Snow Day: Who Clears RTD Bus Stops When the Weather Turns Frosty?

With the heavy snowfall in metro Denver, the area's infrastructure is about to turn into slushy crap — again. Snow on side streets in Denver will soon freeze over, bike lanes will be impassable, and plenty of sidewalks likely will go unshoveled. And for those who take the bus, certain RTD stops will be tougher to navigate than the Himalayas.

But while RTD stops cater to RTD buses and their riders, the majority of these way points aren't actually maintained — or shoveled — by the transit agency itself, creating a confusing mishmash of reporting requirements for pedestrians.

"There are only a small number of bus stops in the metro area that are owned and managed by RTD. Currently there are 9,750 total bus stops in the District, of which 8,200 are active bus stops. RTD is responsible for fewer than 300 of the 8,200 active stops," says Pauline Haberman, a spokesperson for RTD.

Instead, most RTD bus stops are owned by the municipalities in which they're located. However, in municipalities like Denver, the government isn't in charge of shoveling in and around those bus stops when it snows.

"It is the homeowner or business owner’s responsibility to keep the sidewalks adjacent to their house or business clear and accessible. This includes all sidewalks, ADA accessible ramps and bus stops around their home or business," says Laura Swartz, a spokesperson for the Denver Department of Community Planning & Development.

The only bus stops that aren't the responsibility of adjacent property owners — and are instead shoveled by RTD — are the ones that have shelters and no advertising. Bus stops that have no shelter and just a sign, or a shelter with advertising, are owned by municipalities, and property owners need to shovel these. Yes, it's as confusing as it sounds.

Concerned Denverites can report unshoveled sidewalks, including those around bus stops, to 311. And for any unshoveled bus stops controlled by RTD, residents can call 303-299-2911 to file a report.

Jonathon Stalls, who runs the TikTok account Pedestrian Dignity to show what pedestrians go through on their daily commutes and push for better infrastructure, points out that the average person trying to take the bus or get from Point A to Point B by foot, wheelchair or walker shouldn't have to be concerned about this confusing jurisdictional issue.

"They don't give a shit who manages what. They just want to get to their stop safely. People who use this stuff shouldn't be expected to know who manages what and who owns what," Stalls says. "It's still super confusing to me. It's even confusing for the very people working in the system."

Stalls walks and uses public transportation to get just about everywhere in the Denver area. About a week after the snowstorm at the end of December, he was walking at East Sixth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard when he saw a bus stop that was covered in snow. That's a pretty normal sight for Stalls, who says he sees these types of snowy obstacles "everywhere" in Denver.

The City of Denver penalizes a few homeowners and business owners every snowstorm for not shoveling sidewalks, including those next to bus stops.

From December 23 to January 17, city inspectors inspected 3,079 sections of sidewalk following reports of unshoveled snow.

"There is no fine for initial inspections. Our focus is on education, and we find that it’s very effective. Most people clear their sidewalks after receiving a notice from an inspector, and we don’t need to issue a fine in those cases," says Swartz. "City inspectors do a follow-up inspection within four hours for commercial properties and 24 hours for residential properties. Properties that still have snowy or icy sidewalks during the follow-up inspection receive a $150 fine, which is the city’s standard fine amount for a variety of items [not just sidewalk snow]."

Stalls wound up filing a report with the City of Denver about the bus stop at Sixth and Colorado.

Of the 3,079 sidewalk inspections, some of which included bus stops, 967 of them had already been resolved by the time the inspector visited, either because the snow had melted or the property owner had shoveled the snow. In these situations, no notices or fines are given.

After that, 2,065 properties received notices, and 45 properties ultimately were fined $150 after a follow-up inspection. Two properties received a second fine, which was $500.

In the case of the Sixth and Colorado bus stop, Swartz says that an inspector posted a notice about the need to shovel. On a second inspection, the snow was gone, either from shoveling or from the sun.

But this system clearly isn't working well, especially in a timely enough manner, according to Stalls, who sees people in wheelchairs and those who use walkers struggle to navigate the snowy terrain after every winter storm.

"Go out and experience it so you can feel it with the millions of people that have to rely on it. And be safe, because it's really dangerous," Stalls says, adding that he would prefer to see the city take on the responsibility of plowing sidewalks, even just on important arterials, such as Federal Boulevard, Alameda Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

"The arterials that surround the urban core are these primary access points for people using buses and needing to use these buses," Stalls says. "The city should have a goal of starting wherever they can with these sidewalk plows, these smaller plows that can get up into sidewalk areas."