AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora City Council on Monday night approved an agreement between the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and Aurora police, which will allow APD access to RTD’s camera feeds in the city.
Those cameras are placed on RTD property, including dozens of bus and rail stations.
“We’ve never had to clear any hurdles with them providing that footage to us,” Aurora Sgt. Matthew Longshore told Denver7. “This is just one of those elements now that we actually have footage readily available to our investigators or our officers, in that real time… We would be able to view it live. We’d be able to go back 12, 24 hours to kind of view what happened previously.”
Longshore called the agreement an expansion of the agencies’ already strong partnership.”
“This is about public safety,” he said. “The more eyes we have in the community, the better.”
Denver7
A passenger moves across an RTD light rail platform.
This is the latest example of Aurora police promoting technology as a potential solution to fight crime. In the fall, the department gained approval to use artificial intelligence facial recognition technology.
But that move and others, including the use of drones and automated license plate cameras known as Flock cameras, have sparked privacy and transparency concerns in Aurora and around the Denver metro.
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A public commenter from the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee spoke out against the AI facial technology and increased surveillance in general during Monday’s Aurora City Council meeting.
“You cannot impose surveillance technology on a community that does not trust you, and that distrust is earned,” she said. “How can we possibly trust APD with this tool when there is a non-zero chance they will share our faces and data with agencies like ICE?”
“You ask us to trust a pipeline of surveillance that leads directly to deportation and death.”
APD says the cameras are only meant to respond to 911 calls or to address broader crime trends.
“If you know, we have an increase in crime, or if there’s something suspicious happening in the area,” Longshore said. “There’s typically an audit log that’s available on all of our cameras, so we can see who’s viewing it and when. There are certain things in place to be able to make sure that officers are doing things specifically for certain reasons.
Denver7 reached out to RTD for comment on the agreement and is waiting to hear back.
RTD agrees to share camera feeds with Aurora Police
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Updated 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17: Hundreds of demonstrators marching through downtown Denver on Saturday afternoon caused rolling road closures, police officials said.
Streets around the state Capitol were intermittently closed because of the demonstration, the Denver Police Department said at 1:20 p.m.
All road closures were lifted as of 3:15 p.m.
Protesters gathered on the steps and lawn of the state Capitol at noon on Saturday to demonstrate against actions by President Donald Trump’s administration, including the recent surge in immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and the fatal shooting of Renée Good[cq comment=”cq” ] by a federal immigration officer.
Original story: Denver police and Regional Transportation District officials on Friday were bracing for potentially disruptive demonstrations downtown on Saturday before and during the Denver Broncos’ football playoff game and other high-traffic events.
The Denver Police Department “respects people’s right to demonstrate” and will monitor planned demonstrations, agency officials said in an emailed statement. “DPD’s approach to demonstrations is to allow people to march or gather peacefully, and to conduct traffic control to help ensure safety. It’s those assaultive, destructive, and/or highly dangerous behaviors that prompt police intervention.”
A “One Year is Enough” rally was scheduled at the Colorado State Capitol from noon to 3 p.m., part of “a continued commitment to fighting against the oppression we see here and abroad,” according to an emailed notice from the Denver Coalition Against Trump. After that, a “Colorado Bridge Trolls” resistance dance party was planned.
The coalition includes 50501 Colorado, the American Friends Service Committee, Aurora Unidos, the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee, the Denver Alliance for Street Health Response, Denver Anti-War Action, Denver Students for a Democratic Society, the Denver Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union.
RTD officials said they expect increased ridership on buses and trains Saturday because of the demonstrations, the Denver Broncos playoff game that kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Empower Field at Mile High, the Denver Nuggets basketball game at Ball Arena, and the National Western Stock Show.
They said they’re coordinating with police and advised riders to monitor RTD online alerts for updates.
“While RTD is focused on being prepared for the demonstrators with the potential to disrupt services, it can be difficult to predict crowd actions in the moment,” the RTD statement said. Transit staffers will monitor events “to support public safety” and “to the greatest extent possible minimize service disruptions.”
RTD’s alert said demonstrations could disrupt transit on 23 routes — including bus routes 0, 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 15L, 16, 19, 20, 28, 32, 38, 43, 44, 48, 52, 83L, 120X, ART, FF, and FREE and the D, E, H, L, and W rail lines.
RTD Chief of Police Steve Martingano pointed Denver7 to a growing police force, stronger fare enforcement and the addition of an in-house detective bureau as key drivers for the change.
Denver7
Steve Martingano, chief of the RTD Police Department.
“One of our big wins [in 2025] was our formation of our detective unit,” Martingano said. “We had to rely a lot on our outside police agencies … having our own detective unit has been really beneficial.”
Martingano said increased fare checks not only help recover revenue, but also boost visibility and officer presence.
“By having individuals check fare, we’re having more visibility on our trains and our buses, on our platforms, so you’re seeing a lot more of our security and police personnel that are out there,” he said. “Our criminal incidents, and our drug incidents have gone down. And I think a lot of that, again, is, you know, if you have somebody in uniform, they’re there within the system, people are going to be less likely to … engage in that type of behavior.”
RTD
RTD Police Department’s monthly activity report for January 2025.
RTD reported year-over-year decreases in security-related calls for almost every month of 2025, with the most recent data available through November 2025. Drug-related incidents dropped an average of 58% over the past year.
In 2026, RTD plans to open two new police substations — one in Boulder and one in south Denver — aimed at cutting incident response times.
“We’re going to try these two substations, and I’m sure we’re going to see a huge success. So that will give us the opportunity to move to other areas,” Martingano said.
Frequent rider Frederic Moreno said past trips sometimes meant delays caused by disruptive passengers.
“You work a long day and you’re trying to go home, and then the train has to stop and let everybody out because somebody’s doing something they’re not supposed to be doing,” he said.
Denver7
RTD rider Frederic Moreno.
Moreno said more officers on trains have made a difference for him and others.
“It’s peace of mind,” he said. “Yeah. I can feel safer on the train … I think they’re getting the idea, you know, more security, more cops around Union Station.”
RTD is also encouraging riders to download and use its “Transit Watch” app to report crimes or safety concerns in real time. Officials say those tips help them respond faster and improve security across the system.
Related coverage:
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One person was injured after a truck crashed into the Regional Transportation District’s holiday train, the S Line, on New Year’s Eve, according to the agency.
Denver Police Department officers responded to the crash at 6:48 p.m. near 27th and Welton streets, agency officials said. No serious injuries were reported.
RTD footage appears to show the truck hitting the train, spokesperson Tara Broghammer said. The truck driver is being treated by paramedics, and no one on the train was injured.
Denver police confirmed there were no serious injuries reported after the crash.
S Line service at the 20th Street and Welton station, 25th Street and Welton station, 27th Street and Welton station and 30th Street and Downing station was briefly suspended and resumed at 7:30 p.m.
Jamie Lewis, an organizer with the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, pickets with activists outside of RTD’s downtown Denver headquarters, ahead of a vote that could limit access to accessible rides. July 29, 2025. Despite attempts to block the price increase, a federal judge denied a preliminary
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Starting on New Year’s Day, people with disabilities will pay more to use a popular on-demand paratransit program in metro Denver. The change is taking effect as planned after a federal judge declined to grant a preliminary injunction to block it.
In an order issued Monday, District Judge S. Kato Crews wrote that the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Regional Transportation District “have not met their burden to prove a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.” The case is ongoing.
The disability rights group Atlantis ADAPT and the activists sued RTD earlier this month over changes to the service, Access-on-Demand. The lawsuit claimed that the changes, including implementing a new base fare of $4.50, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and that riders with disabilities are being singled out by RTD.
“Access-on-Demand is a lifeline for Coloradans with disabilities … It offers flexible, consistent access to workplaces, grocery stores, doctors’ offices, restaurants, and more — allowing Coloradans with disabilities to access and enjoy public space on the same terms as Coloradans without disabilities,” the complaint stated.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the changes flouted a promise made in a ballot measure passed by voters in 2024. Measure 7A allowed RTD to keep tax revenue that it otherwise would have had to refund to taxpayers under Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Ballot language said the excess tax revenue would go toward purposes like maintaining services for people with disabilities.
In its filed response, RTD argued the plaintiffs “have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits or irreparable harm, and the balance of equities and public interest tip in RTD’s favor as a public agency with the responsibility to operate in the best interests of all customers in a fiscally responsible manner.” The agency has called its AoD program an “optional premium service” in its filing, and said it was not required under federal law to provide it.
The judge seemed to agree, determining that RTD’s changes to AoD do not violate the ADA “and Plaintiffs have failed to identify some facially neutral policy or procedure that has a disproportionate impact on disabled persons. They instead point only to Defendant’s single action of making unflattering changes to an optional program the law does not require Defendant to provide in the first instance,” wrote Judge Crews.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, RTD General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson said she was “pleased” with the court’s decision.
“As a steward of public funds, RTD remains committed to making fiscally responsible decisions that optimize service availability and the customer experience for all who utilize its bus, rail, and paratransit services,” Johnson said.
In its own statement, ADAPT Colorado said Johnson’s “attempt to frame this procedural ruling as validation is misleading.”
The statement read: “A denial of a preliminary injunction is not a finding that RTD is right, nor that people with disabilities are wrong … RTD’s Board of Directors’ determination to ignore the disability community, and inflict harm on us while management mysteriously lost 250 million taxpayer dollars is not good stewardship. It’s dereliction of duty and willful resistance to civil rights.”
Access-on-Demand launched as a pilot project about five years ago. It offers subsidized, on-demand rides for qualified riders via certain ride-share and taxi companies. The flexibility and affordability appealed to paratransit riders, and it became a popular program. AoD had about 3,400 users in August, according to the lawsuit.
Disability rights activists protest outside of RTD’s downtown Denver headquarters, ahead of a vote that could limit access to accessible rides. July 29, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
But advocates have pushed back against the agency’s claims about the program’s financial viability, and riders and RTD wrestled over the issue for well over a year.
RTD’s Board of Directors approved the changes in late September in a 10-5 vote, reducing the RTD subsidy from $25 to $20 per ride and implementing a base fare of $4.50 per ride, or $2.25 for those who qualify for RTD’s income-based discount program. Other modifications included reducing the service’s availability by a couple of hours per day. The Sept. 30 meeting included hours of public testimony on how the service has impacted people’s lives for the better, and the final vote was met with audible cries of disapproval.
As the debate around AoD changes intensified, transit and disability advocates have also called on RTD to do a more comprehensive study, including a deeper look at its older Access-A-Ride service, to understand how well the agency is meeting the needs of the region’s disability communities. Several board directors have also signaled support for a “holistic review” of the agency’s entire paratransit system, and the state legislature’s RTD Accountability Committee voted earlier this month to recommend that RTD “undertake a comprehensive analysis and planning effort” as well.
In a statement to CPR News, Director JoyAnn Ruscha, who voted against the modifications, said she hopes the next board chair “takes an all-hands-on-deck approach to paratransit.
“All of this focus on Access-on-Demand took the spotlight away from Access-a-Ride, which is facing a myriad of problems right now. For some riders, it’s not even usable,” she wrote. “It is important to remember that what is legal is not always just. Meeting the bare minimums of anti-discrimination laws in public transit is like waking up and finding the floor.”
Who is ADAPT?
Over the last several decades, ADAPT has played a key role in the disability rights movement in the U.S.
It was born out of a historic protest for accessible public transit, when a group of 19 activists, known as “The Gang of 19,” brought downtown Denver traffic to a standstill by using their bodies to block two RTD buses for roughly 24 hours in July of 1978. They demanded accessible transit as they chanted: “We will ride.”
The group was a driving force in demonstrations in the U.S. Capitol in 1990, credited with getting federal lawmakers to pass the ADA. Over the summer, RTD’s Board of Directors voted to rename its downtown Civic Center Station in honor of the late Rev. Wade Blank, who co-founded Atlantis Community and was instrumental in organizing The Gang of 19 and early ADAPT activism.
“Whatever legal definitions RTD now relies on, this is not what voters thought they were approving. The RTD gravy train stops here,” ADAPT’s Tuesday statement continued.
A decorated RTD bus rolls down 15th Street during 9NEWS’ annual Parade of Lights downtown. Dec. 7, 2024.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Drunk and drugged driving can be a real temptation in the wee hours of New Year’s morning, after New Year’s Eve festivities have wrapped and sobriety is but a dream.
But there are life or death risks — and real consequences — with that, and the message is clear from officials across the state: Don’t do it.
“There are absolutely no safe levels of drinking or drug use when it comes to driving,” said Matthew Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, in a statement. “We must stop convincing ourselves that we’re ‘OK to drive’ after a drink or two. If you feel different, you drive different. Plan ahead — because one bad decision can change lives forever.”
In that spirit, the Regional Transportation District is offering Zero Fare for New Year’s Eve.
From 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 through 7 a.m. on Jan. 1, all RTD rail and bus lines, Access-a-Ride and FlexRide will be free.
“Ring in the new year without worrying about how you will get home,” said RTD CEO Debra Johnson in a statement. “Thanks to RTD’s continued partnership with Molson Coors, the entire transit system will be fare-free on New Year’s Eve, so customers can focus on celebrating safely.”
And fair warning: There will also be two fireworks shows on 16th Street – one at 9 p.m. and one at midnight. Both will slow down the RTD’s 16th Street FreeRide, causing potential connection problems.
Final trains from Denver’s Union Station include the following:
A Line: 1 a.m.
B Line: 1:09 a.m.
D Line: 12:48 a.m.
E Line: 12:55 a.m.
G Line: 1:01 a.m.
N Line: 1:26 a.m.
W Line: 12:56 a.m.
As for buses, the final rides run as follows:
16th Street FreeRide:
Final departure from Union Station at 12:52 a.m.
Final departure from Civic Center Station at 1:20 a.m.
Services may be paused between 7 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. because of fireworks displays
Route 83L:
Departs Civic Center Station Gate 5 at 1:10 a.m., after which the station will close
Route 15:
Departs Union Station at 12:14 a.m. with the Union Station Bus Concourse closing at 12:45 a.m.
What if you miss your bus or train?
If your New Year’s Day partying goes far beyond midnight, you may need an alternate way to get home.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Uber, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado State Patrol are offering up to $8-off ride shares for people who use the code JOYFULCO25. To enter it, download the Uber app, go to the Account section, click on Wallet and scroll down to “Add Voucher Code.”
“The holidays should be a time of joy, not heartbreak,” said Uber spokesperson Stefanie Sass, in a statement. “By providing a reliable alternative to drinking and driving, we’re helping Coloradans make the responsible choice to get home safely.”
Travelers heading to and from Denver International Airport on the Regional Transportation District’s A Line train will see up to 30-minute delays because of a signal problem, agency officials said Tuesday.
RTD canceled 24 trips and said the train is now running every 30 minutes, with eastbound trains leaving Union Station at 15 minutes and 45 minutes past the hour.
The westbound train from the airport into Union Station will leave at 12 minutes and 42 minutes past the hour. Updated service alerts are available online.
Transportation officials reported the signal problem just before 10:30 a.m.
DIA is expecting more than 845,000 passengers to pass through security during the Thanksgiving season and Tuesday will likely be one of the busiest days.
An Aurora pedestrian was struck by a train Wednesday morning after trespassing on the tracks as the A-Line approached, according to the Regional Transportation District.
The unidentified victim was a “trespasser” because the Peoria Station crossing areas were closed to pedestrians for the incoming train at the time of the incident, RTD spokesperson Tara Broghammer said.
“When an individual enters railroad property anywhere other than a designated pedestrian or roadway crossing, or when either crossing is closed, it is illegal and considered trespassing,” Broghammer said in an email to The Denver Post.
Broghammer said the victim was hit just after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, and paramedics took the person to a hospital with unknown injuries at 7:50 a.m. At that time, the pedestrian was still alive.
No one on the A-Line commuter rail train was injured, and buses temporarily replaced the train between the Central Park and 40th & Airport Boulevard stations while police investigated, Broghammer said.
As of 8:45 a.m., the A-Line had resumed service, according to RTD.
RTD’s A-Line takes commuters between Union Station in Denver and Denver International Airport.
The RTD train platform at Union Station at evening rush hour. Jan. 31, 2024.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The haze of teensy dots that currently obscures oh-so-many bus and train windows will soon to be a thing of the past.
The transit agency’s board voted 9-4 Tuesday night to ban ad wraps from covering vehicle windows, starting next year. Existing wraps will stay in place until their current advertising contracts run out.
According to RTD, 493 buses, 128 light rail vehicles and 48 commuter rail vehicles currently have ads over at least some of their windows — and those wraps earned RTD $786,000 between April and September, more than 40 percent of the transit system’s total ad revenue in that time.
Despite the potential for lost revenue, RTD says directors took the action after years of pressure from transit advocates.
“This is a huge victory for riders and the rider experience,” James Flattum, co-founder of the group Greater Denver Transit said Wednesday. “There was a consensus last night that this was an improvement in rider experience that RTD can afford.”
Greater Denver Transit coordinated an email campaign asking RTD to nix window ads, which it complains keep riders from enjoying metro scenery, make it harder for people to spot their stops and contribute to a sense of buses and trains as dim and uninviting.
On the board, the measure was championed by RTD director Brett Paglieri, who represents a Lakewood-focused district.
In a release touting the end of window ads, RTD noted it is also ending a program that allowed digital advertising on screens at train platforms and bus stops.
ENGLEWOOD — Metro Denver budtender Quentin Ferguson needs Regional Transportation District bus and trains to reach work at an Arvada dispensary from his house, a trip that takes 90 minutes each way “on a good day.”
“It is pretty inconvenient,” Ferguson, 22, said on a recent rainy evening, waiting for a nearly empty train that was eight minutes late.
He’s not complaining, however, because his relatively low income and Medicaid status qualify him for a discounted RTD monthly pass. That lets him save money for a car or an electric bicycle, he said, either of them offering a faster commute.
Then he would no longer have to ride RTD.
His plight reflects a core problem of lagging ridership that RTD directors increasingly run up against as they try to position the transit agency as the smartest way to navigate Denver. Most other U.S. public transit agencies, too, are grappling with a version of this problem.
In Colorado, state-government-driven efforts to concentrate the growing population in high-density, transit-oriented development around bus and train stations — a priority for legislators and Gov. Jared Polis — hinge on having a swift public system that residents ride.
But transit ridership has failed to rebound a year after RTD’s havoc in 2024, when operators disrupted service downtown for a $152 million rail reconstruction followed by a systemwide emergency maintenance blitz to smooth deteriorating tracks that led to trains crawling through 10-mph “slow zones.”
The latest ridership numbers show an overall decline this year, by at least 3.9%, with 40 million fewer riders per year compared with six years ago. And RTD executives’ newly proposed, record $1.3 billion budget for 2026 doesn’t include funds for boosting bus and train frequency to win back riders.
Frustrations intensified last week.
“What is the point of transit-oriented development if it is just development?” said state Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat representing Englewood who chairs the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. “We need reliable transit to have transit-oriented development. We have cities that have invested significant resources into their transit-oriented communities. RTD is not holding up its end of the bargain.”
At a retreat this past summer, a majority of the RTD’s 15 elected board members agreed that boosting ridership is their top priority. Some who reviewed the proposed budget last week questioned the lack of spending on service improvements for riders.
“We’re not moving the needle. Ridership is not going up. It should be going up,” director Karen Benker said in an interview.
“Over the past few years, there’s been a tremendous amount of population growth. There are so many apartment complexes, so much new housing put up all over,” Benker said. “Transit has to be relied on. You just cannot keep building more roads. We’re going to have to find ways to get people to ride public transit.”
Commuting trends blamed
RTD Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson, in emailed responses to questions from The Denver Post, emphasized that “RTD is not unique” among U.S. transit agencies struggling to regain ridership lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson blamed societal shifts.
“Commuting trends have significantly changed over the last five years,” she said. “Return-to-work numbers in the Denver metro area, which accounted for a significant percentage of RTD’s ridership prior to March 2020, remain low as companies and businesses continue to provide flexible in-office schedules for their employees.”
In the future, RTD will be “changing its focus from primarily providing commuter services,” she said, toward “enhancing its bus and services and connections to high-volume events, activity centers, concerts and festivals.”
But agency directors are looking for a more aggressive approach to reversing the decline in ridership. And some are mulling a radical restructuring of routes.
Funded mostly by taxpayers across a 2,345 square-mile area spanning eight counties and 40 municipalities — one of the biggest in the nation — RTD operates 10 rail lines covering 114 miles with 84 stations and 102 bus routes with 9,720 stops.
“We should start from scratch,” said RTD director Chris Nicholson, advocating an overhaul of the “geometry” of all bus routes to align transit better with metro Denver residents’ current mobility patterns.
The key will be increasing frequency.
“We should design the routes how we think would best serve people today, and then we could take that and modify it where absolutely necessary to avoid disruptive differences with our current route map,” he said.
Then, in 2030, directors should appeal to voters for increased funding to improve service — funds that would be substantially controlled by municipalties “to pick where they want the service to go,” he said.
Reversing the RTD ridership decline may take a couple of years, Nicholson said, comparing the decreases this year to customers shunning a restaurant. “If you’re a restaurant and you poison some guests accidentally, you’re gonna lose customers even after you fix the problem.”
The RTD ridership numbers show an overall public transit ridership decrease by 5% when measured over the 12-month period from August 2024 through July 2025, the last month for which staffers have made numbers available, compared with the same period a year ago.
Bus ridership decreased by 2% and light rail by 18% over that period. In a typical month, RTD officials record around 5 million boardings — around 247,000 on weekdays.
The precautionary rail “slow zones” persisted for months as contractors worked on tracks, delaying and diverting trains, leaving transit-dependent workers in a lurch. RTD driver workforce shortages limited deployment of emergency bus shuttles.
This year, RTD ridership systemwide decreased by 3.9% when measured from January through July, compared with that period in 2024. The bus ridership this year has decreased by 2.4%.
On rail lines, the ridership on the relatively popular A Line that runs from Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport was down by 9.7%. The E Line light rail that runs from downtown to the southeastern edge of metro Denver was down by 24%. Rail ridership on the W Line decreased by 18% and on R Line by 15%, agency records show.
The annual RTD ridership has decreased by 38% since 2019, from 105.8 million to 65.2 million in 2024.
A Regional Transportation District light rail train moves through downtown Denver on Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Light rail ‘sickness’ spreading
“The sickness on RTD light rail is spreading to other parts of the RTD system,” said James Flattum, a co-founder of the Greater Denver Transit grassroots rider advocacy group, who also serves on the state’s RTD Accountability Committee. “We’re seeing permanent demand destruction as a consequence of having an unreliable system. This comes from a loss of trust in RTD to get you where you need to go.”
RTD officials have countered critics by pointing out that the light rail’s on-time performance recovered this year to 91% or better. Bus on-time performance still lagged at 83% in July, agency records show.
The officials also pointed to decreased security reports made using an RTD smartphone app after deploying more police officers on buses and trains. The number of reported assaults has decreased — to four in September, compared with 16 in September 2024, records show.
Greater Denver Transit members acknowledged that safety has improved, but question the agency’s assertions based on app usage. “It may be true that the number of security calls went down,” Flattum said, “but maybe the people who otherwise would have made more safety calls are no longer riding RTD.”
RTD staffers developing the 2026 budget have focused on managing debt and maintaining operations spending at current levels. They’ve received forecasts that revenues from taxpayers will increase slightly. It’s unclear whether state and federal funds will be available.
RTD directors and leaders of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, an environmental group, are opposing the rollback of RTD’s planned shift to the cleaner, quieter electric hybrid buses and taking on new debt for that purpose.
Colorado lawmakers will “push on a bunch of different fronts” to prioritize better service to boost ridership, Froelich said.
The legislature in recent years directed funds to help RTD provide free transit for riders under age 20. Buses and trains running at least every 15 minutes would improve both ridership and safety, she said, because more riders would discourage bad behavior and riders wouldn’t have to wait alone at night on often-empty platforms for up to an hour.
“We’re trying to do what we can to get people back onto the transit system,” Froelich said. “They do it in other places, and people here do ride the Bustang (intercity bus system). RTD just seems to lack the nimbleness required to meet the moment.”
Denver Center for the Performing Arts stage hand Chris Grossman walks home after work in downtown Denver on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Riders switch modes
Meanwhile, riders continue to abandon public transit when it doesn’t meet their needs.
For Denver Center for the Performing Arts theater technician Chris Grossman, 35, ditching RTD led to a better quality of life. He had to move from the Virginia Village neighborhood he loved.
Back in 2016, Grossman sold his ailing blue 2003 VW Golf when he moved there in the belief that “RTD light rail was more or less reliable.” He rode nearly every day between the Colorado Station and downtown.
But trains became erratic as maintenance of walls along tracks caused delays. “It just got so bad. I was burning so much money on rideshares that I probably could have bought a car.” Shortly before RTD announced the “slow zones” last summer, he moved to an apartment closer to downtown on Capitol Hill.
He walks or rides scooters to work, faster than taking the bus, he said.
Similarly, Honor Morgan, 25, who came to Denver from the rural Midwest, “grateful for any public transit,” said she had to move from her place east of downtown to be closer to her workplace due to RTD transit trouble.
Buses were late, and one blew by her as she waited. She had to adjust her attire when riding her Colfax Avenue route to Union Station to manage harassment. She faced regular dramas of riders with substance-use problems erupting.
Morgan moved to an apartment near Union Station in March, allowing her to walk to work.
She still hoped to rely on RTD for concerts and nightlife, and to reach DIA for work-related flights at least once a month. But RTD social media posts have alerted her to enough delays on the A Line that she no longer trusts it, she said. To reduce her “anxiety” and minimize the risk of missing her flights, she shells out for rides — even though these often get stuck in traffic.
She and her boyfriend recently tried RTD again, riding a train to the 38th and Blake Station near the Mission Ballroom. They attended “an amazing concert” there, she said, and felt happy as they walked to the station to catch the train home.
A man on the platform collapsed backward, hitting his head. He was bleeding. She called 911. Her boyfriend and other riders gathered. She ran across the street to an apartment building and grabbed paper towels. RTD isn’t really to blame, but “I just wish they had a station platform attendant, or someone. I do not know head-injury first aid,” Morgan said.
The train they’d been waiting for came and went. An ambulance arrived. They got home late, the evening ruined, she said.
“His head cracked open. He had skin flaps hanging off his head. This was stuck in my head, at least for the rest of the night.”
RTD directors faced a barrage of public opposition and were locked in debate Tuesday night over how to restructure the agency’s Access-on-Demand service, which provides free rides to people with disabilities on commercial services such as Uber and Lyft.
The directors were wrestling with a staff proposal to impose a base fare of $6.50, reduce the maximum per-ride subsidy from $25 to $20 for up to 60 rides per month, and end the 24/7 availability across the Regional Transportation District’s 2,342-mile service area. They voted 10-5 to set the base fare at $4.50, but had yet to agree on other changes at 9:30 p.m.
For more than a year, RTD’s 15 elected directors have been unable to decide on the changes that Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson recommended to make Access-on-Demand “financially viable.”
On Tuesday night, they heard more than three hours of appeals by metro Denver residents with disabilities who urged RTD to maintain a service they described as a lifeline.
A transit fare of $6.50 “may not sound like much to you. But it would make it so that I cannot afford to go to work,” Gabby Gonzales, who works part-time at a pizza restaurant and estimated her monthly income at about $1,100. “Please keep it as it is. Make it affordable for me.”
It’s a matter of “freedom,” said Molly Kirkham, who told directors Access-on-Demand “changed my life,” enabling her to live independently and work. “We want to be in the community.”
State Sen. Faith Winter referred directors to a letter signed by 30 lawmakers opposed to the changes that she said “will harm our community.” And James Flattum, spokesman for the grassroots advocacy group Greater Denver Transit, said doing the right thing means preserving the service as is. “Please do not raise fares for our disabled neighbors in this community,” he said.
RTD directors also were considering whether to order a new study of transit for people with disabilities in metro Denver encompassing Access-on-Demand and the separate, legally required Access-a-Ride service that demands day-before reservations for shared mini-bus rides with a standard fare of $4.50. A “peer review” of Access-on-Demand by national public transportation officials that RTD chief Johnson commissioned last year concluded RTD should restructure the program to ensure “financial sustainability.” Access-on-Demand costs about $17 million out of the RTD’s $1.2 billion annual budget.
The monthly ridership using Access-on-Demand reached 73,000 in July, according to RTD records. That’s more than 10 times the ridership when agency directors launched Access-on-Demand five years ago.
Six people were taken to the hospital after a “serious” multi-vehicle crash that closed southbound Interstate 25 and a light rail line near Greenwood Village on Thursday night.
South Metro Fire Rescue crews responded to the crash at 6:52 p.m. near I-25 and Arapahoe Road, the agency said on social media. A hazardous materials truck also responded to the scene for a fuel leak from one of the vehicles.
Further information about the severity of injuries was not immediately available.
The highway will likely be closed for an extended period of time, and the Regional Transportation District’s E Line is also shut down because of debris from the crash on the track, South Metro spokesperson Brian Willie said.
Shuttle buses are replacing E Line service at the Lincoln, County Line, Dry Creek, Arapahoe at Village Center, Orchard, Belleview and Southmoor stations until further notice, according to an RTD alert.
Southbound I-25 is closed at exit 198 for Orchard Road and Greenwood Village, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The Greenwood Village Police Department is investigating the crash, Willie said.
The wreck happened around 6:25 a.m. As the bus on Route 15L was heading westbound on I-70, it was rear ended. When first responders arrived on scene, the RTD bus driver did not report any injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was killed in the crash, RTD confirmed.
Westbound I-70 is closed at Holly Street, putting traffic on E. 45th N. Drive — previously Stapleton Drive North — over to Colorado Boulevard where Luber expects there to be backup at the stoplight there. Drivers on I-70 caught behind the closure are backed up to S. Peoria Street and Interstate 225.
This is a scary looking crash on WB 70 before Colorado in the left lane. The entire engine compartment is burned up. No info on how many people might be on that but besides the driver. pic.twitter.com/GPRqRX8wZM
Luber recommends morning commuters use westbound Interstate 270 or southbound Interstate 25 instead. Anyone on westbound I-70 east of Central Park should use side roads or I-270, I-25. Anyone not on westbound I-70 should use side roads past Colorado Boulevard, according to Luber.
The RTD bus was not in service at the time of the crash, according to DPD, and so there were no passengers on board.
Driver hits RTD bus on westbound Interstate 70 at Holly Street Monday morning
DPD told Luber, officers will keep westbound I-70 closed back after Quebec Street as they investigate the wreck.
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A woman died and an infant was injured when a Mercedes SUV driven by the woman collided head-on with an RTD bus Thursday evening in Aurora.
Police responded to the crash at 5:18 p.m. at East 30th Avenue and East Parklane Drive. The woman and the infant, who wasn’t restrained, were thrown from the vehicle. Both were taken to the hospital.
Police said the woman died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The infant remains hospitalized with serious injuries.
Their names weren’t released.
Several passengers on the RTD bus were checked for injuries. One passenger and the bus driver were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are looking at speed and possible intoxication as possible factors involved in the crash.
And that of the Broncos’ last 15 postseason games in Denver, eight of them — per Pro-Football-Reference.com — were played in temperatures 37 degrees or warmer? The last five Empower Field playoff temps: 43, 46, 40, 41, 63.
Snow down, Broncomaniacs.
Denver won’t just be playing in Super Bowls over the next decade.
We’ll be hosting them.
“The Broncos have been, since Day 1 of the franchise, an important fabric and part of the community in Denver,” Broncos CEO Greg Penner told The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel in an exclusive interview. “Finding a site of that size that we could weave into the downtown area and all that just was incredibly unique, combined with the historic nature of the site. …
“We have the bones of the old railyard and a couple of buildings and a unique site that we think enables us to create something unique and special, both with the stadium and the mixed-use development around it.”
The Walton-Penner Group just raised the roof without raising taxes. Despite overtures from Lone Tree and Aurora, they’re keeping the Broncos in Denver. Where they belong.
In other words, Penner and his wife Carrie Walton-Penner read the room the way Peyton Manning read defenses at the line of scrimmage.
“We’re really thrilled that they came with that partnership mentality and not, like we’ve seen in other cities, ‘You give us a bunch of money or we’ll leave,’” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told The Post. “I think the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is deeply committed to Denver and deeply committed to the community.”
Not anymore. You want a venue with 60,000-plus seats that can host Taylor Swift in March or April? Check. You want a venue where football fans can still feel the elements on an autumn gameday? Got that, too. Open that bad boy up and let the Colorado sunshine in.
We don’t need the cool kids on the coasts to tell us Denver is the best darn sports city in America. But building a multi-purpose stadium at Burnham Yard gives the Front Range many more chances to prove it — and on the largest stages imaginable.
New Orleans officials recently estimated that Super Bowl LIX was worth more than $1.25 billion in economic impact to the Crescent City. San Antonio boasted an economic bump of $440 million from hosting the Men’s Basketball Final Four this past April.
You wouldn’t want a piece of that?
The Penners do. And thank goodness.
“The goal is to create something that is active on gameday,” Penner stressed to The Post, “but also (for) the rest of the year.”
There’s nothing wrong with Empower Field, which opened in 2001. There’s nothing all that right about it, either, at least from a real estate purview. Even the best ideas, like the best concrete, get weathered by time.
Pro sports owners are playing a different level of Monopoly than they were three decades ago. It’s not just about owning Tennessee Avenue anymore. It’s about gobbling up St. James Place and New York Avenue next door, then making sure a row of strip malls, restaurants and hotels get built on top of them. Collect the rent, funnel some of that money to Bo Nix and Nik Bonitto, pass GO, collect $200. Rinse. Repeat.
Stadiums are so expensive to build that a single-use facility, especially one available for 12-20 dates a year instead of 50-60, isn’t cost-effective. The land around Empower Field is owned by the Metropolitan Football Stadium District. Whatever’s built at Burnham Yard will be owned by the Walton-Penner Group and designed with a neighborhood in mind, not just the stadium itself.
Oh, there will be bumps. That’s inevitable. The city’s slated to foot the bill for public improvements related to connectivity to the stadium — exit ramps, roads, RTD, etc. And Tuesday’s announcements didn’t mention Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) — a one-time fee paid by fans for the “right” to buy a seat.
If there’s a cloud rolling in behind all those rainbows, it’s that. PSLs seem inevitable here, too — a survey the Broncos sent to fans in 2023 included that very subject.
Would a Super Bowl be worth that? Everyone who let hosting a World Cup slip away from soccer-mad Denver in 2026 should land a red card for life. With this new district, hopefully, it won’t happen again.
Five years down the line, who knows? In 2020, as a franchise, the Broncos looked listless and lost — a sleeping giant resting on the laurels of orange-and-blue bloods everywhere.
The Walton-Penner ownership group woke everybody up. The beast is taking names now. It’s buying up land. It’s drawing castles in the sky.
For what it’s worth, Penner sounds as if he wants to keep the lid off as much as possible. And for as many Broncos games as feasible. He gets it. All of it.
“We wanted something that is true to our roots here and looked at domed stadiums,” Penner told The Post. “But (we) just thought that wouldn’t enable us to take advantage of Colorado sunsets and Mile High views and playing in the elements if we choose to.”
Give the Penners an inch, they’ll take a Yard. All the way to the bank.
Greyhound Lines buses will continue to operate out of Denver’s Union Station after RTD initially told the company they would end their contract in August 2025 over rider safety and security concerns.
RTD extended the contract another 18 months, until February 2027, after the company agreed to several new conditions, RTD spokesman Stuart Summers said.
“RTD has been actively engaged with Greyhound’s leadership to communicate the agency’s concerns related to personal safety and security matters and operational challenges,” he said. “RTD recognizes and appreciates Greyhound’s good faith efforts to address and mitigate the agency’s previous concerns.”
In the past, RTD said that Greyhound made patrolling and securing the bus concourse difficult by abandoning buses there and leaving customers in the concourse overnight. The bus service’s long waits also caused crowding and loitering in the area, spokeswoman Pauline Haberman said at the time.
Greyhound agreed to several changes, including requirements for it to provide prompt and thorough communications to RTD, adhere to RTD’s customer code of conduct, attend monthly meetings and “provide liquidated damages that may incur with certain activities.”
That could include Greyhound buses parked in the Denver Union Station’s high-occupancy vehicle lane, buses left unattended at gates, damage to the concourse and passenger conduct “not resolved in a reasonable amount of time,” according to the emailed statement from Summers.
The company will continue to look for a new location for the intercity bus service, Summers said.
RTD previously entered into an initial five-year agreement with Greyhound on Aug. 31, 2020. When RTD first announced it would boot the company from Union Station, Front-line bus Agent Loretta Hamilton implied the decision was because Denver wanted to push low-income and vulnerable people out of public view.
Representatives for Greyhound could not immediately be reached for comment.
BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder County is taking the first major step toward reimagining how residents get around, unveiling plans for its first-ever strategic transit plan and asking the community to weigh in on the future of transportation.
The effort, called “Linking Boulder County,” is a push toward a more coordinated, equitable, and sustainable transit network. That could include the Northwest Rail Line, which would link Denver to Boulder and Longmont.]
For longtime residents like Claudia Hanson Thiem, a board member of the nonprofit Boulder Progressives, current transit options leave much to be desired. Denver7’s Colin Riley spoke with Hanson Thiem at Boulder Junction’s Depot Square Station.
“I live about four miles away from this station, up in north Boulder, and it is actually easier, faster for me, to access this location in Boulder by bike than it is by transit,” Thiem said. “There are places that you can get to in the city of Boulder with transit, but if you need to change buses, for example, you’re looking at long wait times. You’re looking at unreliable service, and that’s the situation that I deal with.”
Thiem, who often advocates for communities that cannot drive or choose not to, fears these populations are too often overlooked.
“I think there’s a real tendency to leave them out. So if you look at our population here in Boulder, and really anywhere in the US, there’s 30% or more people who do not drive at all, right?” she said. “There are a lot of reasons why people are not traveling by private car. And yes, it’s hard to be heard.”
She points out that improving transit is not just about mobility, but also touches on affordability, climate change, and universal access.
“It’s part of climate action, because private car emissions are one of the largest local contributors to greenhouse gases,” Thiem said. “This is an area where we can make a big difference if we can change some transportation behaviors. One of the most important goals that we could have coming out of it is to have a focus on frequent and reliable transit service.”
Boulder County officials say the plan is intended to ensure that “these efforts are happening in a coordinated fashion,” and to work “towards common goals and a shared vision.”
Colin Riley, Denver7
Candidate for Boulder City Council, Jenny Robbins.
Jenny Robbins, a candidate for Boulder City Council and parent of two teenage daughters who regularly ride the bus, is encouraged by the new direction.
“I think it will help the whole community. From a climate perspective, it will help us reach our climate goals with our carbon emission reduction, as well as just be more equitable,” Robbins said. “It allows people to get from place to place where they need to go more efficiently.”
Robbins says the plan must address not only gaps in bus routes, but also work holistically to improve connections for pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders, train passengers, and drivers alike.
“We have to do that on bikes. We have to do that on buses. We have to do that on trains, and we have to do that by being able to walk from place to place,” Robbins said. “If all of these things can connect through our existing trails and our existing infrastructure, I think that would be fantastic. It would help our workers get to work on time. It would help our seniors with their independence. It would help our kids be safer and our students get to and from school.”
Both Thiem and Robbins emphasized the importance of incorporating a diverse range of voices in the planning process.
“Bringing the voices from the community together to talk about it is so important, because if you don’t have that, then you really don’t know what real-life experience is from people,” Robbins said.
Boulder County is currently recruiting members for a community advisory committee to help guide the project. Residents are encouraged to apply and contribute their perspectives to help ensure the new transit network reflects the needs and experiences of everyone who lives and works in the area.
If you are interested in joining the project’s community advisory committee, you have until September 19 to submit an application, which can be found here.
Boulder County seeks public input for first-ever strategic transit plan
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Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Colin Riley
Denver7’s Colin Riley is a multimedia journalist who tells stories impacting all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on transportation and our state’s senior population. If you’d like to get in touch with Colin, fill out the form below to send him an email.
DENVER – A simple change in strategy for Denver’s Regional Transportation District, appears to be working.
After years of growing complaints about safety and security on public trains and buses, RTD data shows criminal incident reports have been trending downward, at their lowest point in July.
RTD publishes much of their statistics online. The following is data from 2025 so far.
In 2023, Denver7 Investigates went undercover to see the scope of the problem and found people doing drugs in plain sight. Regular riders told us, they saw drug use daily.
In the summer of 2025, riders may now notice a few more people on board light rail trains.
“A lot of security officers and police officers were on more static posts, they were just at a location, but they weren’t getting on our vehicles, they weren’t riding the trains back and forth, they weren’t getting on the busses,” said RTD Transit Police Chief Steven Martingano.
Before he was sworn in as Chief, he served as Acting Chief in 2024. He says he made a big change right away.
“We had asked them to start getting on the vehicles, checking fare,” he said.
Denver7 Investigates
‘It’s scary. It’s unsafe’: Drug use still rampant on RTD property
Ticket checks increased by 500% since 2024, and RTD said safety improved too.
“With the officers being on the trains, they’re highly visible, right? So they can interject if there’s any incidents happening,” he said.
RTD reports security related calls into RTD Police are down about 33% and reports of illegal drug use are down between 50-70% depending on the month compared to last year.
“Since this was so effective, why do you think this wasn’t done before?” asked Denver7 reporter Danielle Kreutter.
“I can’t explain why decisions were made before,” Martingano responded, “I took over as acting police in July. When I met with our teams, our security teams, as well as our police officer teams, I was trying to understand their direction. A lot of that was the static post- not really being on our vehicles. So then that’s when I made the immediate change. You could kind of see the 13 month decline from really last July to this August, every month, we continue to decrease, and I think a lot of that’s just a high visibility.”
The chief acknowledges there’s more work to be done.
“We don’t want to just make one plan and hope that works every single time,” he said.
The department is expected to have another 120-130 officers by the end of the year. Martingano also mentioned the recent completion of the evidence room at the police department which will reduce their reliance on other law enforcement agencies.
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Diageo has agreed to sell two of its Australian ready-to-drink brands, UDL and Ruski Lemon, to local drinks group Vok Beverages.
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
In a joint statement, Dan Hamilton, the managing director of Diageo’s Australia business, said: “The decision to sell UDL and Ruski was not made lightly but we believe it is the best way to preserve the legacy of these iconic brands and unlock future growth and innovation across Diageo’s broader portfolio.”
The sale to Vok Beverages is expected to be finalised by 1 October.
“Diageo Australia and Vok Beverages will work together to ensure a smooth transition for the continued supply of UDL and Ruski to their valued customer base,” the joint statement read.
Ruski Lemon is a vodka-based RTD beverage, while the UDL range contains pre-mixed cocktails in flavours such as Blue Lagoon, Piña Colada, and Mango Daiquiri.
The brands were created by Diageo and its predecessor company United Distillers Limited. UDL was launched in 1965, while Ruski came onto the market in 1997, the year Diageo was founded.
UDL and Ruski are sold mostly in Australia but also have “limited sales” in New Zealand and some markets in the South Pacific region, Diageo told Just Drinks.
Vok Beverages, founded in 2002, is the alcoholic drinks subsidiary of local company Bickford’s Group of Companies.
The South Australia-based business specialises in the production, sales and marketing of beer, wine, spirits, cider and RTD beverages.
Its portfolio includes 23rd Street Distillery gins, Beenleigh Rum and Vok Liqueurs.
In the statement, Vok Beverages managing director Angelo Kotses said: “Since 2002, Vok Beverages has been proudly crafting exceptional spirits, RTDs, beer, and wine from our local manufacturing facility in South Australia, building trusted brands with a passionate consumer following.
“We’re thrilled to be giving UDL and Ruski a bold new chapter, with exciting plans already underway to surprise, inspire, and delight both customers and consumers alike.”
Diageo still produces a range of RTD brands in Australia under the brands Bundaberg rum, Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky, Captain Morgan rum and Gordon’s gin.
The sale comes as Diageo intensifies its cost-saving efforts. The company recently announced plans to achieve $625m in cost savings over the next three years, an increase of $125m from its initial $500m target outlined in its ‘Accelerate’ initiative in May.
“Diageo sells two RTD brands to Australia’s Vok Beverages” was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand.
A 29-year-old man was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder after an early morning shooting on Denver’s Auraria Campus, police said.
Aaron Verner was arrested on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder and assault after shooting an Auraria Campus police officer in the arm, according to the Denver Police Department.
The shooting happened about 1:18 a.m. Monday after two Auraria Campus police officers approached someone who was breaking into a car, according to a news release from the campus police department.
