9News — If the Regional Transportation District (RTD) has to continue to cut service, nearly 100,000 riders could be without access to reliable transportation, according to a study from the transit advocacy group Transit Center.
Cuts would also disproportionally impact riders of color the study found. Thirteen percent of Black riders would be impacted, though Black residents make up 5% of the population in the model. Fifty-four percent of non-White and Hispanic riders would lose reliable service, though they make up 36% of people living in the service area.
RTD’s budget has been a controversial topic for years, especially as residents in the region’s northwest corridor await a train the agency has promised as part of a sales tax initiative. That train, which was projected to be built already, isn’t expected to come for another 50 years.
But local transit advocates say these financial issues are sparred mostly by the pandemic, and try as leaders may, they won’t be able to fill the gaps.