RTD accepting proposals to assign honorary names to its stations and property

RTD is accepting applications for proposed honorary names of its stations and property. Individuals, community organizations and local governments are invited to submit honorary names in a new, first-ever proposal process RTD launched today. An adopted honorary name would be added as a secondary name to the station or property’s primary wayfinding name.

RTD is opening the process for the community to submit honorary names for consideration to help recognize advancements in the history of transit, such as innovations, accessibility or historic events.

“The Board of Directors worked diligently alongside staff this year to create a policy that is inclusive of the community, sets high standards for recognition, and provides a consistent and fair avenue to commemorate significant contributions to transit, RTD and the region,” RTD Board Chair Erik Davidson said.

Naming guidelines

Honorary names adopted by the agency would be limited to recognize individuals, groups, organizations or events that significantly contributed to the progress of public transit nationally or in Colorado.

Eligible locations

RTD locations that could be assigned a secondary honorary name include RTD stations, Park-n-Rides, transfer centers, major customer facilities, maintenance facilities and administrative buildings. The agency will continue to feature the primary station and property names to help customers and the community with trip planning, emphasizing known geographic destinations.

Application process

Anyone interested in submitting an application to propose an honorary name is encouraged to first review RTD’s Property and Station Naming Policy and the Honorary Property and Station Naming Policy, Procedures, and Review Rubric to fully understand the requirements.

Interested parties may submit an application of interest on the RTD Board Office website for consideration. An alternate application format can be requested by contacting the Board Office at [email protected] or calling 303-299-2307.

Evaluation process

A committee of internal and external RTD stakeholders will review all proposed names on a rolling basis before sharing with the RTD Board of Directors for consideration.

Evaluation criteria for determining whether an honorary name would be assigned to an RTD station or property include:

Significant contributions to transit or RTD or a significant event occurring within the vicinity of the property under consideration of a designated honorary name

Demonstrated public support for the proposed honorary name from community leaders, such as formal letters of support from community leaders, local economic development agencies, local chambers of commerce, state legislators and elected officials, community organizations, schools and civic clubs, among others

Qualified proposals will undergo review by the Honorary Property Name Proposal Review Committee comprised of a diverse cross-section of select community members and RTD staff, and names require a two-thirds majority vote from the agency’s Board to be adopted.

Honorary names that are approved and adopted would be implemented for an indefinite period at RTD’s Board of Directors’ discretion and at no cost to the proposer(s).

RTD and its stakeholders involved in the evaluation process look forward to considering proposals submitted by the local community that are competitive with respect to the requirements highlighted above and outlined in the associated policy.