RTD’s plan for EcoPass rate hikes advances

An 18.3 percent increase in EcoPass rates for businesses is a step closer to passage, after a Regional Transportation District committee’s approval of the hike.

The 10-4 vote on Tuesday by RTD’s Bus Operations and Customer Service Committee sent the EcoPass increase — along with a general 13.2 percent EcoPass hike — to the full board, which is expected to approve it at its Sept. 15 meeting.

The annual EcoPass program allows businesses to provide their employees with unlimited rides on RTD buses and trains throughout the Denver-Boulder area.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: May 2024

As Mental Health Awareness Month unfolds in Colorado, it serves as a reminder of the collective responsibility to prioritize mental well-being.

RTD’s legal advisers had told the board that the extra increase was necessary to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin. The lawyers told RTD that the increase is needed so that business EcoPass passengers — who generally include fewer racial minorities or people with disabilities — would not be more heavily subsidized than RTD riders in general.

Interests including the city of Boulder and the Louisville-based nonprofit 36 Commuting Solutions had urged RTD to hold off on the larger increase until more data could be obtained, and pointed to a 2009 RTD directive that stated that no changes other than average fare increases would be approved without data obtained through passengers’ use of Smart Cards — a technology that has yet to be fully utilized. They say they support the across-the-board 13.2 percent increase but not the extra levy for businesses’ EcoPass programs, and have called for more opportunities for public input and formation of a dedicated task force to study the Title VI concerns.