After months of talks, the Regional Transportation District and state lawmakers have settled on one month because the goal size for a fare-free transit pilot through the sizzling, smoggy summer season months.
A invoice unveiled in current days handed its first committee vote 4-1 on Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Religion Winter, a Westminster Democrat, stated the month of August is probably going when RTD would run its first fare-free pilot, with one other one attainable in 2023.
If it clears each chambers, Senate Bill 180 would put aside $14 million every of the subsequent two summers to assist pay for free-transit packages round Colorado, with the majority reserved for RTD, the state’s largest public transportation supplier. Gov. Jared Polis signaled his help for the concept by together with funding in his funds proposal for the approaching yr, however RTD nonetheless must work out many particulars.
The invoice additionally consists of $30 million to broaden service in coming years on Bustang, the state’s regional bus service. The variety of day by day journeys on strains connecting Denver to Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Colorado Springs might roughly double as ridership will increase, in response to the Colorado Division of Transportation.
The primary hope of the free-transit pilot is to attract extra individuals out of their vehicles and onto RTD’s buses and trains on the top of the season when metro Denver’s ozone readings steadily fly off the charts.
However there’s one other aim behind it: Engaging extra riders again to RTD. The state’s largest transit company, like others across the nation, continues to be recovering from a pandemic ridership plunge pushed by altering commute patterns and, extra lately, security issues. A current “Free Fare February” pilot by the Utah Transit Authority has given supporters cause to hope, since free service helped the UTA notch its highest monthly ridership of the pandemic.
Testimony through the Senate Transportation and Power Committee’s listening to was largely supportive, although some transit advocates pushed for the state to do extra to help transit.
“This invoice is a superb begin, however we’re going to wish a a lot larger funding to fulfill our air high quality and local weather objectives,” stated Molly McKinley, the Denver Streets Partnership’s coverage director.
RTD ridership slowly recovered to 53% of pre-pandemic ranges by late final yr. However then it fell once more through the omicron variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 circumstances. RTD officers have stated ridership numbers have resumed their upward march because the surge has subsided.
If the brand new measure turns into regulation, RTD’s experiment with suspending fares must final a minimum of 30 days. The Colorado Power Workplace would offset as much as 80% of the price of making service free on all of RTD’s providers.
The 30-day goal was a compromise, with lawmakers hoping the company would embrace a virtually summer-long pilot whereas RTD officers pushed for a extra restricted program — alongside the strains of providing free fares in the future per week.
The concern voiced by RTD’s basic supervisor and CEO, Debra Johnson, was {that a} bigger pilot would pressure the company’s sources whereas it makes an attempt to fill staffing gaps and get a deal with on current safety challenges.
Although RTD’s board hasn’t taken a proper place on the invoice, the company says its leaders are actually on the identical web page as lawmakers.
“State leaders and stakeholders urged RTD to ponder offering a month (of free fares) and RTD’s Common Supervisor and CEO, in partnership along with her management group and its labor union companion, consider a month of fare-free transit is a accountable method to exploring this service supply mannequin,” RTD stated in a press release Tuesday.
