Karen Blakemore, Nederland. Between impacts of Covid-19 on public transportation, the Reimagine RTD Program and the Nederland EcoPass cost structure changes, there is a lot going on with RTD that affects the Greater Nederland Community. I hope this article will clarify and help you understand the changes taking place now and in the future.

RTD has been working on a two-year study to redesign the transit network in support of current and future mobility needs. The study is called Reimagine RTD and began in the Fall of 2019. Part of the study is a System Optimization Plan which considers how to most efficiently provide transit service while balancing the objectives of Service Quality, Social Equity, Service Productivity and Geographic Coverage. You may have seen transit maps depicting scenarios for the four objectives, with the NB route only appearing on the Geographic Coverage map. The intention is to implement a hybrid solution which incorporates elements of each of the objectives, taking into account fiscal constraints. 

I was assured by our RTD Board Representative, Lynn Guissinger, and our RTD Scheduler, Nataly Handlos that there is no plan to discontinue the NB route. In general, the regional routes are more expensive to operate than others. However, the NB route has a relatively low operating cost and a strong ridership, resulting in a per rider subsidy of much less than many of the other regional routes.

The System Optimization Plan will be implemented in two phases. The first phase is in direct response to Covid-19 and will be put in place in January 2021. Due to Covid-19, there is less of a demand for public transit and also less revenue. RTD has seen a decrease of 75% in ridership and a 23% decrease in revenue. The revenue decrease is primarily due to less sales tax collected. This year, funding from the CARES Act is covering the revenue shortfall. It is yet to be determined how the revenue shortfall will be accommodated moving forward. The RTD Board is holding a study session on July 28, 2020, to consider the financials and the Reimagine RTD Program will propose a transit network in early October to meet the financial and Covid-19 requirements within the framework of the System Optimization Plan.

The second phase of the System Optimization Plan takes a broader look at implementing the objectives once ridership and the economy returns to their pre-Covid levels. The Plan includes encouraging partnerships with local agencies to improve local connections to the regional backbone and support geographic coverage. Development of the plan is to be complete in early December with implementation in 2023 to 2026.

The RTD changes currently in place for Covid-19 include a service reduction, capacity reduction and other virus safety measures. Weekday schedules have been changed to Saturday schedules, resulting in 40% less trips overall (18% for the NB). The number of riders is limited to less than half of the bus or train capacity (20 out of 55 seats for the NB). Riding the NB bus, last week, I observed that the driver and all passengers were wearing masks and were socially distanced. The two ceiling windows and the driver’s window were open allowing outdoor air to circulate through.

The Nederland EcoPass is a ten-year program that was established in 2013. It provides free RTD passes to all residents in the Nederland EcoPass District. The boundaries of the EcoPass District are equivalent to those of the Nederland Library District. Funding comes from a 1.85 mill levy property tax. According to the Boulder County Assessor, Cynthia Braddock, the average value of a single-family residence in the district is $409,959 with an assessed value of $29,621. The EcoPass tax for this average home is $55 per year.  

Up until 2019, the cost of the Nederland EcoPass Program had been a fixed price negotiated yearly between Boulder County and RTD. In 2019 this changed to a ridership-based cost. The cost of the program now is the total price of all individual rides taken by Nederland EcoPass holders.

Each year, the program is based on the ridership from two years prior. Unfortunately, the new ride-based cost is nearly four times the negotiated cost. The negotiated cost in 2018 was $96,621. A ridership-based cost for 2018 would have been $372, 524. Since it is such a large difference, the new cost structure is being phased in over five years with a maximum 20% increase each year. The full cost will then take effect in 2023.

The Nederland EcoPass program has been running with a fund balance each year and will continue to do so through at least 2021. Depending on the ridership in 2020 and 2021, the district may be able to afford the program in 2022 and 2023. But to be proactive, the District is planning to identify a path forward by early 2021. This could involve extending or replacing the current mill levy, designing a new fare/pass program or terminating the program.

According to Alexander Hyde-Wright, Senior Transportation Planner for Boulder County, all the neighborhood EcoPass programs are located in Boulder County and all are struggling with ways to accommodate the increased program costs.

For more information on Reimagine RTD, see rtd-denver.com/reimagine. For more information on the Nederland EcoPass Program, see bouldercounty.org/transportation/multimodal/bus/nederland-eco-pass.

Thank you to Lynn Guissinger, Nataly Handlos, Cynthia Braddock and Alexander Hyde-Wright for their time and expertise in providing information for this article.

(Originally published in the July 30, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)