<html class="apple-mail-supports-explicit-dark-mode"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Thank you for this information.</div><div>I\u2019m definitely sending a letter in.</div><div><div dir="ltr">Have a great day, Ileen Gallegos</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Feb 22, 2026, at 9:32\u202fPM, Paul Sandoval via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">Just making sure you all see this.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Pay special attention to the section titled The numbers are in. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">These numbers are astounding!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Begin forwarded message:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b>From:</b> ADAPT Colorado <<a href="mailto:adapt.colorado@gmail.com">adapt.colorado@gmail.com</a>><br><b>Date:</b> February 22, 2026 at 4:43:48<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">\u202f</span>PM MST<br><b>To:</b> ADAPT Colorado <<a href="mailto:adapt.colorado@gmail.com">adapt.colorado@gmail.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>Latest RTD News from ADAPT 2/22/26 - Wins, Asks, and Data....</b><o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">\ufeff</span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">So much has happened since our last update! Let\u2019s start with the wins. </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Civic Center Station renaming / Rev. Wade Blank </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">A planned celebration of Civic Center Station\u2019s renaming has been indefinitely paused due to advocacy by ADAPT and a request from Wade\u2019s daughter, Caitlin. Although we fully support honoring Rev. Wade Blank\u2019s legacy, the timing \u2014amidst the drastic cuts to paratransit\u2014was wrong. It would have portrayed RTD as supporting our community while actively harming it. Although RTD says the renaming has already happened (on paper), there is no new sign on the building\u2013 and ADAPT will protest any attempt to raise it prior to meaningful paratransit reform.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">RTD meeting with ADAPT</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">RTD board chair Patrick O\u2019Keefe has engaged in dialogue with ADAPT. A team of ADAPT members sat down with Patrick this week. We presented our concerns, hard data, and requests for immediate action. Ongoing meetings will continue. While much focus has been on AoD, we have not left behind AAR riders or wheelchair users\u2014WAV on Demand issues persist, and we\u2019re working on that, too! </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Yet, there\u2019s still more to do\u2026</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Board meeting \u2014 30-second spots</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Yes, we\u2019re asking, AGAIN. Although hundreds of comments and hours of testimony have been ignored by the RTD board and management, it IS IMPORTANT for potential legal recourse to create a body of evidence in the public record that documents harm.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">You do not need to prepare a well-crafted 3-minute speech or a lengthy email. Think of this as a 30-second advertisement. Just state the harm\u2026</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">\u201cBecause of the AOD [<i>fare increase, subsidy reduction, re-enrollment requirement</i>] I have not been able to get to [<i>work, school, medical appointments</i>]. This has caused irreparable harm and undue burden on [<i>me, the person I care for, the person I represent</i>].\u201d</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">RTD Board meeting</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Tuesday, February 24th, 5:30pm</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">1660 Blake St, Denver 80202</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">\u2192 Email your comments to: </span><a href="mailto:rtd.boardoffice@rtd-denver.com"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">rtd.boardoffice@rtd-denver.com</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">\u2192 Attend the meeting virtually: To join the meeting, </span><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iY-C2UnWTaKJnxALwKSPkg#/registration"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Register Here</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">\u2192 Show up in person: We need to keep our faces in front of the board.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The numbers are in\u2026and they are shocking!</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">AOD riders dropped: On 1/1/26, <b>3,300 AOD riders (58%) were disenrolled</b> from the program because RTD created an arbitrary barrier to access by requiring re-enrollment in AOD even though riders had already met eligibility requirements. As of 1/31/26, more than 1,000 riders (36%) continued to be disenrolled.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Trips fell off a cliff: As a result of increased fares, reduced subsidies, and disenrollment, the <b>AOD trips dropped 42% </b>from Dec 2025 (~70,000 trips) to Jan 2026 (~40,000 trips). </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Riders are paying too much: The LIVE low-income discount program has been poorly communicated and is difficult to access. Of the 14,500 paratransit eligible riders (Access-a-Ride and AOD) <b>only 1,200 (8%) are enrolled</b> in the LIVE program. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Access-a-Ride is failing: In 2025, <b>over 2,000 rides were missed</b>\u2014either riders were never picked up\u2013 leaving them stranded, or their ride showed up so late that riders missed work, appointments, or were unable to get to where they were supposed to be that day. This is a systemic failure of an ADA-mandated program and is an unacceptable level of on-time performance by Federal Transit Administration (FTA) standards. <b>ADAPT has filed a formal complaint with the FTA Office of Civil Rights</b>. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Continued lack of independent analysis/study and oversight of RTD</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">SB25-161</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Last year the state legislature passed </span><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb25-161"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Senate Bill 161</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> which created an RTD Accountability Committee with one of the objectives being to review paratransit. We had hoped this would bring meaningful oversight; however, ADAPT is disappointed in the process (that excluded meaningful stakeholder input) and the outcome (that recommended RTD conduct its own analysis of paratransit). </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GrjnZl1Td7ooKCwooOfQ4uhZyHfE2GnH/view"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Accountability Committee Report</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><div><image.jpeg></div></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">ADAPT\u2019s demands:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc"><li style="color:black;margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Reinstate and re-enroll all AoD riders <o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="color:black;margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Enroll all paratransit riders in LIVE program<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="color:black;margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Conduct an Independent impact study<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin:0in"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">ADAPT Colorado</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></blockquote></div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Colorado-Talk mailing list</span><br><span>Colorado-Talk@nfbnet.org</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org</span><br><span>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Colorado-Talk:</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/ileenshere%40gmail.com</span><br><span>List archives can be found at <http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org></span><br></div></blockquote></div></body></html>