RTD's ridership decline deepens
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The Regional Transportation District's already sluggish post-pandemic recovery is sliding further, with ridership trending down in 2025.
Why it matters: The decline — a possible signal of waning public confidence — is undercutting Colorado's push to get more people on buses and trains, just as Denver pursues a $280 million bus rapid transit line on East Colfax Avenue.
By the numbers: Ridership system-wide is down 6.4% from January to May compared to the same period last year, the latest RTD data shows.
- That's 39% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
State of play: "Commuting trends have significantly changed since March 2020," RTD spokesperson Pauline Haberman tells us. "Return-to-work numbers in the Denver metro area, which accounted for a significant percentage of RTD's ridership prior to the pandemic, remain low."
- Denver's return-to-office gap is one of the widest in the country — with visits down 40% this July compared to July 2019, per Placer.ai, which tracks foot traffic from mobile devices.
The intrigue: RTD's staffing rebound was expected to help after labor shortages hampered the reliability of its bus and train service. The agency hired more bus and rail operators, allowing it to offer 27,000 additional service hours this year, according to Haberman.
Between the lines: Crime and safety concerns have also kept some riders away.
Yes, but: RTD's new police chief Steve Matingano rolled out a safety plan that includes adding officers, increasing patrols, stricter fare enforcement and upgraded cameras and lighting.
- The agency added live look-in cameras on vehicles and improved its Transit Watch app to speed up responses.
- Those changes drove a 15% drop in security-related calls between June 2024 and June 2025, RTD data shows.
What they're saying: Ridership is "just one metric used to assess the agency's performance," Haberman says, and can fluctuate due to a number of factors including "economic conditions, seasonal demands, remote work trends" and RTD's own performance.
- The agency is focused on "maintaining assets, hiring and retaining a qualified workforce … and enhancing the customer experience," she adds.
- Haberman notes recent reconstruction projects — both planned and unplanned — have disrupted service but are "an investment in the future."
What we're watching: June ridership data drops later this month.