Colorado lawmakers have scaled back their reform plan for the Regional Transportation District, but they’re still aiming to significantly alter the size and composition of its governing board.
The backers of the draft legislation also are motivated by a desire to bolster transparency within the sprawling metro Denver transit agency and to align its efforts with the state’s broader policy goals. The legislation has been in the works for months and is set to be introduced in the coming days.
Initially, legislators told The Denver Post last month, they planned to cut the current 15-member elected board to seven members — all but one of whom would be appointed — and they intended to give a metro council of local government officials a direct say in RTD’s route planning.
Those changes have been softened amid broader stakeholder feedback in recent weeks, along with an outcry from current, former and would-be RTD board members.
In an updated draft obtained by The Post this week, the bill still would shrink the board’s size to seven voting members. But five would be elected and just two appointed, in this case by the governor. The bill would also add three ex-officio — meaning non-voting — members, all of whom would be appointed.
Though reflecting a shift from February’s deliberations, the new language still suggests a notable move away from the district-based elections that determine all of the board’s members now.
The bill would also require that the Denver Regional Council of Governments provide input in future route planning, but DRCOG would not have a final or necessarily determinative say.
“We have been working on this bill since the summer, seeking stakeholder input from groups, from riders, from everyone that uses and relies on our transit system,” said Rep. William Lindstedt, a Broomfield Democrat. He’s sponsoring the bill with fellow Rep. Meg Froelich and Sen. Faith Winter, both Democrats.
“That input has affected the language of the bill in all of its various drafts,” he said.
The new draft also drops plans to alter how RTD interprets Title VI, a federal nondiscrimination law that’s part of the Civil Rights Act. Supporters of the legislation say that would have been needed to allow RTD to offer service for special events, but it sparked concerns from critics about broader implications. The bill now would require RTD to work with organizations holding special events like concerts to coordinate routes and ridership.
Erik Davidson, the chair of RTD’s board, did not return a request for comment Wednesday. He previously declined to comment because the bill was still being drafted.
Not all critics have not been appeased.
“When I saw the (earlier) draft back in January, I didn’t think it could get worse, and then somehow they managed to do that while also adding more elected board seats,” said Chris Nicholson, who’s running for a Denver-based seat on RTD’s board in the November election.
He said most of the bill was agreeable and there was “reason to seriously want to consider a smaller board.” But he took issue with how the bill would make that happen.
Under the most recent draft, the five elected members would be selected via at-large elections, though three would still represent districts. Nicholson said at-large races historically have been used to minimize minority voters’ influence.
Nicholson called for the overhaul to be shelved for another year, saying it was “not reasonable” to propose such sweeping changes with just over 40 days remaining in the legislative session.
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Lindstedt said concerns about at-large elections were valid and that he was willing to discuss further changes in the legislative process. But he said the board wasn’t representative of its ridership now and that there was broad agreement that RTD needed overall reform.
The goal of the legislation is the same, Lindstedt said: He and the other legislators have said RTD’s board is too large and needs to be professionalized by ensuring some board members have transit experience.
The bill comes amid dovetailing housing and public transit efforts in the Capitol. Gov. Jared Polis has embraced land-use reform as his preferred solution to the state’s housing crisis, a policy push that in part seeks to build more housing near transit corridors.
Simultaneously, Polis and the legislature are looking to boost public transportation and regional passenger rail to help meet the state’s climate goals and curb traffic congestion.
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