The board met on July 29 to determine the final fate of AOD, which subsidizes costs for users with disabilities to call rideshare or taxi services within the RTD service area. Instead, boardmembers went against the recommendation of RTD staff by decreasing proposed fare increases to AOD users and sending the measure back for further evaluation.
“What's this going to do to our reputation and the trust that we're trying to rebuild in the community when we make a decision that negatively impacts a critical component of our community?” RTD boardmember Vince Buzek questioned. “Maybe there does come a time where this is a budget issue, but I don't think we're there.”
Since 2024, RTD has been contemplating cuts to AOD due to high program costs and an expected budget shortfall. But the program has become popular among the disability community. Over twenty people showed up to testify on behalf of AOD on July 29, asking RTD to keep the program in place.
Jaime Lewis, a transit advisor for the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition who used to be an RTD boardmember, suggested examining a monthly pass system or looking at Medicare or Medicaid integration to help with budget issues while asking the board not to change successful elements of the program.
“If it ain't broke, don't fix it,” Lewis said. “There's a lot more work to be done, and I'd really like to see a working group of the Board of Directors put together, maybe by this fall, to address these remaining issues. Lastly, I am so proud of the people that showed up today.”
When the program first began, monthly costs were around $75,000 for the initial pilot in select zip codes, but those monthly costs rose as more people were able to access it. Today, the program costs around $15 million per year, according to RTD, but is expected to come in almost $500,000 under budget in 2025.
The program supplements RTD Access-a-Ride, which is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. With Access-a-Ride, pickups must be scheduled in advance and only those within three-quarters of a mile of RTD bus routes or rail stations can use the service; Access-a-Ride is only available during RTD bus and train hours.
Amending Cuts to Access-on-Demand
Anyone with a disability within RTD’s service area, regardless of their proximity to a bus stop, can call on AOD at any time of day. Right now, AOD users get sixty rides per month, with RTD providing $25 toward the cost of each ride. Under the suggested changes, people would have to pay $6.50 per ride, after which RTD would chip in $20 toward the remaining cost. RTD staff had also proposed restricting AOD to the same distance-from-stop limits as Access-a-Ride.In the end, the RTD board voted to institute a base fare of $2.50 with a low-income LiVE subsidy discount of $1.25 per ride for income-qualified users and a $20 subsidy thereafter. The board also decided to maintain AOD availability throughout the entire RTD service area.
The program was amended to allow multi-stop trips if the ride service being used allows those stops. Uber and locally-owned COOP Ridershare both offer such trips, for example.
Most of the changes were based on an amendment by Board Chair Julien Bouquet, with additional amendments by directors Ian Harwick and Chris Nicholson. According to Erin Vallejos, acting deputy assistant general manager of bus operations for RTD, Bouquet’s amendment would eliminate $1.4 million from the $5.6 million RTD had looked to cut from the AOD program.
Vallejos said she could not give an estimate as to what the final proposal would look like budget-wise as Bouquet’s original idea had only changed fares to a $4.50 base with a $2.25 LiVE low-income cost, but it could cause another $1.4 million in lost revenue for RTD compared to the staff proposal.
Directors who voted in favor of the lower fares and smaller cuts said they see the value in AOD and don’t believe the budget is at a breaking point yet. Others pointed out that RTD successfully campaigned to permanently enshrine the agency’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) exemption last fall, partially based on maintaining funding for accessibility programs.
“I cannot, in good faith, move forward with this,” said director Michael Guzman, who held a town hall during that campaign. “I will not go back on my word."
Those who voted against some of the changes said they are concerned about the budgetary impacts. Though Nicholson voted to maintain the expanded service area, he was against the other diversions from the staff proposal.
“This amendment will force other trade-offs, fewer fixed route operators, fewer service hours, fewer staff in departments that are already overextended,” Nicholson said. “It will leave us less prepared to weather a downturn that is already causing painful cuts by the state, the City of Denver and transit agencies around the country.”
Nicholson cited a decline in sales tax revenue as a reason RTD will struggle with budget in the coming years; 67 percent of the agency’s $1.2 billion budget comes from sales tax, according to RTD.
RTD General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson added that she had just learned earlier that day that the agency is looking at possible reorganizations and workforce reductions as well as a measly 1 percent increase in the budget for bus and rail services in the next year.
“I’m not trying to cause alarm, but I believe it is my responsibility to apprise you accordingly, and that's where we sit currently,” Johnson said.
However, the majority of boardmembers weren’t ready to give in on AOD cuts yet, with the board voting to send the entire updated package back to committee to re-analyze the revenue impacts, look into a monthly pass system and more.
“We make no errors tonight in not increasing the fair,” boardmember JoyAnn Ruscha said. “We can hold off for a couple months...but we do risk grave and serious error to our constituents and taxpayers if we move forward without fully thinking this through.”
RTD staff and the board pledged to revisit the matter in September.
