DENVER — The Regional Transportation District’s light-rail system has experienced a dramatic drop in ridership during the first five months of 2019, and RTD officials have no immediate explanation.
Ridership was down 13.7% from January through May, compared with the same period a year earlier.
RTD spokeswoman Paulette Tonilas told the Denver Post that the drop is “an anomaly,” and that the agency is “just sort of puzzled by it.” She did suggest several factors. A recent survey showed riders are unhappy about a drop in on-time performance. The RTD also raised fares in January for the first time in three years.
Other RTD systems — bus routes and commuter rail — saw increases, but with the light-rail drop, RTD’s systemwide ridership dropped 1.8% against a year earlier.
