RTD: More for Less

As the Rocky Mountain News article from a few weeks ago hinted at, RTD finally revealed proposals for its "5 percent cut in services," and all I can say is ouch! Right on the heels of a 14 percent fare increase, RTD wants to saddle its riders with significant service reductions on 48 separate routes, meaning more than 30 percent of all RTD routes will see some kind of service cut.

RTD is proposing to cut these routes all together: The G light rail line from Lincoln to Nine Mile, the 465 on south Yosemite, 410 in Franktown and Parker, the 75 on Mineral and Ken Caryl Avenues, the 125 in the Denver West area, the 49 in northwest Denver, CC in Coal Creek, the U which connects Pine Junction and Conifer with Denver, the 145X, 108X, 76X,  and 88X, which are all higher-fare express busses that provide quick connections with communities and a specific destination (the 145X connects Brighton with DIA). The 38 and 24 Limited busses are also being discontinued as are the Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker and Brighton Call-and-Ride Services. A lot of these cuts are unfortunately to areas on the fringes of RTD service coverage and represent a significant and sometimes complete loss of service (The discontinuation of the CC, for example completely gets rid of any transit service to the Coal Creek area, even though they will likely continue to pay sales taxes to RTD). 

The other proposed cuts range from slight to severe. Many bus lines are likely to lose whole parts of coverage or late night, weekend and/or midday service. 

One of the biggest proposed cuts in my mind is to the 1 bus on west First Avenue. RTD wants to discontinue the 1A service which provided a small detour on 5th avenue between Sheridan and Knox Ct. and allowed extra service for riders on the rest of the route. RTD also wants to reduce service to a half hour during rush hour and to an hour other times and simply discontinue several other trips during the day.  I ride this bus quite often and it always has riders: Students going to school, low-income workers going to their jobs Downtown or in Cherry Creek, families going to the two Denver Health clinics on the route. I once saw a teenage kid with what looked like a stab wound take the bus to the Denver Health Emergency Room. Basically it is a route filled with transit-dependent riders and RTD is proposing to make it harder for them to meet the basic transportation requirements of their lives. 

The 1 is just an example of what RTD is proposing. There are a lot of other large cuts, especially to a lot of neighborhood routes.

A note on the brochure reads, "Due to current economic conditions (sales tax shortfalls and fuel cost increases), RTD service adjustments may be more extensive than usual." That line right there shows exactly how RTD management is completely blind to reality. How on earth can they say fuel cost increases are to blame when diesel prices are at a three-year low? Yes, RTD is surely facing lowered sales tax revenues, but their own management apparently can't anticipate a bleaker economic picture even with all evidence showing exactly that. 

I understand that the economy sucks and RTD has to find ways to save money. But what I don't understand is why RTD riders have to always take a huge brunt of RTDs continual mismanagement and inability to forecast. Back in September, RTD decided to pay $3.10 a gallon for fuel in 2009. Now diesel prices are more than 80 cents a gallon cheaper, a more than 70 percent drop. I am not sure if RTD can get out of its fuel contracts or not, but they should if they can, because by the time these cuts go into effect, diesel prices could even be lower and one of the biggest stated reasons for the cuts non-existent. And while sales tax revenue is apparently falling, (despite the fact that Colorado's population itself is growing), the stimulus package in congress could start making economic progress in the Denver metro area. And certainly that fare increase is going to put millions of more dollars into RTD's purse.

We should not allow RTD's mismanagement to be at the backs of its riders. We need to make sure every single cut is met by a fight from its riders. That's why we need to go to every single public meeting RTD is holding and let them know what we think. That's why we need to write letters to the editor, tell other riders about RTD's plans and hold RTD accountable for its actions.

Here are the times and locations of every RTD public meeting. Please attend and encourage other riders to do the same.

Arvada
Arvada City Hall
8100 Ralston Road
Ann Campbell Room
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7:00 p.m.


Aurora
Red Lion (formerly Radisson Hotel)
3200 S. Parker Road
Boulder/Parker Room
Friday, Feb. 6, 7:00 p.m.

Boulder
Boulder Senior Center
West Senior Complex
909 Arapahoe, Creekside Room
Friday, Feb. 6, 7:00 p.m.

Brighton
Brighton Recreation Center
555 N. 11th Avenue
Thursday, Feb. 5, 7:00 p.m.

Centennial/Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree
Cresthill Middle School
9195 Cresthill Lane, Cafeteria
Monday, Feb. 2, 7:00 p.m.


Coal Creek
Coal Creek Improvement Association
31528 Hwy 72
Thursday, Jan. 29, 7:00 p.m.

Conifer
Conifer High School
10441 County Highway 73
Thursday, Feb. 5, 7:00 p.m.

Downtown Denver
RTD Administration Building
1600 Blake Street
Rooms T & D
Friday, Jan. 30, 12:00 p.m.
and
Friday, Feb. 6, 6:00 p.m.

DTC
Hyatt Regency Tech Center
7800 East Tufts Avenue
Thursday, Jan. 29, 12:00 p.m.

Green Valley Ranch
Green Valley Ranch Recreation Center
4890 Argonne Way
Thursday, Feb. 5, 6:00 p.m.


Lakewood
Stein Elementary
80 South Teller Street
Friday, Feb. 6, 7:00 p.m.

Longmont
Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Ave.
Rooms D & E
Monday, Feb. 2, 7:00 p.m.

Parker
Parker Town Hall
20120 E. Mainstreet
Council Chambers
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7:00 p.m.

An article in the Rocky Mountain News on Friday shows that RTD's financial problems may be worse then many expected. The article said RTD's revenues from November 2008 fell 9.8 percent and the transit agency is considering a 5 percent cut in bus and light rail service along with a staff salary freeze. 

RTD cited decreased sales taxes during this recession as being the primary reason for the revenue drop, despite significant increases in fare collection during the same time. From the article:

The report shows RTD's total revenues down over last year by 0.3 percent through November, despite fare revenue being up 17 percent. And sales taxes, which saw a precipitous drop for November, are down 0.4 percent over those 11 months compared with 2007.

Sales tax revenue is RTD's lifeblood, making up about 60 percent of its resources. The national recession has eaten into retail sales, particularly since October.

Yet, another interesting tidbit contained in the article is that RTD managers apparently miscalculated the amount of available revenues they expected: 

RTD originally budgeted for a 4.3 percent increase in sales tax for 2008.

But with the economy slowing over the summer, the budget was adjusted to anticipate only a 2.5 percent increase over 2007. The picture looked stagnant until the fall.

But a slight drop in September, followed by a 6.3 percent decline in October, signaled problems.

November's figure showed the drop getting steeper, wiping out all previous months' gains over 2007.

"We've been on top of this for a long time, but, frankly, the 9.6 percent drop in November is much worse than we thought it would be,"  [RTD General Manager Cal] Marsella told the Rocky on Friday.

"After adjusting the budget twice, I was hoping we would at least be flat in 2008 over 2007, but it looks like we will be under water.

"You play the cards you're dealt, and you can't control that.

Anticipating future revenues is definitely a tricky game, but back in August, Marsella was still expecting increased sales tax revenues when many economic indicators such as the unemployment rate  and growth rate showed serious problems with the economy.  RTD seems to have a lot of difficulty projecting agency costs versus actual revenues and because of that, it always seems to be scrambling to push quick solutions instead of carefully planning to avoid major problems in the first place. To further Marsella's relatively stupid metaphor, you may have to play the cards you have, but you can still anticipate what cards are left in the deck before you are dealt the hand.

Certainly RTD needs to do what it can to ensure that it gets through the current economic problems without sacrificing too much of what makes it the "number one transit agency in North America." 

The wage freeze and the already implemented fare increases will help RTD's bottom line. RTD could also get a boost by decreasing fuel costs, which I guess they will have to wait another three months to take full advantage of (RTD locks its fuel prices in six month increments, so the agency locked the current rate back in October before diesel prices dropped in half). RTD is also currently in negotiation with its union to figure out the workers' contracts for the next three years after they expire at the end of February. The article suggested that RTD will try to use the economy as an excuse to either cut union pay of only accept very modest increases. However, the article did not elucidate the 5 percent service cuts proposed by Marsella, only to say that any cuts would have to be approved by the RTD board. I hope that cuts are the very last resort to RTD's budget woes. The last thing riders need is an even more difficult and/or longer commute than the one we have now, and the reality is that RTD would be kissing some of their fare increase revenues goodbye if they cut service by the 5 percent Marsella mentioned.

This is all grim news for RTD, and especially its riders. Let's just hope that lowered fuel costs and a hopefully quick economic recovery will help RTD get back on its financial foot again. Because the reality from a rider point of view is that its hard to demand much needed improvements to service or structure (fare cards, getting rid of zones), when the agency is quite possibly struggling just to maintain what it has now. 

RTD activism on YouTube

This blog is not the only RTD rider activism happening online. I was browsing some YouTube videos today, and there is quite a bit of interesting activism when you search for RTD. (Feel free to ignore the awful RTD PR pieces about FastTracks that somehow forget to mention the project's excessive cost overruns and very likely possibility of delay.)

Instead, most of the videos are related to eminent domain issues and RTD's abuse of eminent domain for its building of new transit. Now, I am not necessarily one to say that transit agencies and other governmental or quasi-governmental agencies shouldn't be able to use eminent domain for the greater good, but there is a human cost, and RTD has a very long and poor reputation of using eminent domain but not paying fair prices for the private property it decides it needs. 

Here is an interesting video about a Latino family in East Denver and their struggles with what they see as unfair use of eminent domain by RTD back when it first built the original light rail line in the 90s:

Here is another video produced by Colorado Inside Out on RTD's dual role as a transit agency and developer with FastTracks:

I'm not a huge fan of Jon Caldara and the Independence Institute, but I do appreciate their bringing issues of eminent domain into the public spotlight. In the next video, Jon Caldara interviews a family being ousted by RTD so they could build a parking lot and potentially 12 stories of retail on the site of their own family business. 



I am all for expanding much needed transit in Denver through RTD's FastTracks, but the unfortunate reality is that RTD as an agency isn't exactly being the best neighbor when it comes to taking eminent domain rights against private owners without fair compensation. The couple in the video above have no problem with the RTD project themselves, but feel (rightfully) screwed over when their property is being taken for private redevelopment use. And they are not alone. According to the Rocky Mountain News, more than 180 property owners will have some or all of their properties taken by eminent domain, sometimes using it for redevelopment. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court in one of their most egregiously wrong rulings has made the legal precedent for cases just like this in Kelo V. City of New London.

Of course, RTD can still avoid egregious use of eminent domain, have profit arrangements with landowners or other more mutually beneficial solutions. Instead though, RTD uses the broad powers of eminent domain to kick out longtime small businesspeople and redevelop their own businesses at that same site (I am sure it does this to make more money for itself). Just another case of RTD looking after only itself instead of the community it purports to serve.

Transportation for a new Downtown Denver

Yesterday, I attended an event at the Museum of Contemporary Art called Top 10 and WITY Cocktails.  The even featured Ken Schroeppel, an urban planner, Denver enthusiast and the creator of the Web site DenverInfill.com, which examines Central Denver development and how to improve the general environment of Central Denver.

Ken's site is great and his discussion was even better. Ken presented his top 10 ways to improve downtown Denver. His list featured everything from planting more street trees to putting a Target store downtown. One of his ideas was to create a downtown streetcar system that could take people around the central core for low or no cost, something which is already a part of the plan for the redevelopment of Union Station as part of FastTracks. 

Our conversation definitely delved into the need for more and better public transportation not just downtown but all over the city. Unfortunately, I and others at this talk felt that RTD is somewhat of an impediment to really making solid transportation happen in this city. We discussed such topics as extended streetcars, a fare-free downtown zone and the possibility of a smart card system like many other cities use.

Key to this entire discussion on improving downtown, was the importance of the public process. Ken gave a great quote on if the public demands, the politicians will follow, which I think is exactly the kind of thinking we need as Denver transit riders. We need to push RTD to be more accountable to us. We need to attend meetings, write letters to the editor, talk to friends and family and be vocal in what we want from a transit agency.

This is our city, so we need to fight for what we want.

2009 New Year's Resolutions for RTD

Every year at this time, people make resolutions for themselves of what they would like to accomplish in the year ahead. Organizations sometimes also have future goals for themselves, but rarely do these aspirations come from the people the organization itself serves.

So as a thought experiment, I thought it would be interesting to come up with some New Year's resolutions for RTD in 2009. But instead of coming from the RTD board or some middle management bureaucrat, I asked normal RTD riders waiting for their bus or light rail what they would like to see RTD resolve to do in the upcoming year.

Here are their answers:

A few people I talked to said they were satisfied with the RTD service they use and wouldn't want any changes.

Janet from Golden said she would like to see RTD keep the rates lower or at least cease increasing fares like they have been doing the last few years.

Mary, a commuter who takes the FREX bus from Colorado Springs reiterated the need for transit agencies like RTD and FREX to have fares that are more in line with the current economic situation. "I don't think they are at a fair price, because gas prices are cheaper and their prices should align to the economy."

"More service," was what Harry from Denver wanted RTD to resolve to have in 2009. Harry said he rides the 2 bus from east Denver to Downtown. However, during the weekends, the 2 bus stops at 1st and Harrison instead of continuing east into the Hilltop neighborhood. He took the bus often before the change and understands that he was one of the few people who did, but laments RTD's cuts to service at a time when fares are increasing. He also said the midday 2 buses that come every half hour are packed with people and the line could benefit from more buses during rush hour.

Harry also would like to see better enclosures for Light Rail stops. "Proper shelters," Harry said. "A lot of them give nothing to withstand the weather, and we stand out here almost freezing to death in the winter and are boiling in the summer." He said this needs to be an even greater priority considering the changes RTD is implementing at the new year to have passengers transfer lines at the I-25/Broadway station.

Lindsay from Lone Tree says she takes RTD busses and light rail every day to get to work and wants to see RTD put more emphasis on the busy rush hours. She said that trains are jam packed during the rush hour and especially so if they coincide with downtown events. "After a Rockies game, I've seen elderly people forced to stand in the train," Lindsay said.

She would also like to see RTD's buses work towards meeting its schedule. Lindsay said late buses have occasionally made her late to work, sometimes by 20 minutes or more. She said late buses are especially problematic during inclement weather, and would like to see RTD implement some kind of mobile or Web notification system to tell riders if buses are behind schedule.

"Smart cards," was the first thing that came to mind when Clark from Denver was asked what RTD should resolve to do in 2009. "It can better explain what the actual trips we use are instead of some theoretical system." Unlike, many other city transit agencies, RTD does not use any kind of smart card system that allows customers to put money onto a card and track how it is used. When I asked an RTD spokesman about smart cards at an public meeting in September, he said RTD has no plans for smart cards at this time, because they are expensive to initiate. Of course, smart cards are likely to save RTD money in the long run because they allow people to put money onto a card that they might not actually use on a trip and they prevent more people from using services for free. They are also something that many riders clearly want as well.

Karen from Highlands Ranch has a RTD resolution a bit simpler than redoing the whole payment system, but equally as important: Keep the trains cleaner. Karen said there are often spilled soft drinks or food on the seats, making for a smelly and potentially sticky ride home. Perhaps RTD should enforce its no food rules more or simply make light cleaning a part of the job duties for ticket checkers instead of waiting until the end of the day to clean the light rail trains.

Finally, some of the suggestions offered were a bit more of wishful thinking. "Give a free stick of deodorant to everyone who enters the #3 bus," said Rob, also of Highlands Ranch, who apparently has had more than one bad experience with BO while riding this bus along west Alameda Avenue.

Here is a good sampling of some RTD riders' New Year's resolutions for 2009. I plan on e-mailing this list to the RTD board members, but first would like to give the opportunity for anyone else who has 2009 resolutions for RTD.

Go ahead and let RTD know what riders want from RTD in 2009.

Get ready to freeze your butt off

In the organization's never ending quest for "efficiency," RTD decided to make many daily trips on light rail end at the I-25/Broadway station starting at the first of the year. 

Remember how convenient is was to take a light rail train after a Broncos or Rockies game and take that train all the way home? Well apparently RTD thinks that is horribly inconvenient for them and has decided to make all the riders on the C and E lines (the lines that end at Union Station) to get off the trains at I-25 and Broadway and wait for another train to take them the rest of the way along the lines in southwest and southeast Denver.

According to RTD's information, the E line will cease operation during the middle of the day and the C line will cease operations in the evening. The C line during the day and the E line at night will provide 15 minute frequency between Union Station and I-25 and Broadway. Unfortunately if you want to continue south, you will have to get off the train and take another train the rest of the way. RTD says "connections will be readily available," but depending on where you are going it could be another 15 minutes wait before the train arrives. According to the Rocky Mountain News, more than 1,000 daily riders could have to add time to their commutes because of the system change. 

Just last week, I was waiting at I-25/Broadway for any SE light rail train (E, F, or H) to take me to the Colorado/Evans station at around 8 p.m., and had to wait more than 15 minutes in sub-zero temps for the train to arrive. Be prepared for that to become more and more common.

I do understand that this new system would increase frequency at Union Station, but we should be aware of the cost. If you just miss a train at Union Station, you'll have to wait 15 minutes. If you get to I-25/Broadway, and just miss your connecting train, it could be another 15 minute. Even if you had to wait 20 minutes initially, you'd still be better off than having to wait a full half hour for two different trains when one of them now could have taken you straight to your destination.

Every other American city's transit seems to be more efficient without stranding passengers halfway through their trips. And since Denver can have such a cold winter climate, this new system will probably be particularly aggravating for passengers who thought they would be headed home after the game and are instead freezing their butts off at the entirely outdoor I-25/Broadway station.  

RTD told the Rocky Mountain News that it expects save only $633,800 on the service changes out of an expected budget deficit of more than $35 million for 2009.  A paltry sum for RTD to inconvenience more than 1,000 people everyday. Is it too much to hope for some I-25/Broadway station heat lamps with the money RTD will save? Yep.

2009 RTD service changes

Along with its 14 percent fare increase, RTD has announced some significant service changes that will greet passengers at the new year. On the whole, these changes may not seem to be remarkable, but a closer look will show real changes that will affect transit users.

The changes to the bus schedules don't seem like much with eight bus lines seeing service reductions, 10 with service improvements four with what RTD calls "adjustments." The latter are not significant, mostly just adding school bus routes and reworking a few lines.

The reductions however do have an impact on users, particularly those of us who actually may use transit at night at all. The 38 bus, which traverses north Denver along 38th avenue will lose all of its late night service on the weekends after 2 am. RTD claims that riders can take the 31 bus on north Federal Boulevard at night, but this negates a simple fact about these lines: that one goes north and the other west. The 38 bus currently is a convenient way to access north Denver and Wheat Ridge all the way to Applewood. Since Federal only continues north, passengers trying to go anywhere west late at night will be out of luck. RTD says they are discontinuing the late night busses because of low ridership, but late night busses connecting downtown to the outer reaches of our city are rare and should be an affordable option for those of us who prefer not to drink and drive. Except for the 16 on Colfax (23 blocks or three miles south of 38th Avenue) and the aforementioned 31, there are no other north Denver options for late night travel. I have taken this bus after bars close at 2 and while not packed, there are always a handful of riders. And I am certain we can all appreciate that those handful of riders, likely coming back from a night of partying in downtown, are sobering up in a bus instead of behind the wheel of their cars.

RTD is also discontinuing trips on routes 5X, 9, 24, 323, 324 and DD, and completely eliminating the 51LTD bus route that ran from the Evans light rail station to south Sheridan Boulevard. I understand the need for RTD to evaluate the use of its routes to improve efficiency, but this seems unfair when RTD is asking for fare increases and (possibly) increased taxes. I am not as familiar with the other routes, but the cuts on 9 seem especially harsh as that route has seen similar cuts in recent years. The 9 and 10 routes were at one point tied together, providing an important link between east and west Denver along 10th and 12th avenues (especially since the Colfax bus doesn't go through all the way). Since RTD severed these buses, the 10 in wealthier east Denver has seen healthy expansion, running from early morning to late night and with 15 minute increments during the middle of the day. The 9 meanwhile runs at best only every half hour (despite often very full busses) and only until 8 p.m. at the latest. It looks like they are now cutting early morning schedules as well, another blow for transit commuters in the lower income west Denver and Lakewood communities. Maybe RTD is simply anticipating their inability to afford the increased fares.

To RTD's credit, they are also increasing service to some routes. The ever-popular 16 and 30 buses are increasing the number of rides and times of service. The 16LTD will start service on Sunday and west Colfax will see more buses in the middle of the day and later into the night. I suppose this partially makes up for the cuts to the 9 which is only five blocks south. The 30 bus on south Federal Boulevard will also see increases in bus traffic pushed earlier in the morning and later into the evening. A weekday rush-hour trip will now continue the full route to Wadsworth and Hampton instead of stranding passengers to wait for another bus at Federal and Evans as was the custom. The 14 bus along west Florida Avenue and the B bus from Downtown Denver to Boulder will increase its frequency to every half hour on Saturday. I rarely take the 14, but I am glad RTD is increasing frequency on the B on Saturdays, which have often been packed to the brim with college students and others coming down to Denver for the weekend. This change should hopefully provide some much needed relief to that route. Minor improvements (mostly additional morning or evening trips) are also being added to the 0ltd, 86X, 122X, 130, DM, and HX routes.

The 0 on Broadway is undergoing some bizarre changes that basically screw over anyone who uses the bus south of the I-25/Broadway light rail station. RTD is discontinuing a bunch of early morning and evening/night buses from Highlands Ranch, Littleton Boulevard and Evans RTD is basically running many more routes just from Downtown to the I-25/Broadway light rail station, perhaps assuming people are more inclined to take light rail for points further south. I've already noticed RTD increasing this tactic, which has been a personal pain for me whenever I try to catch a bus to see a concert at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, only to find that it only goes to I-25 (or Evans) and I have to wait for another bus to take me the full way. Since Broadway is such a major north/south thoroughfare and the 0 is among the most popular bus lines, I am not sure why RTD is doing this. I suppose it increases efficiency from the barely four and a half mile Downtown to I-25 segment, but if people wanted to take light rail to points south, they can already do that downtown, so what is the point? What we're left with is decreasing service (it's barely at a half hour midday now) for the vast majority (it's more than 13 miles to Highlands Ranch from I-25/Broadway) of one of Denver's major streets. Certainly the south light rail service helps with that, but it doesn't help the riders who want to go actually travel to places on Broadway itself. I guess half-decent service on one of Denver's most used streets is just too much to ask from RTD.

Six paragraphs and I only covered the changes to the bus routes. But ooh boy, did North America's "number one" transit agency plan a number for a beloved and convenient light rail service in 2009 (let's just say it definitely won't be as convenient and probably not as beloved after you experience the changes for yourself. Stay tuned for my little exploration of that in the next post.

Welcome to RTD Watch

Welcome to the early version of my blog dedicated to watching the goings-on at the Regional Transportation District, the transit system in the Denver Metropolitan Area. From time to time, I will blog about transit in Denver from the perspective of an active RTD rider. Please feel free to post comments, questions, leads or your own RTD experiences.

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.