[Colorado-Talk] Denver Area: Important RTD Update, Meeting May 27

Tue May 19 01:28:35 UTC 2026

Hey, RTD riders and transit advocates!

This is a long one, but I wouldn't bug you if it wasn't important.

In this update:

*	Important correction: the Board meeting is Wednesday, not Tuesday
*	What's at stake on May 27
*	What the Board will actually vote on
*	The Board is not united 
*	Crickets about paratransit
*	What about those reserves?
*	A note on what we don't know yet
*	What you can do right now
*	Thursday planning meeting 

  _____  

Note on upcoming service changes: I'll be sending a separate message in the
coming week or so with details on the upcoming June 7 service changes,
including updated route schedules, once RTD makes that information
available. There's actually some genuinely good news in there, so stay
tuned.

  _____  

Important Correction: The Board Meeting Is Wednesday, Not Tuesday

If you've heard that the upcoming RTD Board meeting is next Tuesday, please
update your calendar - it's actually Wednesday, May 27 at 5:30 PM. Same
location, same stakes, just one day later. Don't let a wrong date be the
reason you miss it.

  _____  

What's at Stake on May 27

As many of you know, RTD management has been pushing hard for the Board of
Directors to approve sweeping cuts to bus and rail service starting January
3, 2027. We're talking about a recommended 20% reduction in service - and if
an anticipated $40 million state grant doesn't come through, that number
jumps to 36%. More than a third of RTD's entire system, gone.

The reason is real: RTD is facing a $215 million structural deficit, driven
largely by the end of federal pandemic relief funding. Management has
already identified $84 million in non-service cuts - layoffs, contract
eliminations, vacancy freezes, and the like. But they're telling the Board
that isn't enough, and that cutting service is unavoidable.

  _____  

What the Board Will Actually Vote On

The May 27 meeting is not a vote on which specific routes get cut. It's a
vote on whether to authorize the overall strategy and dollar target -
essentially giving management the green light to proceed with planning cuts
at this scale. If they approve it, the clock starts ticking. We won't know
which specific routes are on the chopping block until September, when RTD
publishes its proposed changes. The final vote on specific cuts comes
December 1.

So, May 27 is the moment to make noise before any decision gets locked in.

  _____  

This is not a done deal. Board member Karen Benker, who chairs the Finance
Committee, has said flat out she cannot support 20% cuts, and has been
pushing alternatives including fare increases, furloughs, and reduced
overtime. Directors Matt Larsen, JoyAnn Ruscha, and Michael Guzman have all
called publicly for going to voters for new revenue rather than cutting
service. We have allies on that board. They need to see us in that room.

And here's the part that should give every board member pause: if the Board
approves this proposal, they aren't just authorizing a plan - they're
locking themselves into one. They would be giving management a mandate that
service must be cut by these amounts, on this timeline. They would be
voluntarily boxing themselves into a corner with no room to maneuver if new
information emerges, if the CTE grant comes through at a different amount,
if a better alternative surfaces, or if public pressure reveals that
specific proposed cuts are unacceptable to the communities they serve. Why
would an elected board of directors deliberately surrender that flexibility
before a single public meeting on specific routes has been held? That's not
fiscal responsibility - that's handing management a blank check and calling
it a plan. The Board should be demanding options, not foreclosing them.

  _____  

Crickets on Paratransit

Here's what management didn't tell the Board, and what we need to say loudly
and clearly: their entire presentation on this crisis - a 50-page document -
never once mentioned paratransit. Not once. Under the ADA, RTD is required
to provide complementary paratransit service within three-quarters of a mile
of every fixed route. Cut the fixed routes, and the paratransit service area
shrinks with them. For blind, low-vision, and disabled riders, that's not an
inconvenience - it's losing the ability to get to work, to medical
appointments, to life itself. That silence from management is not an
oversight. It's a choice, and we need to call it out.

  _____  

What About Those Reserves?

RTD has roughly $800 million in reserves. Before you get too excited, three
of those four buckets are genuinely restricted: one maintains the minimum
operating cash cushion required by RTD's own financial policies, one is
earmarked for replacing aging buses and rail cars, and one is legally set
aside for completing the FasTracks expansion that voters approved back in
2004. Those are legitimately off-limits.

But the fourth bucket - about $227 million in what RTD calls unrestricted
reserves - is real money. Board chair O'Keefe tried to wave this away at the
April 21 meeting, saying "There's not a Scrooge McDuck vault where we're
carrying, keeping all our gold coins and stacks of bills. It is a budget
exercise first and foremost." With all due respect to Director O'Keefe,
that's not the whole story. That $227 million could be used as a bridge to
give RTD time to pursue a permanent revenue solution - for example, a ballot
measure in 2028 asking voters for additional funding, which management
itself has already recommended. If voters approved new funding in 2028, it
could begin flowing in 2029, potentially closing the gap without the kind of
draconian service cuts currently on the table.

  _____  

What We Don't Know Yet

As of right now, we don't have the presentation that management will
actually give to the Board next Wednesday. RTD has not yet posted the agenda
or packet for the May 27 meeting - which, given that the meeting is less
than two weeks away, is itself worth noting. We expect it to be posted
sometime this week, and we'll share it as soon as it's available. There's a
chance we'll have it by Thursday's planning meeting, which would let us dig
into the specifics together in real time.

When management presented their cuts in April, the Board's reaction, by all
accounts, was one of stunned silence. Management may come back with a
revised, perhaps more moderate proposal in response to that reaction - or
they may dig in and push hard for the full 20% cut regardless, betting that
the urgency of the budget deadline will carry the day. We're preparing for
both scenarios. Either way, the core message from our community doesn't
change: we demand transparency, we demand a full paratransit impact
analysis, and we will not be railroaded into silence on a timeline designed
to limit public input.

  _____  

What You Can Do Right Now

First and most importantly: come to the meeting in person on Wednesday, May
27 at 5:30 PM at RTD headquarters, 1660 Blake Street in Denver. I can't
stress this enough - showing up in person is more powerful than showing up
on Zoom. When the Board looks out and sees a room full of people who depend
on this system, it lands differently than a list of names on a screen. So,
if you can get there, please get there.

If you absolutely cannot attend in person, you can join via Zoom. I'll post
the registration link here as soon as it's available, likely later this
week.

Second: send a written public comment to RTD.Directors at rtd-denver.com
<mailto:RTD.Directors at rtd-denver.com> . Comments submitted before the
meeting become part of the official public record - every board member sees
them. Feel free to tell your story; or just three sentences will do it. Tell
them you rely on RTD. Tell them cuts to fixed routes shrink your paratransit
coverage. Tell them the Board should demand a full paratransit impact
analysis before voting on anything.

It's time to rally!

We fought them on Access-on-Demand, and we made a difference. Management
wanted to gut it, and the Board adopted something far more reasonable. 

Recently, RTD even called out the Colorado Center for the Blind by name in
their official June service change documents. That's what happens when this
community shows up loud and proud.

This time, they're counting on us to stay home. Let's disappoint them.

Wednesday, May 27. 5:30 PM. 1660 Blake Street, Denver. Be there.

  _____  

But First - Join Us Thursday Night

Let's get together on Thursday at 6 pm via Zoom. We'll go over everything we
know, help each other prepare public comments, and make sure everyone who
wants to speak on Wednesday feels ready and confident to do so. If you've
never made public comment before, this is exactly the place to start. We'll
help you every step of the way.

Zoom Info:

Join Zoom Meeting

<https://nfb-org.zoom.us/j/96873949405?pwd=OGt0TzZ0SjJRWmlGdTJzYTBacW9xdz09>
https://nfb-org.zoom.us/j/96873949405?pwd=OGt0TzZ0SjJRWmlGdTJzYTBacW9xdz09

Meeting ID: 968 7394 9405

Passcode: 123456

---

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The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado was built on one
foundational belief: that blind people, working together, can change what it
means to be blind in this world. We have fought for the right to work, to
travel, to live independently and with dignity. Access to public
transportation isn't a nicety - it's the infrastructure that makes all of
that possible. When they come for our buses, trains and vans, they're coming
for our independence. And when the NFB of Colorado shows up together, in one
voice, in one room, history has shown that we are a force that cannot be
ignored.

See you Thursday. Then next  Wednesday. Let's get to work.

-Tim Keenan,

State Transportation Chair

tkeenan at cocenter.org <mailto:tkeenan at cocenter.org> 

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