Last week, the RTD Board approved the Preferred Alternative for the 2019-2012 Fare Structure, by a vote of 10 to 5 in favor of the recommendation. This includes two new discounts:

• Low-Income Discount – 40% discount
• Youth Discount – 70% discount

This is the culmination of five years of collaborative partnership between RTD, Mile High Connects, and many community partners. Tuesday’s board decision is a major milestone towards making Denver a more equitable place to live and work as it ensures that our public transportation system – and the economic opportunities it provides – is both affordable and accessible to all.

We commend RTD’s board and staff for all of their hard work and commitment to working with the community and we commend all of the individuals, elected officials and community members for their unwavering support. The decision to form The Pass Program Working Group, a community based, highly diverse working group, alongside strong executive-level staff support demonstrates RTD’s dedication to successful community stakeholder relations. This was a consensus approach to decision-making that involved considerable compromise and t the outcome is commendable. For those with the lowest levels of mobility and income, affordable transit can have significant and positive implications for social and economic inclusion.

MHC is deeply grateful to our network of partners and also recognize that our work is not done. We are fully prepared to deploy resources to assist RTD with implementation and continue to support future efforts to furthering transit equity. In the near term, we commit to working with RTD to ensure the program achieves the desired outcomes and ensuring all in our region have access to opportunities. But today, we are taking a moment to celebrate. The new fare structure will ensure youth and low-income people have a chance to get to class on time, to the doctors appointment, to that job interview, to that higher-paying job, or to the grocery store.