RTD-backed study offers blueprint for reducing drug use on transit
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A sign inside the underground bus concourse at Union Station in Denver. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios
A landmark study examining drug use on mass transit — including Colorado's Regional Transportation District (RTD) — may help other agencies manage the public health issue.
The big picture: The report identified specific solutions, including changes adopted by RTD and replicated in other cities.
Why it matters: The fixes aim to pull RTD out of its post-pandemic ridership rut while restoring trust in the transit system's buses and trains.
State of play: RTD officials revisited the report, first released in August, on Wednesday as part of a two-day forum focused on managing drug use across North American transit agencies.
- The study lauded RTD's design approach, highlighting changes made at Denver Union Station, including improved lighting, newly installed directional railing and a beefed-up security camera system.
- RTD launched a strategy in March 2024 to leave elevator doors open when at rest to deter illicit activities, something LA Metro has since replicated and RTD plans on expanding.
Context: Improving coordination and outlining staff roles, hiring peer specialists and creating Naloxone policies to reduce fatal overdoses are some steps suggested in the study.
- It also calls for standardizing data collection, to help measure how to intervene and better understand the scope of drug use, and improving design with lighting and increased visibility to deter public drug use.
Stunning stat: Between January 2024 and October 2024, reports of illicit drug use on RTD's Transit Watch App totaled 1,988 — a number that's fallen to 707 during the same span this year, per the agency's data.
Between the lines: The researchers from the Transit Cooperative Research Program, funded by the Federal Transit Administration, also looked at Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Portland as part of the study.
The other side: Some strategy shifts sparked controversy when rolled out, like RTD's decision to add police officers and a crackdown on people experiencing homelessness
The bottom line: Officials believe changes implemented to curb drug use on the transit system are having an overall positive impact on customer services.
- But whether it drives more people to use RTD remains to be seen.