DENVER — The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is looking to partner with city governments for future transportation projects by soliciting their ideas and sharing the costs and operational responsibilities in the adopted plans.
There have been some early discussions with some metro-area municipalities, and RTD said it plans to officially launch the RTD Partnership Program and begin accepting formal pitches later this year.
“There’s a lot of great ideas out there, and we just want to have them formally brought to us to consider,” said Tina Jaquez, public relations manager for RTD.
According to presentation materials given to the Westminster City Council by RTD, the organization said it is creating the partnership program because local governments “have expressed a desire for more localized public transit service,” but that it “has limited resources to serve as both the regional and local public transit provider for the region.”
The program aims to encourage local governments to develop and submit proposals for new services to Subregional Service Councils. If approved, the local governments will share costs and operating responsibilities with RTD and third-party contractors.
“We hear that there are things that certain communities might need that we can’t provide. Maybe there’s an idea for a certain employment center needing a shuttle, or maybe a senior area needing a shuttle, or maybe a first mile last mile connection to a station,” Jaquez said. “We’ll evaluate those ideas and see if they’re viable, and we would share the cost with our partners, and also the operations. We would have a third-party contractor actually provide the transit.”
This comes at a time when more people are calling for expanded public transit options to reduce Colorado’s carbon footprint. Several people gathered Tuesday afternoon in Denver to protest the funding of fossil fuel companies, and to call for more investment in sustainable alternatives. Denver7 asked demonstrators how public transit fits into their vision for Colorado’s future.
“We definitely need to expand our public transportation from an environmental point of view,” said Arvada resident Shawna Foster. “But for my family, personally — my mom just retired and she does not want to drive anymore. My grandmother could not drive at night. And so, when public transportation is expanded, it’s not just an environmental issue, it’s an access issue to make sure that more people are able to go wherever they want and continue living independently for as long as possible.”
RTD said it hopes to begin accepting proposals from local communities this summer. Between now and then, it encourages residents to voice their transportation needs and desires to their city leaders.
