Denver Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
Denver Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of Denver City Council met on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at approximately 2:00 PM. The meeting included an action item to approve a security contract for Denver International Airport (DEN) and a briefing from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) on its 2026 work plan. The committee also received updates on a recent perimeter security breach at DEN and other airport matters.
Action Item: Contract with ACTS Airport Services
- The committee considered a five-year contract (three base years with two one-year options) with ACTS Airport Services for comprehensive security services at DEN's curbside, public areas, parking facilities, and other locations. The total contract value is $79,553,656.
- The contract covers security guard services, terminal traffic management, access control, patrols, incident resolution, and enforcement of trespassing rules. It aligns with DEN's Vision 100 pillar of maintaining existing assets.
- The MWBE goal is 5%, with current contractor averaging over 6% through subcontractor Advanced Professional Security (APS). The DSBO approved the plan on December 17, 2025.
- The selection process involved a competitive RFP with eight bidders; ACTS was ranked first by the panel.
- Council members asked about coordination with Denver Police, communication protocols, training requirements, and accountability for third-party security personnel. Councilmember Parsons raised concerns about name badge visibility and past incidents with private security. The airport team committed to follow up on contract language regarding identification.
- The committee voted to move the contract forward to the full City Council. Councilmember Hines moved, Councilmember Alvidres seconded, with no dissension.
Briefing: DOTI 2026 Work Plan
- Director Amy Ford and her team presented the department's goals for 2026, focusing on maintenance, project delivery, climate goals, and safety. Key areas included:
- Capital Program: Over $200 million invested in preservation, safety, and modernization, with $126 million for transportation and mobility (including $33 million for the new sidewalk fund).
- Fleet Management: 2,500 pieces of equipment; more than half are beyond or nearing useful life. Fleet availability is at 86% (goal 87%). The department is reclaiming underutilized vehicles and testing new electric vehicles.
- Paving: Using Pavement Condition Index (PCI) to prioritize preservation; goal PCI of 73.
- Sidewalk Program: Over 30 miles of poor-condition sidewalks repaired; 10 miles of bond-related sidewalks completed. In 2026, focus on implementation plan and Clayton neighborhood work.
- Colfax BRT: On schedule and under budget; substantial completion Q4 2027. Early opening of exclusive lane from Broadway to Colorado in September 2026. Anticipated ridership increase of 10,000 daily trips.
- Solid Waste: 99.8% route completion; 28% diversion rate (2025); contamination rate for compost at 1%. Volume-based trash pricing serving 180,000 customers. Contract with Denver Public Schools ends June 2026.
- Denver Connector Microtransit: Three zones (Montbello, GES, West Denver) averaging 6 passengers per hour; wait times under 30 minutes for majority; 4.8-4.9 out of 5 stars.
- Safety/Vision Zero: Pedestrian fatalities down 50% year-to-date, but vehicle fatalities up. Goal of 18 miles of slow/safe streets in 2026. Speed safety program ordinance coming in July for automated cameras on Colorado, Federal, and Alameda.
- Right-of-Way Services: Hired 12 new enforcement agents (94% strength); launching online parking citation dispute portal in late summer. Consolidated permitting team and Prop 123 affordable housing fast track process.
- Councilmembers raised concerns about project communication and responsiveness. Council President Flynn expressed frustration with lack of responses to constituent inquiries, particularly regarding speed limit changes and legacy projects. DOTI acknowledged the issue and committed to improving closure of communication loops.
Airport Updates (Director Phil Washington)
- Perimeter Security Breach: On May 11, 2026, a breach occurred related to Frontier Flight 4345. DEN has initiated a perimeter physical security assessment, including law enforcement, security consultants, and peer review from other large airports. A full update will be provided to the committee on July 1, 2026.
- Community Advisory Committee: Four new members added to the airport's ad hoc volunteer committee.
- DEN Reserve Program: Being sunset due to success of new East and West Security checkpoints, resulting in cost savings.
- Southwest Airlines: Celebrated 20 years at DEN; event at National Western Center on June 25.
- RTD A-Line: 10-year anniversary; nearly 60 million riders since April 2016. The Eagle P3 project opened $300 million under budget, funding rail in Aurora.
- Councilmember Gilmore requested information on the energy RFI (31 proposals received) and asked for details on the community advisory committee.
Key Outcomes
- The contract with ACTS Airport Services was approved by the committee and will be forwarded to the full City Council for final approval.
- DOTI's 2026 work plan was presented and discussed; no formal vote was taken.
- Director Washington committed to providing a detailed perimeter security update on July 1, 2026.
- DOTI acknowledged communication shortcomings and pledged to improve responsiveness to council and constituent inquiries.
Meeting Transcript
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. Good afternoon. It is. Boy, I should have had this pulled up. Thank you for tuning in to Denver City Council and our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. My name is Chris Hines. I serve at Denver City Council representing District 10. I'm also the vice chair of the committee. Chair Lewis will not be here today. Action item is from our airport about a contract with ACTS Airport Services, our security and public spaces, and then the briefing will be from our Department of Transportation Infrastructure and the 2026 work plan. And I'm sorry, I did not mention what today's date is. For the record, today is Wednesday, May 20th, 2026. So before we go into the action item and then the briefing, let's do some introductions from council members. Starting to the distinguished gentlewoman to my right. Good morning, good afternoon, Manisanville, Northwest Denver District 1. Good afternoon, Darrell Watson, Fine, District 9. I believe we have at least one member online. So Councilmember Flynn. Good afternoon, Stacey Gilmore, District 11. Great, uh, thank you. Um Council Members Flynn and Gilmore. Uh so without further ado, Director Washington, please um uh introduce yourself, introduce your team, and uh and take it away. Uh Phil Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, and I'll ask my colleagues to introduce themselves. Good afternoon, Dave LeBart, Chief Operating Officer at Denver International Airport. Good afternoon, Sarah Marquez, Senior Vice President Airport Operations, Denver International. Thanks for having us. And we will dive right into the presentation, the action item, if that's okay, Mr. Chair. Once again, thank you for your time this afternoon. We are bringing forward to you a contract with ACTS in the amount of 79,553,656. The contract term that we're asking for is five years. That's a three-year with two one year options. And the purpose of this contract is to provide comprehensive security across dens curbside and public area interfaces. A little bit more about this contract. The services provided under this contract are over site over our track our terminal traffic management, our access control and security, our main terminal, our airport office building that some of you are very familiar with, our loading dock, patrolling event uh access management that includes our new uh Center for Equity and Excellence in Aviation, otherwise known as SIA, security incident resolution, patrols within the main terminal as well as our hotel transit center, and then monitoring our sterile area exits. You'll see that near the trains in the main terminal. Vehicle patrols in our public lots, so all of our public-facing lots are patrolled by this company, and enforcement of our trespassing rules. With Vision 100, this contract aligns with our pillar three, maintaining what we have, and really that is this contract would continue to offer security presence in our public areas, supporting DEN and maintaining its security stance, ensuring compliance with not only all rules and regulations, but with all applicable transportation security administration regulations. A little bit about our community outreach. Vendors attended, and that was hosted in September of 2025. For MWBE, working with the DSBO, they assigned an MWBE goal of 5% for this contract. The existing contract also has a 5% goal, and that vendor is averaging over 6% on the current performance of that. The subcontractor performing that MWBE service is advanced professional security, otherwise known as APS. And DSBL reviewed and signed off on the MWE plan on December 17th of 2025. About our selection process. So we went out for a competitive request for proposal. We received eight qualified bidders. Our selection panel was made up of various city and county of Denver stakeholders as well as security and operations subject matter experts, and our community members.
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