Three bills provide record investment in RTD, public transit in Colorado

The Colorado General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 8, and transit was a popular topic during the 2024 legislative session. Through the hard work of many RTD employees, as well as external stakeholders, record investment in transit was achieved. RTD looks forward to working with the state of Colorado to ensure that investments made will help to make lives better through connections.

HB24-1447: Transit Reform

House Bill (HB)24-1447 never received a final hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee and therefore was not passed during the 2024 legislative session. One section of HB24-1447 that removed the state requirement for RTD to receive fair market value when leasing land was added in the closing days to Senate Bill (SB) 24-214, which passed.

SB24-184: Support Surface Transportation Infrastructure Development

SB24-184 was passed and is headed to Gov. Jared Polis for signature. As a result of this bill, which uses car rental fees to fund surface transportation infrastructure projects, RTD is required to coordinate with Front Range Passenger Rail District, Colorado Department of Transportation and High Performance Transportation Enterprise to assist in a series of reports related to the Northwest Rail project and the designated first phase of Front Range Passenger Rail from Denver to Fort Collins. The first report is due Sept. 20, 2024, with a secondary report due March 1, 2025.

SB24-230: Oil and Gas Production Fees

SB24-230 was passed and is headed to the governor for signature. Beginning July 1, 2025, an oil production fee will be collected from every oil and gas producer located in Colorado. Eighty percent of the fees collected will be distributed to transit and passenger rail operations and capital expenses through three separate programs. Seventy percent of the transit/passenger rail funding will be distributed by a formula that will be developed by the Clean Transit Enterprise Board. Ten percent of funding will go to a competitive grant process that can be used on operations, capital and planning new regional transportation authorities. Twenty percent of the fund will be available to passenger rail projects that meet certain regional and statewide goals. Lastly, RTD is required to produce a report by July 1, 2025, on how to complete the unfinished aspects of FasTracks by 2034.

SB24-032 Methods to Increase the Use of Transit

SB24-032 was passed and is headed to the governor for signature. RTD was appropriated $5 million to use on transit operations as long as the agency offers the Zero Fare for Youth program for an entire year. Due to funding constraints at the state level, there was not enough to grant another round of funding for the Zero Fare for Better Air initiative. Lastly, the tax credit for employers to provide transit passes to employees was removed from SB24-032 and amended to HB24-1036, which passed.