Denver, CO
RTD’s reduced fares and monthly pass prices take effect in the new year. Here is what’s changing.
Colorado’s Regional Transportation District will give its train and bus riders’ wallets a break in the new year by reducing its base local fare for the first time in its history — and slashing monthly pass costs even more deeply as part of a full revamp of its pricing.
The metro Denver transportation agency’s board approved the fare restructuring plan in July, and it takes effect on Monday, Jan. 1. The standard fare on most buses and most trains will be $2.75, down just a quarter from the current $3 local fare.
But by simplifying and combining some of its fare tiers, RTD’s changes will save many riders even more than that — including up to 56% if they purchase a full-price monthly pass.
An overview of the changes:
- The new $2.75 standard fare will replace the current local ($3) and regional ($5.25) fares for up to three hours of bus and train rides.
- Day passes for all rides except for those to Denver International Airport will cost $5.50, down from the current $6 local and $10.50 regional day passes.
- Rides that begin or end at DIA, including on the A-Line train, will cost $10, down from $10.50.
- RTD’s standard monthly pass will cost $88 for the entire system, down from the current $114 for a local pass and $200 for a regional pass (including airport access).
- Discount fares will be standardized at 50% off for all riders who qualify — people ages 65 and older, those with disabilities, Medicare recipients and riders who meet low-income qualifications. The new pricing is $1.35 for a regular three-hour fare, $2.70 for a day pass and $27 for a monthly pass.
Notably, the adjustment to RTD’s highest fare — for the airport — was slight, with that pass still costing $10. That was purposeful, according to RTD general manager and CEO Debra Johnson.
The fare changes are the result of three goals: “equity, simplicity and affordability,” Johnson said in an interview.
“We had an opportunity to really decrease the barriers to entry,” she said, since fare costs prevented some Coloradans from taking advantage of the transportation service.
Airport travelers typically don’t fall into lower-income brackets, she said, so that fare isn’t being reduced much. But airport workers who take transit and don’t receive an RTD pass through work will benefit significantly from the reduced cost of the monthly pass.
“When you talk about public transportation, I always say: My personal belief is it’s the great societal equalizer,” Johnson said.
When she first visited Denver to take on her leadership role more than three years ago, Johnson said, “I had difficulty deducing the fares” because of their complexity. That spurred her decision in 2021 to launch a lengthy fare study and equity analysis that took into account the voices of marginalized communities, culminating in last summer’s board approval of the updated fare structure.
In September, at the end of two months of free fares during the summer ozone season, RTD also kicked off a year-long Zero Fare for Youth pilot that is allowing riders 19 and younger to ride trains and buses without paying. It’s looking for partners to extend that program beyond August.
RTD expects ridership to rise as a result of the fare changes and the youth program, and fare revenue will decline. But fare revenue has covered just 5.6% of operating expenses this year, with sales taxes providing the lion’s share of RTD revenue.
As it comes out of the pandemic, RTD is stretched thin — with ridership still at roughly 60% of pre-pandemic levels and a continuing worker shortage that has slowed the restoration of service cuts.
Jacob Belgrad, a transportation advocate at GreenLatinos Colorado, called the fare decreases “a much-needed change, as the prices for public transit in Denver were among the worst nationally.”
As RTD’s ridership lags, he sees cost as a barrier. He said the group’s members were most excited about the new rates for the monthly and three-hour passes.
“When we look at other major cities like New York and Chicago, we see that their monthly pass and single ride prices are similar — around $90 and $2.50 to $3, respectively,” Belgrad said.
But price counts as “only one piece of the puzzle,” he added. On top of concerns about RTD lines’ reliability and frequency, “lots of people have reported feeling unsafe on Denver’s buses, primarily because of public drug use,” Belgrad said.
Danny Katz, executive director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, said that “anytime that we can make it more affordable and simpler to use transit, the better.”
He recognizes that RTD stands as “one of the most stable transit agencies coming out of the pandemic,” contrasting with many large agencies that face fiscal cliffs and other difficulties. The agency’s leadership is turning its attention toward tackling staffing challenges and reorienting the system to ensure the team isn’t stretched as thin as it once was, Katz said.
“Now’s the time to focus on growing ridership, and for that, we’ll need to see more frequent and fast service,” he said. “Service is what recruits riders.”
Curbing air pollution, tackling traffic and fighting climate change depends in part “on us having a good transit system,” Katz said, pointing to Seattle as a city that has invested in its system and gotten more people out of their cars.
“If a bus or a train isn’t coming every 10 minutes, then it’s just not a great option,” he said. “Fewer people will be able to or even choose to use it.”
Denver, CO
Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets
Phoenix Suns coming off back-to-back wins
The Phoenix Suns won their last two games despite missing injured guard Bradley Beal. What’s next for the team?
The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.
The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.
It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.
Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.
A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.
Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.
What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.
The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.
The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.
Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.
Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns
The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.
Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.
Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.
Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT
In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.
Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.
Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.
Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.
Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns
Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.
Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.
The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.
The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
Esther Romero
OBITUARY
Esther Romero (Lopez), 84, entered into eternal rest surrounded by her loving family. Born in Mt. Harris, Colorado, a small coal mining town near Steamboat Springs, her family moved to Denver in 1950. She graduated from North High School in 1957 and was the first in her family to attend college. She left for Colorado State College now UNC in 1958 where she soon met the love of her life and future husband Richard Romero. Esther graduated in 1961, married a week later, and together moved to Castle Rock where she began her career as an educator. Before long they returned to Denver where their three daughters were born. In 1972, Esther became one of Denver Public Schools first bilingual bicultural teachers and soon earned her Masters Degree from UNC. A passionate advocate, she understood the value of building a strong educational foundation in a child’s home language and honoring culture while also learning English. She taught at Elmwood, Del Pueblo, and Fairmont elementaries. A founding member of the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), Esther served as president for many years helping to ensure children in DPS had access to a quality bilingual education. She continued this work through her final days. Esther taught for 30 years, was recognized as a master teacher of children, an exceptional mentor and coach to future educators, and served as a liaison between CU-Denver and DPS. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.
Esther enjoyed traveling with family and friends to Mexico, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and almost all fifty states. She and Richard were avid Broncos fans holding season tickets since 1970, traveling to two Super Bowls. She loved organizing family gatherings, gambling trips, camping, reading, puzzles, and playing games with family. She had the unique ability to make everyone feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.
She was preceded in death by her parents Luis and Tommie G. Lopez, devoted husband Richard Romero, brother Baltazar Lopez ( Lourdes) and survived by her loving daughters Rosana (Dean) Trujillo, Carla (Arturo) Perez, Diana (John) Romero Campbell, and her grandchildren Arturito, Juliana, Claudia, Sofia, Orlando, Geronimo and Alicia, her sister Alice (Joe) Marquez, brothers Louie (Pat dec.) Lopez, Davey (Pat dec.) Lopez, Robert (Shari) Lopez, Ray (Melva) Lopez, and numerous extended family members. Please see www.cfcscolorado.org for service details.
The Salvation Army provides shelter, meals, and support for families in need in our community every day, but they need help to raise those donations.
They have put out a call for paid and volunteer bell ringers to collect donations vital to support their programs and services.
All of the donations raised go to serve the Denver community. Funds go to serve families struggling to feed their children or provide gifts during the holidays as well as disaster services and much more for the residents of the Denver metro area.
Bell ringers get to pick their hours and location, and friends and families are encouraged to volunteer together and give back to the community.
Those interested in volunteering can sign up online at www.registertoring.com. To find a paid bell ringer position, applicants can visit the Salvation Corps nearest to their neighborhood.
A listing of all Denver area Corps locations is available at visiting.denver.salvationarmy.org. Applicants must be 18 or over to have a paid bell ringing position.
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