RTD slashes bus, light-rail train service after ridership plunges.

Unprecedented cuts approved by RTD in response to pandemic impact on ridership

RTD’s elected board unanimously approved unprecedented cuts to rail and bus service Tuesday night in response to the coronavirus pandemic that has decimated ridership in just the last two weeks. The COVID-19 service plan will take effect April 19.

The board also approved a separate — and far less severe — series of service cuts to deal with ongoing operator shortages that will stand as the normal service level once the pandemic has passed. That plan was approved 14-1.

“This has been really quite surreal,” said board chair Angie Rivera-Malpiede, remarking on how quickly RTD has been forced to adjust its schedule in the face of the fast-spreading virus.

Since mid-March, ridership in the Regional Transportation District has plummeted by about 70%. That has delivered a new budget hit for the agency — one that bond ratings agencies are starting to notice — even as services remain vital for plenty of lower-income workers and residents, along with those in fields that are helping to deal with the outbreak.

“The last weekday with near normal ridership levels on our buses and trains was Thursday, March 12th,” interim general manager Paul Ballard wrote in a board memo. “The ensuing ten-day period has seen a steady and dramatic decrease in ridership that is unrivaled in public transportation history.”

The agency calculates that ridership has plummeted since early March from 347,000 passengers per day to 100,000 per day — and it continues to drop.

While the agency has said in the last week that it planned to maintain its normal service levels, the start of more stringent stay-athome orders — initiated by Denver’s mayor Monday — will likely push ridership down more,

Ballard said.

Under the COVID-19 service plan approved Tuesday, riders will get weekend levels of service on buses and most trains on weekdays, with some tweaks, starting April 19:

• Buses would operate on Saturday schedules during the week, which means no service for most limitedstop routes, except for the 15L on East Colfax Avenue. A handful of buses with nearby alternatives won’t operate. Several regional routes will continue to operate on weekdays, even if they don’t normally do so on Saturdays or have reduced weekend service. The FF1 Flatiron Flyer route from Denver to Boulder will have 15-minute morning frequency.

• Light-rail trains would operate on Sunday schedules during the week, with no service on the C and F lines and 30-minute frequency on the R-Line.

• Commuter rail trains (A, B and G lines) won’t change service levels for now, pending discussions between RTD and those lines’ private operator.

As riders begin returning to RTD later this spring or summer, the agency would restore service gradually, topping out at the reduced service levels recommended in the operator-shortage plan.

That plan is currently scheduled to take effect in May, though what happens with the coronavirus pandemic will dictate when RTD can beef up service again.

RTD’s directors met by teleconference Tuesday to maintain proper social distancing protocols.

“These unprecedented times call us to be more flexible than we’ve ever had to be,” Director Troy Whitmore said.

It will be nearly four weeks before the service cuts take effect.

Spokesperson M. Marta Sipeki said the proposal actually is on a fast track, because service changes require working with the union, conducting operator preference votes for routes, updating schedules and notifying riders.

She said RTD officials don’t plan any operator furloughs during the coronavirus-related reductions. Extra drivers and train operators will fill other roles at RTD facilities, she said, including updating training and filling in on routes as needed.

“If approved, this new reduced service plan will eliminate the need for mandating (of overtime), which will give our operators a much-needed break from their six-day work weeks,”

Sipeki said.

RTD officials are beginning to grapple with the financial fallout of the ridership plunge during the pandemic. Earlier this week, Fitch Ratings issued a negative credit outlook advisory for RTD and four other transit agencies, citing RTD’s reliance on farebox revenue for more than a quarter of its operating budget.

Ballard’s memo to the board said one result of the service reductions is that they would “begin to address the reduced revenue shortfalls that are inevitable.” A spokesperson says RTD is discussing possible financial assistance with federal officials.