A recent study commissioned by the Alliance to Transform Transportation, a coalition of nonprofits and advocacy groups that pushes for expanded public transit in Colorado, found that just 35 percent of residents in RTD’s service area live within a ten-minute walk of frequent transit.
City dwellers can dart around on buses and the occasional light rail, but people who live or work outside of central Denver are less fortunate, according to Mike Hager, and that's especially true since the pandemic. Hager commutes daily from his home near Orchard and Havana streets in unincorporated Denver County near Greenwood Village to the Central Business District for his job as a technology business manager. Before COVID, Hager took the F or E light rail lines from RTD’s Arapahoe Station to his office, a trip that took about thirty minutes.
The F line shared tracks with the current E Line and then joined the current D Line to run through Denver, an ideal route for commuters like Hager. But RTD suspended the F Line during the pandemic and never restarted the route.
“Trains would show up during commuting times and the F Line would just be jam-packed,” Hager remembers. “I'm not sure what they're trying to do. Are they trying to provide a service? Because if they are, why would you eliminate a line that had thousands of people riding it every fifteen minutes?”
Between the F and E routes, trains came every eight minutes during commuting hours and every fifteen minutes during slower times. Altogether, the E, F and R lines running from south of the city into Denver saw over 928,000 boardings in 2019. Now, the E Line alone runs every fifteen minutes, a schedule that began in January. Previously, the line was only scheduled to come every thirty minutes.
Light Rail Slowdowns Still Dissuade Riders
When Hager's employer asked him to return to the office in 2021, the decrease in frequency on the E Line wasn’t ideal for his commute. Plus, the desertion of public transit by many commuters meant more people on the train were engaged in anti-social behaviors, including public drug consumption or bringing weapons on the trains.“The trains weren't actively patrolled by the transit police, but if you reported an issue, then the transit police did do a good job showing up on your train,” Hager recalls.
The trains were running slower than before, too. Hager estimates what used to be a thirty-minute journey for him turned into a forty-minute trip. He persisted in riding the train daily for a while, and as more people slowly returned to the office, he says he witnessed less anti-social behavior.
But then in 2024, RTD discovered rail maintenance was needed, and instituted slow zones that made Hager's pickup times unreliable, sometimes extending his commute to over an hour, he says. Even with traffic, driving became faster.
“Everyone who has a choice to drive that I know now drives,” he says. “I know dozens of people at my office who used to take RTD regularly who no longer take it because the service is so bad.”
Hager dislikes having to pay for parking and fuel, which he estimates costs him around $300 a month at minimum. That's much more than his transit pass, which cost $114 before 2024; it's now $88 per month. And there are other costs.
“It's not as relaxing,” he says. “I used to take the train and do a combination of working and reading and playing games on my phone. When I got to the office, I was ready to get my head down with my team. Now it's just tougher. It's a tougher way to live when you have to deal with traffic.”
Because he wants to return to RTD one day, Hager says he still tries to ride the light rail around once a month to see if conditions have improved. He’s found that if he drives to the Interstate 25 and Broadway transit station and takes the train from there, his commute works — but then he still has to deal with I-25 traffic.
Mike Hager drives from his home near Greenwood Village to the Interstate 25 and Broadway RTD station if he wants to use the light rail.
Catie Cheshire
Among other things, RTD did not communicate effectively regarding the slower train speeds on the E Line and a timeline for repairs, he says.
“This has been going on since May of 2024 with no end in sight, and, meanwhile, you've got an interstate that's just packed with cars nonstop, and people like me have really no way around it,” Hager explains. “You just kind of have to muscle through it and keep your fingers crossed.”
RTD's speed restrictions website does not give a timeline for completion for E Line maintenance, but notes that 24 of the 29 areas that needed repairs have been fixed. Hager says he wishes the RTD board would push for more transparency about expected construction timelines and communication with customers; he's particularly concerned about those who, unlike himself, don’t have the option to simply switch to driving.
Jill Locantore is the executive director of the Denver Streets Partnership, a member of the Alliance to Transform Transportation. During a March 25 press conference held by the Alliance, Locantare said that Hager's feelings are common in metro Denver right now.
“They just don't have viable, safe, convenient transportation options other than cars and driving,” she said. “It's especially problematic for the one-third of our population that can't drive because of age, income, disability, other reasons.”
Hager says he's tried reaching out to RTD through the company’s customer comment form, but hasn’t received a direct response. As a result, he feels like RTD isn’t listening to customers.
Debra Johnson, RTD general manager and CEO, says the agency is paying attention to the heaps of feedback — RTD gets more than 500,000 calls to its call center every year — and adds that she knows the difficulties people like Hager have faced, especially with light rail slowdowns. Even when people don’t receive a response, written comments are tracked and logged by the agency and operated into operational decisions, according to RTD.
Unlike some people, Johnson has plenty of options if she wants to ride RTD. As someone who lives and works downtown, Johnson can hop on several bus routes or rail lines when she needs to. She doesn't want to see Hager and other metro residents further outside of the city lose faith in RTD, she says.
“I'll be the first to stand in my truth and say last year was challenging,” Johnson adds. “We have an aging system now. Our original light rail line is thirty years old as of October of 2024, and so we have to ensure that we are focusing on maintaining that for future generations.”
To help with improvements, Johnson says that RTD will undergo a comprehensive operational analysis this summer. That process will have plenty of chances for the public to weigh in, she notes.
Living Near Bus Routes Makes RTD Work for One Denver Resident
Some members of the public have found ways to make RTD work for them. Anne Bygrave works in finance downtown and lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, both areas with plenty of bus routes. In 2017, Bygrave donated her car because the battery kept dying due to lack of use. Bygrave says she was able to make that decision because she lives only four miles from downtown Denver, in close proximity to RTD's 6, 10 and 15 bus routes. The 10 stops at the end of Bygrave’s street and takes her close to her job downtown.
“I've always been a bus person,” Bygrave says. “Way back when I got my license, thirty-plus years ago, it actually even expired. I think I threw it away in a pack of cigarettes at a bar once, by accident. Left it on the table, and then I just never renewed it for years and years because I didn't need it.”
When Bygrave, who is in her fifties, lived in Taos before returning to Denver around two decades ago, she had to get a car because that small New Mexico town didn’t have many transit options. But once she was back in Denver, her bus-person DNA took over again.
Not having to worry about finding parking is a big plus, she says.
Bygrave prefers the 6 and 10 to the 15 bus routes, which can get a little chaotic, but she doesn’t mind the 15 and appreciates how frequently the route comes during non-peak hours. Bygrave regularly connects to the 73 to Lowry and 40 up and down Colorado Boulevard, too.
Her ability to jump from bus to bus takes a little planning, but she says it's easy to maneuver. Though proximity to bus routes wasn’t her top priority when she was making the move back to Denver, she considered public transit access as a factor when looking for places to live in the city.
“One of the reasons it works for me is because it's always been a part of where I would pick to live,” Bygrave says.
Her job’s location is an advantage for transit because her commute doesn’t require any transfers, which can slow people down by adding in an extra wait, she says. She's also a bus rider, and doesn't depend on light rail.
“Overall, except for the COVID blip, the availability of busses has improved,” Bygrave says of how RTD has changed since 2017, when she gave up her car.
The technology has improved, too, with transit passes going from paper to scannable badges to being available on an app. Bygrave also loves the relatively new RTD app feature, instituted in 2022, that shows where each bus is on a map.
“When I first started riding, if there ever was a question of the bus is so late, is it even coming? Should I walk to the next stop? You were blind,” Bygrave says. “Now, you can just get on, and you can actually see where the bus is, and that's a huge improvement.”
Her commutes haven't been without scary moments, though, like the time she got on the 10 and someone was completely out of it, gesturing wildly and speaking to himself, or when she was riding the 0 downtown and a man in a Nazi uniform got on the bus. Both times, Bygrave got off at the soonest possible stop and waited for the next bus.
But most of her uncomfortable moments take place at bus stops. If she has to wait for an extended period of time in the dark, she will sometimes pop into a nearby convenience store rather than just waiting at the bus stop. Once Bygrave is on the bus, she says she usually feels safer because of the presence of the driver and other passengers.
Because people tend to take shelter under bus stops, Bygrave has the number for Denver Health and Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response saved in her phone so that she can call for help when people appear to be in a health crisis.
“You'll probably see some stuff that might make you a little uncomfortable on the bus, but at least in my experience, it's very rare that you're actually not safe,” Bygrave says. “Talking that distinction out with people, I think, would be really helpful for RTD.”
Tips for Using RTD From a Regular Bus Rider
Bygrave would like to see RTD implement a program where regular riders can answer questions for people who want to use public transit but are nervous about doing so. Seasoned riders like herself have strategies about which routes are more accessible and what times of day the bus will be less crowded and intimidating to ride, she notes.When schools let out in the afternoon and teenagers flood the bus, for example, some new riders might become anxious even when nothing nefarious is going on.
If people need to use the bus to connect to the A Line to Denver International Airport, Bygrave recommends aiming for non-commuting times so there will be space for luggage.
And while there have been iffy moments during her commutes, there have also been plenty of times when Bygrave has seen kindness and joy on the bus. People regularly help other riders using wheelchairs or walkers or switch seats to accommodate families, she says.
“One of my coworkers actually used to have a standing breakfast group on the bus, once a week, for a commuter route that came into downtown from quite a distance away,” Bygrave says. “They would all bring a potluck and have breakfast and chat.”
According to Bygrave, people who want to start using RTD should try taking the bus to social situations where there isn’t a firm time frame, so that they don’t have to worry about delays. That way, their first bus experience is more likely to be positive.
Like Hager, she recognizes that for people with other options, one bad experience can be enough to dissuade them from future use of RTD.
“It's really easy to get scared off and never ride the bus again if you have something to fall back on,” Bygrave says.
Locantore agrees, which is one reason why the Alliance is pushing for RTD to expand the number of bus routes with fifteen-minute frequencies from 34 to 83 over the next ten years. That idea is just part of the Alliance’s broader transit vision for the next decade.
“Our vision imagines a world where we have twice as much bus service in a core area of the region, that nearly a million people will be an easy walk from frequent service that comes in a way that you don't even need a schedule,” Danny Katz, executive director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, said at the Alliance's March 25 event.
To achieve that vision, the Alliance estimates around $420 million in funding would be needed each year. Right now, the group is trying to get elected officials on board to brainstorm funding sources, but recent legislative changes like oil and gas fees and fees on rental cars could go toward those ideas, Katz suggests.
“Transit just doesn’t work for people right now. It can if we invest in it to the extent we do roads,” Locantore says.
And RTD now has some funding stability, too, thanks to over 71 percent of voters in the district opting to permanently exempt the agency from Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue limits last November.
“People really do see the investment in public transport as being worthwhile,” Johnson says. “I think we need to capitalize on that going forward…momentum is RTD showcasing that we value the support that's been provided to us as we step back and look at the enhancements to the system that are needed.”
