DENVER — The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is facing criticism for not showing up to a transportation hearing at the state capitol this week.
The Transportation Legislation Review Committee (TLRC) held a hearing Tuesday to discuss various transportation issues, including many concerning RTD.
“RTD in general is statutorily obligated to come to this committee and give their report, which they do every summer,” said State Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, the vice-chair of the committee. “We were sort of asking for something beyond that report we hear every year. We were asking for them to specifically address some of these outside reports that they hired someone to do.”
One report lawmakers wanted to ask about was a recent organizational assessment report which found RTD was plagued with a number of issues related to staffing and leadership.
The report said, “RTD’s organizational structure, staffing approach, and leadership dynamics are not supporting the agency to function in an optimal manner.”
It also said, “Certain agency practices discourage high performance and employee commitment.”
Lawmakers say it’s important to hear from RTD as they begin thinking about legislation for next year to potentially reform the agency, which is something many RTD riders and transit advocates have been calling for.
“I have lots of constituents who would like to either be down to one car per family or to do away with the family car, certainly Monday through Friday, and they are unable at the moment to rely on RTD to get them to work consistently, reliably and in a timely manner,” said Froelich, who introduced a bill last session aimed at reforming RTD.
The bill failed to pass.
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Looking to next year, Froelich said the strategy will change.
Instead of one bill, efforts to reform RTD will likely be broken up into multiple bills.
“I think the governance and these other pieces on ridership and workforce will be severed,” Froelich said. “I think the governance issue is important to discuss, but I don't think they'll be in the same bill the way they were last time because that was definitely a lesson learned.”
Denver7 reached out to RTD to ask about efforts to reform it.
"The Board of Directors, the General Manager and CEO, as well as her staff remain committed to pursuing good policy in future sessions, in partnership with State policymakers, that will support sustainable transit funding and increase equitable access for all customers," RTD said in a statement. "The agency is grateful to have so many voices and partners in the region helping to bolster its efforts, communicate ongoing challenges, and highlight opportunities."
In a letter to the committee, which was sent a few days before the hearing, RTD’s CEO Debra Johnson, explained why RTD leaders could not attend the July 23 hearing.
“Due to scheduling conflicts, the TLRC meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 25, 2024, is the best option available. I look forward to addressing the committee at that time,” Johnson said.
She also criticized lawmakers for reaching out to consultants hired by RTD to put together the organization assessment report and not her.
The letter noted that since the report was an “RTD work product,” consultants were not authorized to discuss it without Johnson’s permission.
“Please know that RTD is fully committed to transparency. I, appropriate members of my team, as well as RTD Board members are more than willing to discuss the committee’s questions as well as future, pending, or enacted legislation,” said Johnson.
While Johnston said September 25 was the day she and others from RTD could appear before the committee, Froelich said lawmakers were still hoping to hear from RTD earlier.
“Hopefully that happens in August,” said Froelich. “By September we're already pitching bill ideas. So, we're trying to get that conversation moved up.”
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