RTD interim leader: “We have to deliver” on service improvements

Paul Ballard took over Monday as the interim general manager of the Regional Transportation District, and he has four to 14 months to make his mark on the troubled metro Denver transit agency.

That’s the broad range of time the board has set out for its national search for a permanent general manager and CEO. But Ballard says he won’t just be a caretaker.

RTD has too many pressing challenges for that, starting with its ongoing shortage of bus drivers and light-rail train operators.

To stem recurring cancellations of buses and trains, RTD’s elected board is considering a proposal to eliminate six bus routes and service cutbacks on many other routes.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are discussing more oversight of RTD.

Ballard, who retired last year as CEO of Trinity Metro in Fort Worth, Texas, told a gathering of reporters Tuesday that he knows RTD needs to regain riders’ trust.

“We just have to do a high-quality job,” said Ballard at RTD’s downtown headquarters. “We need to make sure that the buses are clean, that they’re safe, that they’re on schedule, and that the drivers — the operators — are professional and courteous. I think we achieve that the vast majority of the time.

“But the only way we can get the public’s confidence back is to do what we say we’re going to do. … In my experience, when you have a problem in service delivery, if you fix it — and you can indicate that to the public — they become more loyal customers than they were even before you messed up their trip to work. So I think we have an opportunity here to build even greater loyalty to RTD. But we have to deliver.”

He said plans to examine RTD’s low employee retention as a top priority, along with ensuring that the delayed N-Line commuter rail from Union Station to Thornton finally opens to riders.

Ballard, who earlier oversaw the transit agencies in Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis, said he and his wife have moved into the Union Station neighborhood. RTD’s board approved a $350,000 salary plus benefits while he is in charge.