Transportation & Public Transit

The Problem

In 2004, Denver-area voters approved FasTracks, a $4.7 billion plan to build a comprehensive rail transit system across the metro area. Over twenty years later, the program is only 75% complete and has already consumed more than $5.5 billion. RTD estimates it needs an additional $1.6 billion to finish the four remaining corridors (the Northwest Rail to Longmont, the North Metro extension, the Southwest extension to Highlands Ranch, and the Central Rail Gap) and has admitted it cannot meet the state-mandated 2034 deadline without major new funding (RTD Finishing FasTracks Report, 2025). Meanwhile, RTD faces a deficit of $100 million to $400 million stemming from deferred maintenance across its 104 miles of track, and its board is contemplating service cuts starting in 2027. Voters paid for a world-class transit system. They got broken promises and declining service.

Ridership tells the story. RTD carried 105.8 million riders in 2019. In 2024, that number was 65.2 million, a 38% drop. Through the first half of 2025, ridership fell another 6.4%, putting it 39% below pre-pandemic levels (Denver Post, October 2025). Cities like Los Angeles, Houston, and Salt Lake City have recovered to 85% or more of pre-pandemic ridership. Denver is stuck at roughly 62%. Each RTD boarding now costs the agency $17.49 in operating expenses while a three-hour pass sells for $2.75. The math does not work, and the spiral continues: fewer riders means less revenue means worse service means fewer riders.

Denver adopted Vision Zero in 2017, pledging to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. Fatalities have moved in the wrong direction ever since. In 2025, 93 people died on Denver streets, the deadliest year since 2013. Thirty-five of those deaths were pedestrians, a 34% increase over 2024 (Denver Vision Zero Dashboard, 2025). Denver’s streets are designed for car speed, not human safety. Over 81% of Denver commuters drive alone. Drivers lost an average of 76 hours sitting in traffic in 2024 (up from 62 hours in 2019), costing the region $3.5 billion annually in lost productivity and wasted fuel (Texas A&M Transportation Institute, 2025). In neighborhoods like Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, Far Northeast, and Westwood, residents face the worst of both worlds: car-dependent street design with inadequate transit service. When RTD built the A Line to the airport, it routed around Montbello and cut bus routes, dropping the neighborhood from seven transit lines to three. Montbello simultaneously became a transit desert and a food desert (Denver Streets Partnership).

What Denver Currently Does

RTD operates 65 bus routes, 8 rail lines, and the FlexRide and Denver Connector microtransit services. FasTracks has delivered 25 miles of light rail, 53 miles of commuter rail, Denver Union Station as an intermodal hub, and the Flatiron Flyer BRT on US-36. But four corridors remain unbuilt, and emergency track repairs (including a $152 million downtown reconstruction) have disrupted service for over a year. RTD made its Zero Fare for Youth program permanent in July 2024, providing free rides for ages 19 and under, and expanded its LiVE income-based discount program to provide 50% off fares for individuals earning below 250% of the federal poverty level.

Denver adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in 2017 and updated it in 2022. Since adoption, annual traffic deaths have risen from 51 to 93. The city developed a High Injury Network identifying the most dangerous corridors but has been slow to redesign them. Automated speed enforcement remains limited.

Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) manages approximately 254 miles of bike lanes. Under Mayor Hancock, the city added 137 miles of new bike lanes between 2018 and 2023 at a cost of $13.4 million. Mayor Johnston’s administration is updating the Denver Moves: Bikes plan with a target of 230+ new miles of bikeways and a goal of placing a high-comfort bikeway within a quarter-mile of every household. The city pledged to build 50 miles of new bike lanes by 2026. Projects on 18th, 19th, and Lincoln Streets are adding 1.5 miles of protected lanes downtown, but significant gaps remain, particularly in east Denver and Capitol Hill.

Denver’s e-bike rebate program, funded by the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund, has invested $8.6 million since launching in 2022. Nearly 8,000 residents have redeemed vouchers, with 64% going to lower- and moderate-income residents. Rebates range from $300 for standard e-bikes to $1,400 for adaptive e-bikes. The state of Colorado offers an additional $450 tax credit (dropping to $225 in 2026).

In August 2025, Denver City Council voted to eliminate minimum parking requirements for new development, following state legislation (HB24-1304) that banned parking minimums near transit for multifamily housing. This was a significant step, but the broader transportation system remains fundamentally car-dependent.

Our Solution

1. Free and Reduced-Fare Transit

RTD’s LiVE program is a start. It is not enough. We propose:

• Free RTD for all households under 200% of the federal poverty level. The current LiVE program covers 250% FPL at only a 50% discount. Truly low-income residents need zero-fare access, not half-price fares they still cannot afford.
• $1 flat fare for all local routes, replacing the current $2.75 three-hour pass with a simple, affordable fare that eliminates barriers to ridership.
• Funded through a city subsidy to RTD of approximately $30-40 million per year. Denver spends billions accommodating cars. Spending $35 million to make transit accessible is a rounding error by comparison.
• Modeled on Kansas City, Missouri, which eliminated fares entirely in 2020, making it the largest U.S. city to go fare-free. Kansas City’s bus ridership is now 24% higher than peer cities, 17% of riders are new to transit, and 92% of riders report being able to shop for essentials and keep jobs they otherwise could not reach (University of Kansas, 2025). Luxembourg eliminated all public transit fares nationally in 2020.

2. Protected Bike Lane Network

Paint on asphalt is not infrastructure. Denver needs physically protected bike lanes that people of all ages and abilities feel safe using.

• Protected bike lanes on every major corridor within five years. Priority on high-crash corridors identified by the Vision Zero High Injury Network and connections to rail stations and bus hubs.
• Bike parking requirements for all new development: secure, covered bike parking in every new residential and commercial building.
• E-bike rebate expansion: increase funding, raise income-qualified rebates to $1,200, and partner with community organizations in underserved neighborhoods for direct outreach. The current program works but demand far outstrips supply, with vouchers claimed within minutes each release cycle.
• Full buildout of the Denver Moves network. The city’s own plan calls for 230+ new miles. Fund it and build it on an accelerated timeline, not a 20-year aspiration.
• 73% of Denver households are already within a quarter-mile of a bikeway (DOTI, 2022). Close the gaps in Montbello, Far Northeast, East Denver, and Capitol Hill to reach 100%.

3. Vision Zero with Enforcement

Denver’s Vision Zero program has a goal but not a strategy. Ninety-three people died on Denver streets in 2025 while the city debated lane configurations on Alameda Avenue. Real Vision Zero requires:

• Redesign the top 20 highest-crash intersections using proven safety treatments: curb extensions, protected intersections, raised crosswalks, and restricted turn movements. The I-70/Peoria interchange alone saw 103 crashes in 2024.
• Automated speed enforcement in school zones and residential areas. Speed kills. Automated enforcement works 24/7 without racial profiling.
• 20 mph speed limits in residential neighborhoods, the standard in cities serious about pedestrian safety.
• Pedestrian-priority signal timing: leading pedestrian intervals and longer crossing times on the High Injury Network.
• Zero tolerance for hit-and-run. Establish a dedicated investigation unit. Hit-and-run crashes disproportionately kill pedestrians in low-income neighborhoods.

4. Parking Reform

Denver eliminated parking minimums in August 2025. Now go further:

• Allow conversion of existing parking to housing, retail, or green space. Denver is covered in surface parking lots that could be homes.
• Demand-based parking pricing downtown: prices that adjust based on occupancy to reduce circling, generate revenue, and prioritize turnover for businesses.
• Enforce the new rules. Parking minimums are gone on paper. Lenders and developers often still overbuild parking out of habit. The city should provide data, technical assistance, and incentives to help projects take advantage of the reform.
• The evidence is clear: structured parking adds an average of $50,000 per unit to housing costs (Brookings Institution). A University of Denver study found that eliminating parking mandates could boost Denver housing construction by 12.5%, roughly 460 additional homes per year. The Colorado Energy Office projects the reform will increase feasible housing development near transit by 180%.

5. Transit-Oriented Development

Denver built rail stations. Then it surrounded many of them with parking lots. That is the opposite of transit-oriented development.

• Upzone all areas within half a mile of rail stations for mixed-use, high-density development. No single-family-only zoning within walking distance of a train.
• No parking minimums within a quarter-mile of transit stations, already largely achieved under the new rules; codify and protect it.
• Affordable housing requirements in transit-oriented development: at least 20% of units at 60% AMI in any development receiving density bonuses near transit.
• First/last mile solutions at every station: bike share stations, Denver Connector microtransit service, secure bike parking, and pedestrian improvements. The Montbello Connector demonstrated demand, reaching 5,200 monthly riders within its first year on a $3.2 million budget.

6. RTD Accountability

RTD is a regional agency. Denver cannot control it directly. But Denver is RTD’s largest city, its biggest ridership market, and the source of significant funding. The city has leverage and must use it.

• Advocate for elected RTD board reform. The current appointed board structure insulates directors from voter accountability. Riders deserve a voice.
• Performance metrics with public reporting: on-time performance, ridership by route, service frequency, and maintenance backlog, published quarterly in accessible formats.
• Service restoration to pre-2020 levels as a minimum baseline. RTD should not be cutting service with $1 billion in reserves. Riders in Montbello, Westwood, and Far Northeast deserve the routes that were promised.
• Dedicated city liaison to RTD for service advocacy, a senior city official whose job is to fight for Denver riders at every RTD board meeting.

7. 15-Minute City Framework

The 15-minute city concept is simple: every resident should be able to reach daily essentials (grocery stores, schools, parks, healthcare, transit, and employment) within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. This is not a utopian vision. It is how cities were built before car-centric planning dismantled walkable neighborhoods. Denver should adopt this as a binding planning framework, not a mere aspiration.

The Gap in Denver Denver’s neighborhoods are deeply unequal in access to daily essentials. Residents of Capitol Hill, Wash Park, and Highlands live in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with abundant transit, retail, and services. Residents of Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, Far Northeast, and Westwood face food deserts, transit deserts, and a car-dependent built environment with no viable alternative. The 15-minute city framework makes this inequality visible and measurable, and commits to closing the gap.

What Denver Should Do

• 15-minute city audit: Map every Denver neighborhood against a 15-minute walkability/bikeability standard for six essential categories: grocery/food, schools/childcare, parks/recreation, healthcare, transit, and employment centers. Publish the results as a public dashboard with equity metrics by race and income.
• Infill and mixed-use zoning in underserved areas: Allow neighborhood-scale commercial uses (grocery, pharmacy, cafe, childcare) in currently residential-only zones in Far Northeast, Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, and Westwood. Residents should not need a car to buy groceries.
• Complete streets in every neighborhood: Every street redesign or repaving project must include pedestrian and cycling improvements. No more rebuilding car-only infrastructure.
• Neighborhood service hubs: Co-locate city services (library, rec center, health clinic, transit stop) in walkable neighborhood centers, rather than isolated single-use facilities surrounded by parking. Cross-reference: Food Access & Urban Agriculture, Parks, Recreation & Public Space, Healthcare as a Right.
• Pedestrian-first street design: Widen sidewalks, add street trees, and create pedestrian plazas in commercial corridors, especially in neighborhoods where walking is currently hostile due to wide, fast-moving streets.

International Evidence for the 15-Minute Framework

City	Initiative	Result
Paris, France	Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s “ville du quart d’heure”: converting car lanes to bike lanes, creating neighborhood plazas, planting 170,000 trees, and decentralizing city services to local neighborhoods.	Car traffic in Paris dropped 60% since 2001. Cycling trips tripled between 2019-2024. Air quality improved significantly. Hidalgo won re-election on the platform.
Shanghai, China	Added 50 km of new routes connecting 4.8 million residents to public spaces along the Huangpu River within a 15-minute bike ride.	Massive increase in waterfront access for residents previously cut off by car infrastructure.
Sydney, Australia	Redesigned George Street, once the city’s most congested street, as a people-centered public space.	Now moves 8,000 transit riders per hour. Pedestrian traffic increased dramatically. Retail on the street thrived.
Indianapolis, USA	Invested $27 million in downtown biking infrastructure.	Catalyzed $170 million in private housing and commercial development. 70% of residents report more exercise. Downtown revenue increased by two-thirds.
Melbourne, Australia	20-minute neighborhood policy: explicit planning framework requiring all new development to meet walkability standards for essential services.	Adopted as official metropolitan planning strategy. Neighborhoods assessed and rated on 20-minute access. Public dashboard tracks progress.
Buenos Aires, Argentina	Upgraded 27 public spaces in the city’s largest informal settlement to create walkable neighborhoods. Introduced infill housing and pedestrian corridors.	Transformed access to services in the city’s most underserved community. Model for equity-focused 15-minute design.

The 15-minute city is not about restricting movement. It is about ensuring that no one is forced to own a car to live a functional life. In Denver, where 81% of commuters drive alone and low-income residents in transit deserts face the highest transportation cost burdens, this framework is an equity imperative.

International Evidence: Cars Are Not The Answer

Country/City	Model	Result
Copenhagen, Denmark	Decades of investment in protected cycling infrastructure, cycle superhighways connecting suburbs, demand-based parking pricing.	49% of all trips to work or school by bike. 97% cyclist satisfaction. City saves $91 million annually in healthcare costs from cycling.
Tokyo, Japan	World’s most extensive urban rail network: 158 lines, 4,714 km of track, 2,210 stations serving the metro area.	40 million daily rail passengers. 99.8% on-time performance. A system so precise it publicly apologized for a train departing 25 seconds early.
Kansas City, MO	Eliminated all bus fares in 2020, the largest U.S. city with fare-free transit.	Ridership 24% above peer cities. 17% of riders are new to transit. 92% report improved access to jobs and essentials.
Bogota, Colombia	TransMilenio BRT (55 km) integrated with 550 km cycling network. Weekly Ciclovia opens 121 km of streets car-free every Sunday.	Up to 2 million weekly Ciclovia participants. 900,000 daily cycling trips. Bike speeds (17 km/h) beat rush-hour transit (13 km/h). Inspired hundreds of cities worldwide (8-80 Cities / Open Streets Project).
Amsterdam, Netherlands	”Autoluw” (car-lite) policy: removing 7,000-10,000 parking spaces, 30 km/h speed limits, cycling infrastructure budget increased from 5 to 70 million euros/year.	36% of all trips by bike (87% in city center). 665,000 daily cycling journeys. More bicycles than people in the city.

Denver has every advantage these cities had, and then some. The metro area already has 104 miles of rail track and a rail station network that most cities would envy. Denver averages 245 sunny days per year, more than Miami or San Diego (National Weather Service). The terrain is flat across the urban core. The population is young, growing, and increasingly demanding alternatives to car dependency. What Denver lacks is not geography or climate or infrastructure - it is political will.

How We Pay For It

• Free transit subsidy: $30-40M/year. Denver’s share of the I-70 widening project alone is hundreds of millions. The proposed I-25 expansion through central Denver was priced at $1.5 billion before CDOT cancelled it. CDOT’s own analysis found that highway widening returns to pre-construction congestion levels within three to five years. Spending $35 million per year on fare-free transit for low-income residents is the most cost-effective transportation investment Denver can make.
• Bike infrastructure: $10-15M/year from DOTI capital budget. Denver added 137 miles of bike lanes over five years for $13.4 million total. Protected lanes cost more, but the city’s own Denver Moves plan already envisions this level of investment. Federal grants through the IIJA and Safe Streets for All program can supplement city funds.
• Parking reform: Revenue-neutral. Eliminating minimums reduces development costs, not city revenue. Demand-based parking pricing downtown generates new revenue while improving access for businesses.
• Vision Zero: $5-10M/year for intersection redesign. Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grants and Safe Streets for All funding are specifically designed for this work. Denver has been leaving federal safety money on the table.
• 15-minute city infrastructure: $5-8M/year for the neighborhood audit, infill zoning implementation, complete streets, and pedestrian improvements. This is largely embedded in existing DOTI capital budgets; the 15-minute framework is a planning lens that redirects existing spending, not primarily new spending.
• Total: $55-73M/year, offset by reduced road maintenance costs, reduced healthcare spending from crashes and air pollution, climate benefits, and increased economic activity from transit-accessible development. Denver’s annual general fund budget exceeds $1.8 billion. This is a 3% investment in a transportation system that serves every resident, whether or not they own a car.

Frequently Asked Questions

“Free transit is too expensive.” For whom? Denver-area drivers lost $3.5 billion to congestion in 2024 (Texas A&M Transportation Institute). CDOT proposed spending $1.5 billion to widen one stretch of I-25, a project it later cancelled after its own analysis showed congestion would return within five years. The I-70 widening through northeast Denver costs $1.3 billion. A $35 million annual transit subsidy is less than 3% of what we spend accommodating cars. Kansas City funds its fare-free system for roughly $12-15 million per year.

“Nobody rides the bus or train.” Car dependency is created by policy, not preference. When RTD cut Montbello’s bus routes from seven to three, ridership dropped. When Kansas City made transit free, ridership rose 24% above peer cities. When Denver added the Zero Fare for Youth program, school districts reported reduced truancy. People ride transit when transit is frequent, reliable, affordable, and safe. RTD’s own customer satisfaction scores increased 24 points in 2025 even as service declined. Riders want more service, not less.

“Removing parking will hurt businesses.” The evidence shows the opposite. Ninety-three cities across the country have eliminated parking minimums as of 2025. Denver’s own study projects 460 additional housing units per year from the reform. That is 460 more households spending money at local businesses. Structured parking adds $50,000 per unit to housing costs, which gets passed to tenants as higher rent. Expensive parking mandates do not help businesses. They make everything more expensive for everyone.

“Denver is too spread out for transit.” Density follows transit investment, not the other way around. Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen were not always dense; they became dense because they invested in transit and cycling infrastructure and stopped subsidizing sprawl. Denver’s urban core is already denser than many successful transit cities. The problem is not that Denver is too spread out; it is that we have surrounded rail stations with parking lots instead of housing. Transit-oriented development fixes this.

“RTD is a regional agency. Denver can’t control it.” Denver cannot control RTD, but it can exert enormous influence. Denver is RTD’s largest city, its biggest source of ridership, and the host of its most important infrastructure. Denver controls franchise agreements, zoning around stations, street access for buses, and a significant tax base. The city can fund supplemental service (as it does with the Denver Connector), advocate for board reform, and use its political weight to demand accountability. Saying “it’s RTD’s problem” is an abdication of responsibility, not a realistic assessment of power.

References

• RTD-Denver. (2025). Finishing FasTracks Report: Capital and operating costs for remaining corridors. ($1.6 billion needed; 75% program completion.)
• Denver Post. (2025). “RTD ridership still falling as state pushes transit development.” (65.2 million boardings in 2024; 38% below 2019; 6.4% decline in first half of 2025.)
• City and County of Denver. (2025). Vision Zero Dashboard and Statistics. (93 traffic deaths in 2025; 35 pedestrian deaths, up 34% from 2024.)
• Texas A&M Transportation Institute. (2025). Urban Mobility Report. (Denver drivers lost 76 hours to congestion in 2024; $3.5 billion regional cost.)
• University of Denver / Terner Center. (2025). Denver parking reform study. (Eliminating parking minimums projected to boost housing by 12.5%, or 460 units/year.)
• Brookings Institution. (2024). “Parking requirements and foundations are driving up the cost of multifamily housing.” (Structured parking adds average $50,000 per unit.)
• University of Kansas. (2025). “Study finds Kansas City fare-free bus policy attracted new riders, increased overall use.” (24% ridership above peer cities; 17% new riders.)
• Denver Gazette. (2024). “Denver’s $8.6M e-bike program benefits low-income residents.” (8,000 vouchers redeemed; 64% to lower/moderate income.)
• World Economic Forum. (2024). “Why it’s time to put urban form on the global climate agenda.” Shanghai (50 km of routes connecting 4.8M residents), Sydney (George Street redesign, 8,000 riders/hour), Indianapolis ($27M bike investment catalyzed $170M private development).
• Giving Compass / Smart Cities Dive. (2026). “8 Trends in Urban Housing, Transportation, and Climate Resilience to Watch in 2026.” 15-minute city and climate-aligned urbanism trends.