My official guide to the January 2009 RTD fare and service changes

RTD's Web site has all the information of the service "improvements" and fare increases explained on mundane detail.

But what do these changes mean to the average RTD rider. Well in this blog's inaugural post, I'll explain:

First the RTD fare increases:

RTD is increasing all regional fares from $1.75 to $2.00. (The third increase in five years). What does $2.00 a ride mean? Well for a commuter who rides twice a day, every work day, every month that comes to an additional $120 a year at least you have to give to RTDs coffers (That's even if you are a monthly pass holder, as RTD is increasing passes $10 a month). It may not seem like a lot, but I know I could use another $10 a month. 

The $2 fare puts Denver on the level with many other cities who have much superior public transportation than our city. New York, Chicago and Boston all have local transit that is $2 or even cheaper. (Boston's bus system only charges $1.25 to $1.50.) Anyone who has ever used public transit in those cities knows those transit agencies have extensive, on-time, frequent and effective service that frankly puts Denver to shame. In New York City, you can travel from north Bronx to east Brooklyn (easily 30 miles) with $2. And since Denver uses a stupid zone system for light rail, riders get to pay even more money simply because we cross an arbitrary line. Why do we in Denver have to pay an additional $2 to take light rail from downtown to Park Meadows mall, a distance half that of the scenario in NYC? 

At the public meetings held this summer, an RTD spokesman said Denver's fare increase was more in line with other city's. Of course he didn't compare the quality of service amongst the cities because anyone who has ever travelled outside of Denver knows that our public transit is significantly less effective than most.

At the public meetings for the fare increases held in September, an RTD spokesman said the increase was needed because of the increased fuel costs faced by RTD and a lack of sales tax revenue to deal with those high gas prices. Back in September, the diesel fuel used by RTD was averaging nearly $5 a gallon. It has since dropped to $2.57, a more than 50 percent decrease in only four months. Of course, RTD is still continuing with its fare increase even though the reason for that increase is basically nonexistent, especially since gas/diesel prices are expected to remain low or even decrease more in the foreseeable future. In a recession, so will sales tax collection. But it's in trying times like these that people are even more reliant on public transportation and in the complicated calculus of public transit funding, RTD should do all it can to encourage people to take transit by keeping fares as low as possible.