Hey, Denver. It's time for this biweekly meeting of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of Denver City Council.

Join us for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee starting now.

Hey, Denver. Today is Wednesday, February 4th, 2026.

You are tuning in to the Transportation Infrastructure Committee.

My name is Chris Hines.

I serve on Difford City Council representing District 10.

I also happen to be vice chair of the committee.

Chair Lewis will be here.

She's running a little bit behind.

So when she gets here, I will go back over to my place in the table.

We have two briefings today, three consent items.

So, colleagues, if we don't call any of those items off consent, they will move forward.

Before we get into the briefings, we have one from RTD, Regional Transportation District,

and another briefing about the Wilton Street Corridor.

But before we go into the briefings, let's have our colleagues introduce themselves,

starting with the distinguished gentleman to my right.

Yes, that, or Council Member Flynn.

Kevin Flynn, Southwest Member District 2.

Darrell Watson, Fine, District 9.

Paul Cashman, Southton, District 6.

Flora Alvarez, Lucky District 7.

Okay, so let's move into 260097, which is a quarterly briefing from the Regional Transportation District RTD folks.

Maybe we'll start with our board member, and then we can have introductions.

So please, introduce yourself, and then after you introduce yourself, take it away.

Hello, my name is Michael Guzman.

I am the RTD Director representing District C, Denver's North and West Corner, and parts of downtown Denver.

And I am here with my team from RTD.

We'll start with our Deputy CEO, Mr. Angel Peña, who I promised to introduce you to last time.

So, take it away.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for having me here.

Like he mentions, my name is Angel Peña, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Regional Transposition District.

And I'm happy to be here.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Kelly Mackey.

I'm the chief financial officer, and our previous CFO retired last year, so I joined this past May.

And Michael Davies, government relations officer.

Great.

Mr. Davies, are you leading the presentation?

Ms. Mackey is going to start the presentation, and I'll finish the presentation.

Got it.

All right.

So we have two parts that we're going to cover, asset management and overview of that, as well as an infrastructure update.

and then we will do a legislative overview of Michael Davies.

So I will highlight some important points about asset management,

and then we will go over to infrastructure investments after that.

So I want to ground the committee on a few ideas for asset management and its importance,

along with a parallel view of RTD's financial update for your reference.

So asset management really is about stewardship.

RTD is entrusted with long-lived public assets,

assets that are designed to serve communities for decades, not just for the duration of a single project or a single budget cycle.

And the agency invests taxpayer dollars with long-term lenses, recognizing that today's decisions shape future costs, performance, and risk.

RTD manages risk deliberately and transparently, so decisions are informed, trade-offs are visible, and surprises are minimized.

And ultimately, stewardship means leaving the system better than we inherited it, safer and more reliable.

and more resilient for the next generation.

So keep in mind the agency manages a system comprised of $9.3 billion in assets,

which is nearly 50% appreciated at this point currently.

So if stewardship is our obligation, alignment is how we put the obligation into practice.

And with alignment, there is shared direction.

Our trade-offs are visible, our sequencing is intentional, and our outcomes are more durable over time.

And all of this is very important, as even though RTD has $620 million in reserves that are spoken for under the RTD board auspices,

the agency is operating at an approximately $250 million annual deficit that we are addressing.

So without this alignment, even good intentions can lead to competing priorities, late changes, and rework,

and those impacts tend to show up as cost and disruption for the public.

And that's why early alignment matters so much.

It's how we translate stewardship into real-world results.

So the infrastructure decisions, as you know, involve trade-offs.

And when these trade-offs are clear, the choices are informed.

And there's shared understanding of what we're optimizing for, what we're accepting, and where we are deferring projects.

And when these trade-offs are not made explicit, these decisions tend to be implicit.

and expectations compete, risks get preferred, and surprises show up often during construction

or during operations. So making trade-offs visible is a core part of our stewardship,

and it allows decisions to be deliberate, transparent, and grounded in public trust.

Our responsibility, first and foremost, is to keep the system, RTD, safe and reliable so we

can plan replacement work based on asset condition and risk, not just on opportunity or preferences.

because timing really does matter at this stage of the asset lifecycle.

Remember, RTD's capital assets are nearly 50% appreciated.

Another key fact is that our ongoing annual revenue is only about $1.1 billion currently,

and there are about $1 billion in planned capital expenditure requirements over the next five years.

So clearly, replacement work is not discretionary at this point,

and these assets have reached a point where acting now matters for mechanical safety and reliability.

So where we do have flexibility and where partnership is incredibly valuable is in how we coordinate, sequence, and plan around that work, especially when we engage early with city partners like yourselves.

And with that context, I will turn it to our deputy CEO, Angel Tania, to share an update on our infrastructure investments.

Thank you, Kelly.

Yes, good afternoon.

I'm really happy to be here.

Thank you for having me.

And I'm looking forward to work with you.

There's a lot of work that's ahead of us that requires a collaboration with all of these people in the room.

Like I mentioned before, my name is Angel Peña, Deputy CEO, and I've been with the agency 10 months.

Time goes by.

Before I joined RTD, I had the privilege to spend more in my career working at large legacy transit systems,

including Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston region,

and also Washington metropolitan area transit authority in Washington, D.C.

That serves not only Washington, D.C., but also this serves Maryland and Virginia.

These are some of the oldest and busiest transit systems in the country.

And they serve millions of people every day and much of their infrastructure was fueled

decades ago.

when I think about the challenges that we faced back there, it was always the same

how you provide a level of service that everyone is counting on you, but at the same time,

bring the repairs, modernization to the system. And it's a really balancing act. It's a really

challenging balancing act. And that was the challenge. And it's always the same. You've

You've got to improve the system, you've got to keep service running, and you've got to protect the public trust.

And what helped us move forward back then was focusing on a few basics.

It was building strong teams, keep operations steady, but also communicate clearly and honestly.

So balancing those things, like I mentioned, is not easy.

A key part of my role is managing that balance now here in Denver, and I'm excited to it.

I'm doing this with partnership with stakeholders like the City Council.

Starting this year, you will see that approach in how RTV plans, coordinates, and also communicate

infrastructure work.

When customers experience disruption, it can feel sort of random.

One week a stop moves, another week a detour appears.

From the customer point of view, it feels disconnected, right?

And even when each decision makes sense on its own, that might make sense.

But what this year RTD is doing is stepping back and we're looking at infrastructure work

as one connected picture across the system, across time, and not isolated projects.

It's a necessary responsibility to the public that we're serving.

But that requires a one RTD approach.

And that means planning, operations, constructions, communications, working together much early.

After spending time on RTD, one thing became clear very quickly to me and it was we cannot

plan infrastructure work one investment at a time and expect customers to experience

that as coordinated.

Customer experience the system as a whole.

So the question became simple.

How do we plan the work the way customers actually experience it?

And the answer starts with being open about what is coming ahead of us.

Not just what is happening next week, but what is coming months ahead of us.

And instead of planning projects in isolation, RTD is now planning work as a connected portfolio

of all the work that we're going to get done.

So the broader view helps teams to see overlap, reduces stack impacts, it creates more predictable

predictable outcomes for customers from the regional partners too.

So it also changes communication, conversations start earlier, and

especially when the work affects service.

I think that's one of the things that we want to have in our start, right?

So this creates clarity, it builds trust, and

it gives people time to plan.

So let's make this real with an example, right?

I want to give for you see what this is mean what I'm about this what I've been talking about.

So starting this year and as early as next month we intend we're committed to clearly

communicate which infrastructure work will affect customers and when. No after the fact,

no ahead of time and it's going to be ahead of time so people can plan ahead.

So after our team stepped back and sequenced the work three major efforts stand out this year that

that I want to share with you.

First is the overhead wire replacement

at Denver Union Station.

This work is prioritized based on conditional assessment

that the team has done.

And it's critical for our reliability of our service,

so this work got to get done.

But because the plan was done early,

we can complete over a single or a weekend.

We can do this work on over a weekend in early spring.

And that limits disruption to our customers, right,

to get this important work done.

Second is the Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project.

This is a major work that everybody is aware.

There's no avoiding of the scale of it, right?

But it will require a longer shutdown

to be able to get this done.

But what matters the most is the sequence, okay?

And we're coordinating closely with the City of Denver.

The design of the Welton Street and construction phase

will be as we committed all the way all these years.

It will be the last phase of this construction project.

That reduces and repeated impacts to our customers

and give customers and our partners of Denver

time to prepare.

Last but not least, later in the summer,

we will partner again with the city of Denver's

Department of Transportation and Infrastructure

to install a bicycle and pedestrian bridge north of Evans

station of the D-line.

And this work is planning that we can shut down

and not a longer service disruption as well.

So our commitment is that we'll keep the council informed

that these plans start finalizing.

So you have a clear visibility on timing,

the customer impacts and the decisions that we're making.

So customers may feel disruption,

but our commitment is that they should not feel surprised.

What our TVL is committed to do is I want to be very clear.

What you're hearing from me right now is not aspirational language.

It reflects how we will operate moving forward.

When service disruptions occur, customers will receive clear and timely information.

Not once, throughout the work.

Employees will receive the same information so customers get consistent answers and real support.

When work affects service, we're committed to provide alternative service as much as we can

so people can move where they need to go.

and share this alternative service way in advance as well.

And when sequencing choices exist, we will use them to reduce that eruption.

That's our commitment.

And I think some of that earlier work that we're trying to do,

you have my experience with the Kalamath Crossing project that we did last year,

the way we communicated, the way we were ahead of time,

that is our commitment to give you the flavor

and what we're going to be committed for 2026 and beyond.

on any work that we have that it has a disruption to our customers.

So does not remove all inconvenience, but it means that we're delivering

and being responsible how we are going to manage that work.

So you will see this through our clear communication, regular updates,

and fewer surprises for the ride in public for the customers.

And this is a standard that we're holding ourselves moving forward.

So, the last part is about visibility over time.

We're building better ways for people to see what work is coming ahead of us and why it matters.

And so, you will start seeing on new web pages on our webpage that brings that infrastructure

venture into one place.

You're going to be able to see what is planned, what is underway, what comes next.

And these pages explain more about the work,

how this work improves the customer journey.

And they will be updated on every phase of the process,

of the project, and especially during construction.

So that makes it easier for customers, partners,

and the city council to stay informed of what we're doing.

You can really see this direction.

What you see here on the screen,

you're more than welcome to visit

and take that barcode and take a picture of it.

You can see what is already ahead of us,

how we're building this for the transparency.

And that hopefully is gonna support that clarity,

follow through and trust.

I do wanna, before I hand it over to Michael Davis,

I do want to pause for a minute

and be able to tell you that what you heard today

reflects a more thoughtful way

how we're going to do this infrastructure work.

Planning early, sequencing carefully

to minimize the customer impact and communicating clearly.

That's a sole intent I think I want you to hear today.

While we have a lot of work ahead of us, we want to make sure

that in any way capacity we're being intentional

of how we're going to minimize impact to the people

that we're serving in the region and be able to be predictable

so we can have great conversations with the city

and the regional partners and how we can work together

to minimize that impact.

We do value the partnership and your perspective.

So we welcome any questions that you might have before I turn it over to Michael Davis on the legislative overview.

Thank you.

I think there are only two more slides.

If you'll do the legislative overview as well.

And we do have a couple members in the queue.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Chair and members of the committee.

Again, Michael Davis, Government Relations Officer.

I just want to take the opportunity to touch on a few pieces of legislation that RTD will be focused on or that are involving RTD throughout 2026.

First one I want to mention is the work of the RTD Accountability Committee.

Actually, as we speak, the Accountability Committee is reporting to a joint committee of the House and Senate across the way at the state capitol.

And the accountability committee was the work of a bill last year, SB 25161, that gave a charge to the committee to look at RTD, come up with a series of recommendations, really focused on board governance, paratransit, workforce, and how local cities and municipalities interact and are represented with RTD.

That report was released last Friday and certainly anticipate a piece of legislation to be drafted

as a result of that.

And RTD did work closely with the committee.

We had a close working relationship with the staff and did have confidence in that they

brought in many outside experts and did a lot of work.

It was compressed.

It was about August to December.

But within that period of time, definitely presented good information and allowed opportunities

for RTD to also present and make sure that the committee was educated as possible within

that timeframe on the very complex operations of the agency.

So certainly encourage you all to stay engaged in that legislation.

My understanding is that Senator Matt Ball will be the prime sponsor of that legislation.

And certainly our board will be engaged as well.

Next at the state level, I just want to touch on two bills that don't necessarily have a

direct operational or financial impact to RTD, but they certainly involve RTD.

First bill, House Bill 261001, this bill has to do with developing on certain properties.

One of those properties named in the bill is RTD-owned land.

RTD, of course, has a process for developing on our land.

We have an unsolicited proposal policy that lays out very clear guidelines and what we're

looking for if a developer is interested in building on RDD's land.

An example of this is the Central Park Park and Ride, and a developer is currently going

through that process with us and with the city and county of Denver.

This bill would essentially clear the way of some of the local planning efforts with

with regards to developing on land that are owned by RTD and other entities named in the bill.

As I said, this doesn't necessarily have a direct operational or financial impact to RTD,

and it is certainly in line with already established board-approved policies with regards to developing TOD.

I just want you all to be aware of it, as it does involve transit and involves developing in and around municipalities.

Next bill, House Bill 26-1065, really puts a tool in the toolbox for municipalities to look at with regards to tax increment financing.

That tool really is to encourage cities to look at the possibility of what can be developed to get people to transit and how do we make it easier for that first last mile.

So a lot of the eligible projects that would be available under this tax increment financing is bike lanes, sidewalks.

There is even a mention of aerial transit, so you can almost envision a ski lift.

So that is mentioned in the bill as well.

But I put it on your radar as it, again, involves development and how we get customers to transit stations.

And I know our board will be looking at these bills.

They haven't taken a position on any of these bills yet, but we'll be engaged in looking at them as the legislative session goes on.

Lastly, and very importantly, at the federal level, I just want to put on your radar that the surface transportation reauthorization bill is up for renewal.

This is a five-year reauthorization bill that happens, as I said, every about five years.

It really sets the top line numbers for that five years that results in the second largest source of money that RTD gets, and that is through our federal grants.

And so this is all the formula grants that really go to funding state of good repair.

This is all of the competitive grants that RTD can apply for.

And so it's really, really important to RTD.

It not only funds all of the highways in the nation, but transit is a key component.

And maintaining that transit funding in next year's reauthorization, which expires September 30th of this year, is a critical focus for this agency.

And we hope it's a critical focus and something that the whole region pays attention to and weighs in on.

So with that, I'll end there and happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation.

And I want to recommend welcome Chair Lewis and President Pro Tem Romero-Kemple to the meeting.

We have three people in the queue.

And Chair, I'll just keep on.

No, you keep going.

Okay.

But can you live in the queue?

Yes, ma'am.

So we now have four people in the queue.

Councilmember Alvedrez, Cashman, Flynn, and Lewis.

So, Councilmember Alvedrez.

Great. Thank you all for being here.

I always appreciate hearing from our partners at our team.

I'm grateful for the work that's been done, excited for better communication.

It would be helpful to have some of the information that you talked about, Mr. Pena.

I think you mentioned Evans Station.

Yep.

What's going on there?

I didn't quite catch that.

Yeah, no.

So we're working with the city of Denver.

This is actually a project for the city of Denver.

We're just partnering with them for a pedestrian and bicycle

and pedestrian bridge.

The dual bridge?

Okay.

Yes, yes.

And what about that bridge?

Are you funding part of it?

We need to give the right-of-way for them to be able

to move the bridge on top of our right-of-way.

So that's part of what I call about that collaboration,

making sure that we're working with our partners

and be able to collaborate so we can sequence the work

based on other work by minimizing the impact

to our customers, right?

Because if we're not intentional,

you might be doing other work in our system

and you might be impacting their customers twice.

So if there is a well-planned ahead

on sequencing how we're doing this infrastructure work

that can come from our partners,

can come from our TD directly,

And we're minimizing that impact to our customers at the end, if the work is considered in advance.

I appreciate that.

That bridge is very important to the district.

It was a bomb project that is started, and so I'm grateful that we're working together on that.

I think when I think about where the light rail was put in District 7, it is very inaccessible to the people that need it most.

And so I would love to hear more about how we're connecting those light rails to the west side of my district,

which is the most underprivileged part of my district where people are more likely to need public transit.

And I know there was also comments made previously about special events and access to public transit.

So I would love to hear more about that.

What does that look like?

Especially, I know, like the American Beer Festival just announced that it's going to be at Ruby Hill Park in District 7.

There's no real public transit in that area.

I don't know how people are going to get there.

There's no parking there.

And so I think there's great opportunities for us to continue to work together, even just thinking about Levitt Pavilion in general, where that's been a struggle, thinking about the future women's soccer stadium that needs a pedestrian bridge as well.

I'm deeply concerned about people arriving to the Broadway station and going across the train tracks to get to the soccer stadium because that would be extremely dangerous.

And it is what I anticipate happening.

So I hope to continue to work on that together.

I don't know if you have been in those conversations or what your thoughts are on that particular

bridge and need.

Yeah, so I haven't been directly in the conversations, but what I can tell you is

I assure you that we are looking at it from the holistic point of view, from the mobility,

we are being very intentional as we progress all this state of repair that we're doing

that we're also being intentional to see what are those projects that means for the communities,

are those that perhaps might not be a project that is funded

or implemented by RTD, but it's just not important

to be able to move ahead and work together.

So you do have our commitment when we continue to thinking

about infrastructure that we're looking from that lens.

I mean there's levels of conversations that are coming

from the board, but it becomes about high volume events,

how we're doing that.

So we are committed and I appreciate your input

and I'll take it with me and I'll ensure that as we go

with infrastructure where we're taking that lens

that you're mentioning.

Great, and I really appreciate and I'm grateful

for the partnership on the micro commuter

that serves the west side of District 7,

part of the west side of District 7.

And I'm curious what could that look like to be able

to use those vehicles that are only being used 8 to 5,

Monday through Friday, for special events and other things

to help people get access to the light rail system.

And so I would love to have a conversation about that.

But my last question is just when it comes to all of this investment, I really appreciate the investment in the infrastructure.

Also, what I haven't heard mentioned is the customer experience and safety on the RTD system.

Can you speak to what improvements you're looking at making there and safety improvements specifically?

Because I recently was talking to a high school in my district.

they're having a lot of problems because it's very challenging to get young people a driver's license these days.

So I thought, well, they can ride the RTD.

And they said that young people are not comfortable riding RTD.

There was a shooting in my district leaving the bus to go to school.

And so what they told me was that these high schoolers feel like they need to have a weapon in order to ride the RTD,

in order to get to school.

And that's very concerning for me.

Can I?

Yeah, sure.

So thank you for the question.

It's highly nuanced and it is the difficult part of the work that we do.

The public transportation system is for everybody.

So I'm going to ground us in the respect the ride rules.

Weapons are not allowed on our bus system.

Nobody should have them.

It's not necessary.

You are safe on the bus and you are safe on the train.

If you get on to go somewhere, you will be provided with that service.

With respect to whatever the public opinion may be about our city over the last few years,

our internal police department and working with partners like the Denver Police Department,

Aurora, Boulder, all of our municipal police departments that we partner with on a daily

basis help us to make sure that we maintain safety and security on our buses and our trains.

However, the rubber meets the road where the tires leave the stop.

What is the municipal responsibility and what is the responsibility of RTD?

We are never primary jurisdiction members when it comes to law enforcement.

And so we do have to rely on those partnerships with our municipal partners,

particularly here in Denver. It is the Denver Police Department.

I work with Lieutenant Mellow all the time from District 1 on a variety of topics.

So I can assure you that on the bus, it is safe.

On the trains, it is safe, and high schoolers should not feel like they need to carry weapons with them anywhere in our great city, let alone on the public transportation system.

And if that is the situation, they can reach out to me directly, and I will go and have a conversation with the community.

That's not a problem. It doesn't have to be in District C.

I will make that commitment here and now to all of you.

But it is nuanced, right?

What is the responsibility of the city, and where is that problem with that idea coming from?

when we have worked so very, very hard as an agency to ensure that we have created a welcoming transit environment for everybody.

That includes Union Station, the downtown corridors, and anywhere else in the system.

We want to make sure everybody knows that they are safe.

We have our police department and our security officers boarding trains and buses,

checking fares, making sure that people are doing things.

I would also suggest with the tech-savvy teams that we have now,

Y'all jump on to the App Store and download the RTD Security Watch app.

If something's going on, you can send a text message to our dispatch and let them know what's happening without making it loud and vocal.

You don't have to talk to somebody.

You can simply text it, and we will respond immediately with our police department working in coordination with the Denver Police Department to address any issues that we have going on.

But if we don't know something's happening, we cannot address it.

So that is the single best way to communicate to our agency, to the appropriate authorities, what is going on.

I appreciate that.

And I think when I'm talking to young people and they're telling me they don't feel safe, I can't invalidate that experience to them.

I agree.

And so I'm curious, what conversations are you having with our local schools to ensure that they know about these apps?

Because I don't believe they do.

And I think that we've been working with DPS to talk about sending out an alert to tell people what is required to get a driver's license and let people know, for example, they don't need to be documented to have a driver's license because it's important to us to make sure that our young people are licensed when they're driving.

And so part of that could be informing about this app.

I don't know.

I never knew about it.

And I think overall the communication isn't great that we get from our TV because if that was a thing, I should have known about it.

If I don't know about it, my constituents don't know about it.

If my constituents don't know about it,

their children don't know about it.

And so how are you communicating that to our local schools?

Well, I will say I will go back and speak with Marlene De La Rosa

and other members of the school board again.

I am in constant communication with Chilcaytan

and with Marlene at the DPS school board.

And I'm happy to go back and make recommendations

for them as well.

The community meetings and the work that I do,

I'm constantly talking about this,

and I've definitely spoken with people

all over my district about it.

I can redouble that effort.

I will say three visits ago,

I believe you were chair at the time, Councilman Watson.

I did bring this up and presented it

to the city council before,

and that was when it was relatively new

and we were getting stunning feedback

about the changes that it is allowing us to do

in the recording of reportable incidents over time.

because we had been recognized by the FTA for the use of this app and how we are reporting and able to report documentation and

these matters to the public.

And I appreciate the

I think there is also a part where it comes on operations. And so when I've talked to

operations, that's a totally separate thing from the legislative branch of the directors.

And so making sure that our staffs, not just us electeds, are talking to each other, I think is important.

And that's their role.

And our role is, you know, approving things.

That's what the board does necessarily, not necessarily work on those operations, especially with Denver Public Schools.

So I think there's an opportunity there for RTD staff to connect directly with DPS staff and make sure that we're talking to them.

Because I think it's an amazing thing to have free bus available to young people.

but it's not an amazing thing if they're afraid to use it.

And that's just the lived experience

and the people that I've talked to.

So thank you for that.

Yeah, and you have our commitment.

We'll absolutely bring this back to our team

and make sure that we're touching base

with the school district.

And this is why we're here.

So we'd love to hear your feedback.

We'll take that feedback back.

That's what this is all about.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody, Chair.

Thank you.

We have about a little over 10 minutes left,

four people in the queue.

You're next, customer of Flannery Day.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for the presentation.

I'm thinking about bus rapid transit.

And so my understanding is it's partnership of RTD, CDOT

and the city and county of Denver.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

All right.

So who determines, how is it determined

what service will be provided?

How frequently buses will run?

Is that purely in RTD's hands?

How's that done?

Yeah, and thank you, Council Member, for the question.

Great question.

And it depends on which project we're talking about.

You know, of course, we have Colfax.

Right now we have Colfax in the works.

That is absolutely a partnership that originated really with the city and county of Denver and RTD.

If you're speaking about Federal Boulevard or Colorado Boulevard, CDOT has really taken the lead.

And, of course, RTD and city and county of Denver are participating with CDOT as they plan those projects.

with regards to actual service.

That really is a discussion of the city and RTD,

and that's all part of the intergovernmental agreements

that we sign with the city as we put this into place.

But it is essentially the conversation of, well, what's the need?

What is the cost?

Do we have the funding to do this?

And if the answer is yes to all of those,

then we come up with an agreement and say, for example, on Colfax,

about a bus coming every five minutes, four minutes.

So that's the commitment that RTD has made, and I believe we'll be able to stick to that.

And where are things today with federal and Colorado?

I would certainly hesitate to answer too much on that.

It really is being led by CDOT, and I think the question is probably more geared to them.

But I know they are still certainly in the planning process,

And I know they're applying for federal money as a part of that process.

So we're a ways from moving dirt on those corridors.

That's correct.

No matter what happens.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Council Member Flynn with Council Member Lewis.

On deck.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.

Real quickly, Mr. Davies, on House Bill 1001, the son of Yigby, which failed last year,

this body collectively has taken a position of opposition to it.

I'm curious if RTD has taken a position on it.

We have not brought it to the board, and the board is not taking a position on it.

Again, as I kind of mentioned, operationally and financially, it does not impact the agency,

and it's within the bounds of our current policies that are implemented, but we have not taken a position.

I think I would point out that what it attempts to do, Denver does.

And if there's a problem with other jurisdictions within the R2D boundaries, that's another issue.

But when we're doing what needs to be done, it's kind of offensive to have the legislature say to us,

well, we're taking away that authority from you to have oversight on this.

And that's not a good thing for us as a home rule city.

So just FYI.

The Accountability Committee, I'm on the Dr. Cog board and we had presentation on this

in our last meeting.

And so, Director Guzman, I'm interested in your thoughts on the restructuring of the

board from 15 elected to five elected by districts because these districts, I think, would be

the largest legislative elected districts in Colorado outside of Congress itself.

I think it would be over a quarter million constituents per district.

And that presents a unique challenge for someone running for the board.

And I know we're talking about increasing compensation,

but, Director, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on it.

Well, my personal thoughts, I'm not speaking on behalf of the board,

but let me make that clear.

I am from Denver.

I was born in 1980 when we became an elected board.

It's been a legacy I've lived with my whole life, and for good reason.

My grandmother couldn't even ride the bus system

when she was a young lady because of the color of her skin.

the trams back in the day.

So let me begin there and say the reason we have an elected

board is because we pay taxes, and that's how we fund this

system.

The state is not paying for it.

We receive assistance from the federal government,

but it is you, my, our constituents' tax money

when we make a sale or we use something

that we pay that additional fund to RTD.

I think it's foolish not to consider the ramifications

of doing this one without public input and vote,

because we are a democracy, not a tyranny.

And I'm just gonna call it out like it is in this room

because I'm in Denver in my city.

This is a move by the governor

and the current administration to get at funds

that they do not control because they are controlled

by your elected representatives and officials

that they otherwise would not be able to touch

to do special projects that do not serve

the benefit of the entire region.

And this particular room of people should understand

how important it is that I am telling you this

because the stories that come from outside of the city

are that they are funding the system

and they are subsidizing everything

with their sales and use tax and have been for years,

which is a big steaming pile of malarkey

if you look at the sales and use tax gathered by the,

collected by our constituents to pay for this service.

Denver pays the most by a long shot

over every other county and municipality

in the entire system.

And so we also give up our land to give buses a place

to have mechanic work done, trains to have mechanics done,

and the majority of the service grew out of Denver itself.

So I think we need to have a very serious conversation

about why the public's being excluded from that type

of decision-making process, and to go straight

through legislation rather than making it a public referendum

and a vote on how the board should be structured

to serve our communities is faulty at best when it comes

to a democratic society.

Now, again, my opinion, not the board's.

We serve at the pleasure of the RTD Act,

and the vote from 1980 established the elected board,

and that can be changed by the power of the pen.

And so I think there's a lot of communicating

that needs to happen beyond just the city and county

of Denver, but the city and county of Denver certainly

has a big stake financially, a big stake infrastructurally,

and a big stake in terms of capital investment

with this agency, and that should not be ignored.

The director, I really appreciate those comments.

And Jack McCroskey would be spinning in his grave.

He was the lead organizer of that initiative.

And the legislature made him do statewide signature gatherings.

He had that on the ballot.

Paul Sandoval up in Denver was also one of the people that worked on that very well, too.

Last question, maybe for Angel.

When I was at RTD for a couple of years before I came on here,

and I know at the time, and I think even now,

there are some issues with hiring and retention,

not just of operators for rail and bus,

but also for mechanics.

And I'm wondering what the status of your workforce is right now.

How much flux, how much turnover?

Are you at a stable position yet?

I think we've been doing a lot of good thrice.

I will say that.

I think we've been very engaged to make sure that through communication

We're really trying to put out there what are we doing,

what are the benefits to come and we're doing RTVE,

and we're committed to.

But that's something that I think any, with my experience,

not only here in Denver, many trans-led agents are facing the same challenge.

But what I can tell you is that we're committed.

I think we are really leading that, leading to the fact that we're getting better.

But it's just a continuation.

We've got to continue to be communicating,

continue reaching out to see where that talent is.

and not give up on that and we're committed to it.

But it's a challenge that I'm telling you right now

with my experience in other agencies

that many other agencies in the nation

are facing the same thing.

All we can do is continue our commitment to reaching out

through our different levels of communications

and trying to continue the other programs

that we currently have to retain people

and to attract people.

But it's a challenge,

but we'll continue to be committed to it.

Thank you.

Mr. Davis, in your role, maybe you could follow up with us

with some memo or something describing

the recruitment efforts, how are they focused in Denver?

Are they focused in our zip codes where we want to focus?

Do you have any training to bring on board people

who might otherwise not be thinking about such careers

as diesel mechanics or electro mechanics

for the light rail?

Yeah, absolutely.

No, I really, really appreciate you bringing up the topic.

It's been a strategic focus for our leadership team for at least a couple of years now.

As Mr. Pena said, we have made some great progress in reducing the vacancies for many of those needed positions.

We report that to our board on a monthly basis with exactly those figures,

and I'd be happy to follow with some factual information.

They're online.

Okay, excellent.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.

Thank you, sir.

Chair Lewis with Council Member Watson-Ode.

Thank you.

I really appreciate you all being here, of course.

And I can't underscore from you, Director Guzman, the importance of the answer that you provided to Councilman Flynn.

And I will just add, I think it's important when we're talking about RTD, particularly during the legislative session,

it's important to ask the question, what is it that we're trying to solve for?

Because sometimes the answers in the resolution don't actually make sense.

With that, I did have a few questions about the presentation.

you all have as a part of the pre-entitation depreciation,

and I was curious how you all define depreciation.

So it's based on the life of the assets,

and it's depreciated accumulatively on the balance sheet over time.

So an asset could have a life of 5 years, 10 years, 30 years,

and it's depreciated and accumulated on the balance sheet.

Okay, thank you.

The second question that I had for you all is,

I was curious as you gave us the full amount of your budget, and I was curious as to what amount of that budget actually goes to debt service.

Great question.

I got the answer.

Okay.

There you go.

If it's going to take you a second to find the answer.

You moved to the next question.

Yeah.

Yeah, I got it.

And this was just a suggestion if you all haven't already.

When it comes to your asset management, we have the opportunity to get a presentation from the airport.

and they have a really cool asset management system that they've implemented that you all

might be able to learn from. We nerded out on it. You all might have an appreciation for it too.

And then the last question that I have for you and then a comment for you is for House Bill 261065,

who provides the approval? Because in the bill, as it's written currently, it says

subject to state approval?

Like, who is state approval?

It does name a state agency off the top of my head.

I am not recalling it, but it is maybe Department of Local Affairs,

but it's named in the legislation in terms of a state agency kind of being in charge of how that state approval process goes.

So it's essentially under the auspices of the governor?

I mean, that's understood.

Back to you in the studio.

So far, 2026 adopted budget.

The total revenue, including East Colfax BRT grant,

which is a pass-through to the city and county of Denver,

is $1.3 billion in revenue rate.

And our operating expense is $1.1 billion.

So the debt service, your question was, how much is that?

So it was going to be $247 million for 2026.

But we did choose.

We elected to defeed some of the debt.

That means prepay it.

So we took $57 million of the debt that we were going to pay in 2026,

and we paid it in December of 2025 as a financial strategy.

So in total, the budget that we have for 2026 is $191 million in debt service.

Okay.

What's your asset management list?

What's the number for your deferred assets?

So we have a billion dollars in the asset management plan over the next five years,

and that's reviewed on an annual basis, and we're going through the next iteration.

Mr. Lou Cripps is here with us today.

He is fantastic in terms of managing our assets and our asset management team,

and he's one of few in the United States who are actually certified in asset management,

and he has a really fantastic system he has set up for RTD,

and he's a leader in the nation on it, frankly.

Absolutely.

Lou, quick question for you.

What's the, what, do you have a deferred, like, maintenance list and a number that you all

are looking at year over year for the things that you are having to defer because you don't

have the revenue or the budget to be able to address it?

Yeah, so we, will you let us know who you are for the record?

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm Lou Cripps.

I'm the senior manager for asset management at RTD.

We do have a backlog is what we refer to that as.

I would have to get you that exact number, but we do track that.

As of last year, we were able to fully fund renewals and replacements,

but we have some that we were unable to deliver,

and so those assets are in backlog.

But we do anticipate having backlog in 2026,

probably somewhere in the $300 million range.

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah, it's good to see you.

All right. Thank you.

Council Member Watson with Pro Tem.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

I'm going to be pretty quick.

First, thank you to RTD and Deputy CEO for sharing the opportunity to delay the maintenance on the Welton line.

I know that the L line, we discussed that over the last year and a half, and we appreciate the opportunity.

There's going to be the mobility next step study that we're going to present from DOTI next,

and I think that will support the kind of timeline that DOTI has for the community informed process.

My final thing is just simply a comment to RTD.

You discussed kind of your remnant parcels of RTD land and your process for developing

on it and I wanted to say thank you.

At least in District 9, we have some remnant parcels on 39th Avenue Greenway.

We had a very specific one, long-term one at 28th and Downing that was an open lot.

The L line wasn't stopping there anymore.

It was just sitting.

And now it's almost completed development for affordable condominiums.

No such animal exists on the Wall Street corridor.

And they're leveraging the prioritization policy to encourage folks who are displaced

to be able to have first hit to actually purchase and build wealth in the communities where they

possibly are displaced.

And RTD was a big partner in that.

So I just really want to thank you all and thank you for all the great information that

you all presented today.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Thank you.

Madam President Pro Tempura.

Thank you. And thank you for the presentation today. I appreciate it and the information. Some of my questions have been asked, but I do wonder for the development that I understand RTD is looking at on some of the parking lot services over at Colorado Station and at Southmore. Both of those are in my district.

can you give a brief update or how are you communicating because I have not received any

community I just hear about it kind of tangentially about possible development that is happening

or proposals that are being submitted and so I'm just interested in how we can better communicate

to know what is being planned at those at those light rail stations and development yeah thank

Thank you, Council Member, for bringing those up.

If it's okay, I'd like to touch base with our TOD planning team who are not any of us

and just make sure we give you a complete answer of where those projects are

within our understanding of them and just see if there's any latest communications

and be able to give you a full picture.

Okay.

That would be great.

I think, you know, residents talk, people talk,

and I just want to be able to give people answers

or be able to direct them to the right people to understand better about what's being planned there.

And for the Colorado station, that's part of the near southeast Denver plan,

but we don't have a neighborhood plan further south.

And so, again, wanting to make sure that it isn't just something that comes,

that we can collaborate better as a community.

I'm sorry, it was Colorado station and what was the other one?

Southmore station.

Southmore.

Thank you.

And then the other question that I had was related to it is where the RTD stops are.

So it's not just light rail, I'm talking buses.

And is there any consideration reevaluating or looking at what those lines are, the frequency

for bus service to those lines or how can we better communicate so that some of the lines that are very busy,

I also just can't that we can have a better.

Hampton and Monaco on a daily basis in the morning, in the afternoon.

There are dozens and dozens and dozens of high school students that are on those corners that are waiting for the bus,

that are late for school on the bus,

that some of those students decide to walk from Monaco and Hampton

across I-25, up and cross over Hampton up to school.

So I'm just wondering a little bit more about how we can have,

you know, really think about the service that's being provided.

The board just completed, sorry, the agency just completed

a bus stop infrastructure assessment.

And we were presented with that last...

We're not...

It's not completed.

We're progressing the work.

Yeah.

We just got an update as a board on it, though.

It's the first that we have seen

about the full impact of where our buses are at,

what the bus stops look like,

different types of bus stops

and equity concerns and safety concerns.

And so we're continuing through that process.

I would say, I'm sorry.

I would ask you to wait.

I will keep that question close and I will answer you when I have the full report from the agency.

But I think that we are already working on that as a matter of fact.

But again, there's thousands of bus stops throughout this region and not all of them belong to us.

It's a partnership between us and the city.

And so, again, we would have to look at what that is.

But the study is comprehensive in that way to be able to provide the information you would need to answer your question

and then what we can do about it together.

Sure. Thank you. And that kind of leads into my last question just around, and I know that it's layered and complicated, but being able to have shelter at some of our bus stops or even a bench would be great.

We have, you know, when you pass by and you see multiple people just having to sit on the ground or, you know, at night sitting on the ground, and I worry about those people are turning not just on Monaco, but on Hampton and Yosemite, along Monaco and Evans.

And there are bus stops that I just, we don't have, I think, adequate and safe places for people to wait.

And they are waiting.

We hear you.

I hear you.

If Director Ruscha was here from District B, she would say she most certainly hears you with respect to the seniors.

What I will say to that is any bus stop, shelter, or amenity needs to be on a platform that meets, at a minimum, the ADA federal requirements.

RTD also has expanded upon those for what we would like to see.

Always, always, always with government,

the question is cost, right?

We can do it if we have money to do it.

But there are a lot of stops that are also grandfathered in

on very small sidewalks where they're not going to be ADA

accessible and it's not possible to do that without help

from the city and rezoning.

But we cannot provide service at a non-ADA acceptable bus stop

currently and anything that is, and I hate to use the term,

but it really is what it is.

They were protected under the legislation

for being there prior to the ADA of 1990

and the regulations that came out thereafter.

In the state that they're in, if any changes are made

without making the entire area ADA accessible,

we run the risk of not being able to stop anywhere.

And so that's a bigger, more nuanced conversation

that's going to require a lot of time.

I don't think there's any reason we shouldn't do it.

Don't get me wrong.

But I do know that the barrier to doing a lot of this work

is a financial aspect and consideration

that we do not have funds to do on our own as an agency.

There's not a lot of federal granting

for this type of work available to my knowledge.

So then it comes down to looking at local partnerships

and what we can do together.

For example, some of the work that will be done

with Denver, Denver Deserves Sidewalks, right?

That type of infrastructure work that is being done.

In my district, I currently have a stop on Navajo Street

that has been a total pain for more than a year.

And I thought it was ready.

And it's missing the ADA basic requirement by a few inches

and we cannot move the bus stop back to where it goes.

And so we're trying to work with the developers

as they develop public infrastructure,

take care of the right of way.

And I'm constantly sending messages back and forth

to make sure that we get that done.

Not only within the agency, right?

It's a level I should not be involved in as a director,

but I absolutely am because I'm the connection to District 1

and I'm the connection to DOTI from the governance perspective

and what's going on with the law,

but then also communicating with my team

and then handing off what I need to hand off to them

to get that done and operationally back to square one.

So yes.

Director, if I may.

So complimenting what he's talking about,

yes, the first step we're doing is that assessment

that he mentions we did provide an update

on how we're heading.

And it was because we're all committed to see

what this inventory looks like, right?

But what I can tell you and reassure you is that we're moving ahead of this.

And as the latest, we will have that report by June, right?

And that will be presented to the board.

And I welcome everybody to be as engaged and right because this is an opportunity to really have a visibility of how many bus stops we're talking, how many, like Director Guzman mentioned, don't belong to our TD that we're providing service.

So it requires a regional conversation, requires a commitment from people in this room and people outside of this room to come up with a standardization.

And part of that assessment is going to defining what, depending on the bus stop and size, what that should look like from the accessibility standpoint for the customer experience standpoint.

So we hear you.

We are with you.

But it's a regional conversation that goes beyond our TV once we get that inventory.

to be able to standardize, to be able to move ahead and prioritize.

That's what's going to be the challenge because the funding is going to be a challenge.

How we prioritize and move the needle, right?

And it requires beyond RTD to be able to move forward.

But I just want to say that we're committed and we are welcome to keep you informed

and everyone in this room once that report is done.

Okay. Thank you.

So in the meantime, so you're doing the, if I understand this correctly, you're doing the inventory.

There'll be a report in June.

With the issues that I've just mentioned, is there a point of contact at RTD that I can just like, who do I tell?

You can tell me.

Okay.

And I'll follow up on those specific stops that you mentioned and see if in the near term.

that in the interim we can see what we can do there

and try to make sure that bus is on time

and picking up those school kits so they're not as walking

as much.

That's great.

I would also say the study is not just an inventory.

It's also looking at the accessibility

and helping us to understand what we as policymakers

need to set in motion for policy with respect

to what is acceptable at a bus stop.

I will say this.

I communicated with Councilwoman Jamie Torres, thank you, sorry, about a situation that we're

facing on federal in her district.

And the request was remove all of the infrastructure on a street where there is no other infrastructure.

There's not even trees there anymore.

And I grew up right off of it, right?

So I know that there's nothing there.

that's not an acceptable response when it comes to illicit activities along a street in Denver,

right? And it's more than just a street. I think it's a state highway as well. And so we need to

have that conversation and communication back and forth about what is going on there. But again,

back to the safety and security, like a bus stop is a bus stop. We're not manning that 24 hours a

day, seven days a week, but we are serving people that could be using it all week long.

So it's very highly nuanced. And thank you for starting the question with that understanding.

So also feel free to reach out to any of us.

I am fully in Denver.

I'm happy to answer any questions I can.

And if I cannot, I will fill them to the right people as well.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

Apologies to our next presentation.

We're a bit behind.

I'll just say thank you for being here.

Thank you for your participation.

Civic Center Station, Union Station, the entire 16th Street,

not mall shuttle, the convention center stop are all,

and the Colfax BRT that's under construction are all in my district,

and I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts about the accountability committee.

Thank you, Director Guzman, for your personal comments.

Love to talk to RTD at the board level and at the institutional level.

Denver did take an active role in the conversation last year and the year before,

and I imagine we'll be asked to take an active role again this year.

So thank you.

Thank you for your time.

Happy Transit Equity Day, everybody.

Zero fare all day long.

Get on a bus and a train for free.

Go on.

All right.

Thank you so much, Josh.

So our next conversation as we're transitioning is also transit-related,

specifically on the Welting Corridor.

So we can have a free come up.

All right, super.

So next briefing is 260098, presentation on the Wilton Street Corridor.

Thank you, Dottie, for being here.

Please introduce yourselves and take it away.

Councilman Heinz-Alstom, we're going to brief introduction first and then turn it over to

to Alana and David from Dottie to introduce themselves

and walk through a very brief overview

of the Weldon Street Next Steps project.

I wanted for my colleagues and for folks who are viewing

to have kind of a overarching why,

and then we'll dive in.

Darrell Watson, City Council Member representing

the Fon District 9 that includes the Weldon Street Corridor.

I wanna say first and foremost, you know, colleagues,

we look forward to providing an update

of a very important Next Steps mobility study

project on Welland Street Corridor. This project is in collaboration with our friends at Department

of Transportation Infrastructure, the Five Points community, and some of the great folks

we just heard from RTD. We will study and elevate the steps needed to realize what we

have all been asking for for generations, I would say, a transit-rich corridor that

residents in Five Points deserve. A corridor that delivers 10-minute connections to 38th

Blake, a line train to plane, a corridor that connects beyond the current L line circulator

model that ends in downtown, a corridor with slow and safe streets for pedestrians, bike

riders, walkers, and cars to be a part of a connected portfolio that Mr. Angel Pena stated

just a minute ago that RTD aspires to have throughout the Denver community.

We're establishing our community advisory group as we speak.

That should be formed by the end of April and that is inclusive of youth leaders, community

members, business owners, transit leaders and folks from DOTI and other departments.

This is an opportunity to deliver on the promises made 30 plus years ago to our community and

to turn to our community on really making sure that transit within the corridor is connected,

it is accessible and we can rely on it as we do with other corridors.

So with that, I'll turn it over to Alana and David.

Real quick, before you all get started, I want to give you all just some understanding

of why I brought these two presentations together at the same time.

So I wanted to really ground us in understanding what RTD does comprehensively from a budget

perspective, from a resource perspective, from an asset management perspective, because

I often have found that folks are talking about RTD in things that aren't necessarily

based in facts, but are based in how they might experience or what they may have heard

from their neighbors.

And to be able to then think about this Welton Street project in terms of, like, how it services

the entire city and county of Denver and not necessarily just this corridor, because you

have folks who are transferring to other modes of transit from District 8, District 9, District

10, et cetera, et cetera.

And so just to level set the intentionality between bringing both RTD here to give that presentation as well as the presentation and really grounding that and the comprehensiveness of the RTD system and not just a single district.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Chairperson Lewis.

And thank you, Councilman Watson.

I'm Elena McWhorter.

I'm Dottie's Legislative Affairs Manager.

So thank you for having us here.

I'll start by saying thank you, Councilman Watson, for being a huge champion for this project and for his district and really being a conduit for the department to hear directly from the community and be informed by what they want to see and really create a cohesive vision that builds on all of the conversations that we've been hearing for decades and taking advantage of a moment in time to really transform this corridor and take a holistic approach to how we can.

we can provide a transit-rich corridor, provide green infrastructure, water quality management,

stormwater management, and really enrich the public space to being a comfortable corridor

for all the people who traverse through it, to it, and around it, accessing their homes

and their businesses and friends and family.

So really excited to share what's in the works so that we can get a good idea of what our

options are and how we move community-led vision forward. So David, please introduce yourself and

take it away. David Kretzinger, Transit Director for DOTI. Thanks for giving us time to share

what the Next Step study is all about. Thank you, Chair Lewis, Vice Chair Hines, and Councilman

Watson for the introduction. And it is nice to follow RTD and their presentation. Our,

As Elena was saying, the intention of the Welton Next Steps study is to deliver an actionable framework that involves all of the community members.

Looks not only at just the transportation, but also the public space, the green infrastructure that will make this corridor vibrant for a long period of time.

Respect the cultural and historic heritage of the corridor and support business revitalization.

The key parts of Welton are from Broadway,

so essentially 20th Avenue to 30th and Downing Station

and also continuing on the Downing corridor up to 38th

and Blake to consider that as part

of the Fast Tracks connection promise.

This is a timely effort so that, and we're pleased

to be coordinating with RTD in this effort,

receiving funds from Dr. Cog and the Federal Transit Administration.

So having this look before RTD makes track replacement decisions for the corridor is essential.

We're not at the stage of providing an answer or specific improvements.

As Councilman Watson indicated, those are to come with the conversations in the community.

So with the community advisory group, we'll collaborate with the community to confirm vision for the corridor.

I think we have a pretty clear vision,

but we want to confirm what that means

to all the different folks on the CAG.

Analyze all the options.

We're going to be able to understand the challenges

and opportunities, including how to be able to pay for

and implement the recommendations

and then document those recommendations

so that we can move them forward.

We think the overall timeline is about 15 months.

We're going to get a head start with the CAG process

over the next couple months so we can shave off a little bit

of this time.

The intent is to provide some serious conversation

and ideas back to RTD towards the end of this year

and then be able to document in more detail things

beyond that point into early 2027.

With that, I'll conclude.

Our project manager is Phoebe Fuchs.

She wasn't able to be here today.

So, but she's a great colleague and look forward to working with her on this.

I'll take questions at this point.

Great, no questions.

Actually, the queue is open.

I don't have anyone.

I don't know if you would like this.

Councilmember Lewis, or Chair Lewis.

I have my bearings here.

Okay, so I appreciate you all giving this presentation.

And I went through the presentation before coming to the committee today.

And the timeline wasn't really clear.

So if you all could tell me specifically, what is the timeline that you all are working on?

So as I stated, we expect to start the CAG process in March.

And our consultant will be on board by June.

We're currently in a procurement process and expect that we'll bring that procurement for a consultant to City Council in the April-May timeframe.

I had that next question because it mentioned City Council.

So what would be specific in terms of the RFP that you all would be bringing to City Council?

What is it that you all are asking the consultant, engineer, I'm not sure, to be able to do?

Given that we're more leanly staffed than we were a year ago, the consultant is providing the additional capacity for us to be able to conduct a highly engaged effort over a short period of time.

Engineering, landscaping, public outreach, and traffic analysis are sort of the key components of that effort.

Okay. And so this timeline that you all have laid out, the month one, month three, month 12, month 15, that's the process that the consultant would be leading?

Correct.

Okay. And so what's the final plan that they would be providing to you?

They would be providing a final report in early 2027 that would document all of the

conclusions of the process, engineering recommendations, financing recommendations, funding and financing

recommendations, and implementation recommendations.

Okay.

And within the presentation, it mentions a portion where there would be an opportunity

to study alternatives.

What alternatives to what exactly?

So we know that the existing system

provides 15 minute frequency and as was introduced,

the community has set an expectation

for a 10 minute frequency service.

And so we need to be able to have the conversation with RTD,

which how that objective can best be achieved.

I think the different options will look at placement of the rail

and or other options that can achieve those frequencies.

Is that 10-minute expectation based on the formulas that RTD uses

in order to determine what the frequency would be for a specific mode within a specific area?

Because they don't just, like, make them up.

And so for community to have an expectation of 10 minutes versus RTT having a 15-minute implementation, I'm just curious.

Yeah, I appreciate the question.

And I think this goes to a couple of dimensions.

As you heard CEO, Deputy CEO Pena talk about, it's the tradeoffs.

And we also want to be looking ahead at the future.

How are the connections to 38th and Blake, the plane to the train?

How is that made?

And does that change the utility of the corridor as we look to make better connections?

And I'll interject quickly.

And, Council Member, that 10-minute timeline is also based on the science that we have a single track at the L-line, which is the only single track system in RTD's disposal connecting to a double track.

And so the data that we have thus far, and that's why the mobility study is going to be very helpful, if we are extending a line to 38th and Blake and we're continuing the L line beyond simply a connector to downtown and stopping and not going to mineral, not connected anywhere else, that connectivity timeline has to be exact or we'll continue to experience the delays that we did, which was part and parcel of the reason why the D line became the L line.

and the D-line, the connection to Mineral and all those other places were delayed or stopped,

and the L-line just simply connects back towards downtown.

So there's data focused on it, but the engineers will identify what would be necessary for the L-line

to be able to be a part of that full connectivity.

Can it continue riding with 15 minutes and have missing the single track to the double track connection

as it was in the past?

Can it get down to 10 minutes and what steps would be taking to make sure that can happen?

That's different than what I just heard is that the community has an expectation of 10-minute frequency

versus RTD is trying to solve for a single track connected to a double track issue.

The community, as well as the data that's demonstrated why the D-line stopped being the D-line

from 30th and Downing all the way down to Mineral

is because the connection was missing.

The connection was not occurring.

They were not, the timing was not correct.

The engineer is going to identify

whether RTD can make the 10-minute timeline connection,

which seems to be the necessary timeline

in order for those connections.

If it's not, then the engineer will communicate

what that timeline is.

An RTD engineer or the consultant?

The consultant for this process, they're looking at the full mobility from.

I do not understand my question because I'm trying to understand if RTD has a formula that they use to determine frequency.

Correct.

And communicate the community as saying we would like to establish a 10 minute frequency and that's our expectation.

There's there's going to be some discrepancy between what the community is expecting and what RTD can actually deliver.

I'll let David answer, but what I'm saying, Council Member, is that the engineer that's hired will validate what that exact timeline should be.

So the community can't just come up and say it must be 10 minutes and we're going to go there.

That's why we're doing a full mobility study.

The community, through the last five community-informed meetings with RTD and Dottie,

their understanding of the outcome of that study was that it's a 10-minute timeline.

RTD is saying they're delivering a 15-minute timeline.

We're doing a study to see what makes the most sense.

Is it 12 minutes?

Is it 10 minutes?

Is it five minutes?

And from there, we'll get data from that study

from the engineer.

So the community is not saying it must be 10 minutes

and we're driving to 10 minutes.

We've had five studies of this corridor.

And within those five studies, the outcomes have stated

the timeline that RTD is delivering

isn't allowing for the connectivity to occur.

That's why the L line is only going towards downtown.

It's not connecting to any other lines.

So David, Alana, if you wanted to maybe share some more, but the engineer is going to determine the timeline.

I just want to make sure that we are managing the expectations of community when we're talking about 10-minute frequencies in terms of the community having that expectation and you all needing to deliver on that and what RTD is actually capable of delivering on and understanding that the frequency is not going to change the fact that the single track is the problem.

Correct.

And so it sounds like we're setting community up for failure already because they've already

equated this frequency with being able to solve the problem. But the problem is actually the

single track. It's not 10 minutes versus 15 minutes, but also 10 minutes versus 15 minutes

is going to cause a discrepancy between community if you aren't having RTD be a part of the

conversation, which is why I wanted to start with grounding us with RTD in order for us to

understand what it is we're actually talking about so it's not pie in the sky and we can manage the

expectations for community so they're not upset with us um in the long run i appreciate the

comment and and the discussion um and i think it's a it's a case of both and um the community has

experiences as councilman watson has expressed has experienced the frequency being even less

than 15 minutes going down to 30 minute frequency is disconnected from the rest of the system

And as I also said, we're also looking forward to the future.

If we complete the connection to the 38th and Blake Station, what's required to make that work?

RTD is a partner in this process, so I think we can be assured that RTD is not going to allow wants to drive something that's unaffordable.

Correct.

Yeah. The final question I have is who would be responsible for whatever answer that you all come

up with? If it's keeping the tracks, digging up the tracks, finding something else that replaces

it, who financially, who's responsible for that? The city or RTD? I think that's a joint decision.

RTD certainly has a large stake in this, both between their existing funding going towards the proposed rail replacement as well as the future Fast Tracks fund.

So I appreciate Director Guzman's point that we need to pay attention to the Fast Tracks savings account funds, part of which need to go to this quarter.

Yeah.

It's not written in policy?

If it's the city or if it's RTD?

It just feels like that would be more explicit.

Track replacement, as Deputy CEO Pena mentioned,

and all of our RTD's assets are RTD's responsibility to replace.

So we can ideally come up with a plan that RTD didn't have the funds to be able to execute?

The blocks, streets, and other components are largely Denver's responsibility, and how

the two fit together is then the joint decision.

Okay, thank you.

And I'll clarify, Fast Tracks has identified funds for the connection from 30th and Downing

to 30th and Blake.

Those dollars are already situated and allocated for that corridor and can only be spent on

that corridor.

Part of the discussion as far as funding and for this entire process, whatever the outcome

is, which is the initial promise that RTD made 30 plus years ago, will go towards that

change. So whether it's extension of track, whether it's any of the other possible alternatives

that RTD will be involved in discussing, those funds are specifically dedicated for the Weldon

Street corridor. And we can identify what that amount of those funds are that have been

dedicated through Fast Tracks and the Fast Tracks allocated funds for Denver and for

that corridor. And we'll bring it back to this committee.

Yeah, no, I'm aware of that.

It's in the FISA account, and it makes sense for it to be dedicated to that corridor

because it's actually out of, which is to Director Guzman's point,

the corridor that costs the least in order to be able to finish pieces of the fast track program.

So I'm well aware of that, and it makes sense.

But it doesn't make sense if we're going to pull up the tracks, because then what would it be connected to?

Like what's taking you from the downing to the A-line?

Well, we're going to be excited to come back to this committee and present the outcomes from the community,

from the DOTI and RTD collaboration on what that connection will be.

And so I think that's what this process is about.

That's what this study is for.

And that's why we're hiring an engineer to provide that clear outcome.

One of the last five studies that didn't provide clarity on outcomes, the intention for this one is for this will.

Will the consultant that you all hire be interfacing with the folks who actually utilize the services

in order to be able to get their feedback on what alternatives might be for them

in the event that the alternative that you come up with means that they no longer have access to public transportation?

Yes, there would be representation of regional travelers on the system.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Lewis, former R2D Director Lewis.

Correct.

One note.

We don't have anyone else in the queue.

I don't want a labor committee.

So there are three consent items.

They will move forward on consent to the full body.

Without any further business, we are adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye.