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Learn about Regional Transportation District including our Sustainability, News & Press Releases, Projects, and Team.

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Learn about Regional Transportation District including our Sustainability, News & Press Releases, Projects, and Team.

About Regional Transportation District

Created in: 1969
Square miles in service area: 2,342 square miles
Debt Outstanding: $2.884 billion

The Regional Transportation District provides public transportation in eight counties including all of Boulder, Broomfield, Denver and Jefferson counties, parts of Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, and a small portion of Weld County. As a public agency, we are dedicated to serving the public and providing for the transportation needs of over 3.08 million people located within 2,342 square miles. Our services include bus, rail, shuttles, ADA paratransit services, demand responsive services like FlexRide, special event services, vanpools, and many more.

We are an organization made up of dedicated and qualified people doing extraordinary things to make the metro area the best in the West. We take great pride in the delivery of a wide array of services and we’re proud to be part of the productivity, progress, and passion of 40 municipalities. Our wheels will never stop rolling as we transform the region through transportation.

Bus

The Regional Transportation District was created in 1969 by the 47th session of the Colorado General Assembly. Efforts in these early years focused on regional transportation planning.

In 1973 voters approved a 0.5% sales tax initiative to finance a $1.56 billion multi-modal transit system. At this time, RTD acquired privately owned bus companies, improved service frequencies, and expanded routes in numerous counties throughout the metro area. By 1976, ridership grew to 35.2 million rides annually.

Rail

RTD celebrated its first light rail opening October 7, 1994. The 5.3-mile D Line attracted hundreds of thousands of riders when it began operations with just eleven light rail vehicles. April 22, 2016 marked another monumental milestone in Denver transit history with the opening of the metro area's first high-speed commuter rail line - the A Line. Twelve rail lines service 78 stations along the Denver's North, East, Southeast, Southwest, and West rail corridors.

Fastracks: The Expansion of RTD

In November 2004, region voters approved FasTracks transit tax for region-wide expansion of transit service. The .04% sales tax (four cents on a $10 purchase) provides funds to build RTD’s FasTracks program - 122 miles of new commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit, and 21,000 new parking spaces at rail and bus stations. The program consists of six new rapid transit corridors and three existing corridor extensions and to expand and enhance service for easy, convenient bus/rail connections across the eight-county district.

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Sustainability

Learn about our environmental, social, and governance program, and how we bring those values to life with green bonds, sustainable projects, and more.

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News

August 1, 2024

RTD General News

Please click the below link to access RTD's general news section on their official website.

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News

November 20, 2023

RTD Launches New Website to Enhance Customer Experience

New site will provide improved navigation, enhanced support and accessibility for users

DENVER (Nov. 20,2023) — The Regional Transportation District (RTD) launched a fully redesigned website that features improved navigation, enhance online accessibility, updated photography and refreshed content. The new website was designed after feedback sessions with members of the RTD Board of Directors, staff, customers, stakeholders and the community to identify needs and explore opportunities.

The site has better adaptability for mobile devices, which constitutes approximately 80% of RTD’s overall web traffic and is available in English, Spanish and Chinese. Denver metro area’s next most widely used languages, including Vietnamese and Russian, will roll out in the first quarter of 2024.

RTD’s new website was built using Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 and AA Level. The website also incorporates a third-party tool called accessiBe to provide even more support for users who need enhanced accessibility assistance. accessiBe is important because it allows users to optimize content for screen readers, remove flashes in support of seizure-prone individuals, and magnify and scale text, among dozens of other related features.

In addition to internal meetings and a robust sampling of customers through an online research tool, feedback sessions were also held with the RTD Citizens Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities. The process to solicit and collect feedback supported the agency’s desire to create a website that met the needs of customers, stakeholders, employees and community members.

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News

August 28, 2023

S&P Global Ratings Upgrades RTD’s FasTracks Bond Rating to Highest Possible of AAA

S&P Global Ratings upgrades RTD’s FasTracks bond rating to highest possible of AAA

S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor’s) has upgraded its RTD FasTracks bonds to AAA from AA+ and gave the bonds a stable outlook, reflecting its view that RTD’s financial condition is strong. The AAA credit-worthiness rank is the highest rating issued by the S&P Global Ratings, and it means RTD has an extremely strong capacity to meet all financial commitments.

In July, the RTD Board of Directors approved staff to refund and refinance FasTracks debt, which strengthens the agency’s standing as supported in a statement made in a news release by S&P Global Ratings on Aug. 10.

S&P Global Ratings recognized the fiscal decisions the RTD Board and staff have made to stabilize RTD’s financial position as it moved out of the pandemic.

“The AAA rating highlights both the strong financial position and prudent financial management of the agency’s resources,” said RTD Chief Financial Officer Doug MacLeod. “The rating change on the FasTracks bonds also increases the probability that RTD will be able to reduce borrowing costs with any future FasTracks bond refinancing activity.”

RTD is scheduled to close on the refinanced FasTracks bonds in September. The Invitation to Tender Bonds and Preliminary Official Statement for the expected refunding can be found here: https://emma.msrb.org/P11732686.pdf.

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