion of murder in Greenwood Village RTD station shooting RTD riders call for help thousands of times each month about safety issues Denver International Airport will be “constantly changing” with $12.8 billion projects for new runways, gates “We like it when our trains and buses are full,” RTD light rail train operator Dennis Hawkins said. “We want people to ride. We need to have frequent and reliable service for them to do it.” Funding is the challenge. The RTD’s record-high $1.2 billion budget relies primarily on sales taxes collected from metro Denver residents in the service area. State government funding for public transit in Colorado has lagged behind other states. However, lawmakers last year imposed a fee on oil and gas operations expected to raise about $50 million a year for public transit. Raising taxes, if voters decide they want better transit, could be an option, said Jill Locantore, director of the Denver Streets Partnership, who helped conduct the study. “When we can’t count on federal funding, being able to generate local revenue sources that we can count on is that much more important,” Locantore said, estimating a third of Denver’s residents cannot drive. “It’ll take time to increase service to this level. That’s why it’s important that we start investing today.” Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter. ...read more read less