RTD Wants Your Opinion On Proposed Fare Increases

DENVER (CBS4) - RTD is considering increasing the cost to ride but they want to hear from you first.

One option would be to raise local fares 30 cents and the airport and regional fares by 50 cents.

The other option would be to raise local fares 40 cents. In that option, the airport fare would go up a lot more, from $9 to $10.50

While it calls for the heaviest increase, that increase would help fund a low-income program to make travel cheaper for those who can't afford it.

Both options consider the addition of a 'youth pass', which would cut fares for children by 70 percent.

"The low-income program and the youth pass discount were part of the Pass Program Working Group (PPWG) recommendation. The PPWG worked for over a year on this process to arrive at a final recommendation, which is a creative means of providing the low-income pass plus the youth pass and with a small fare increase, still avoids any service cuts," said Scott Reed, Assistant General Manager of Communications for RTD.

RTD will take public input on the proposal at eight different open houses across the Denver metro area. The first of 8 scheduled meetings is a telephone town hall. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

RTD's Board of Directors is expected to compile information gathered over the next several months and make a decision in the fall.  Reed said Wednesday it was still premature to assume there will be any fare hike at all.

LINK: RTD Fare Review