RTD’s Board of Directors approves program updates for Access-on-Demand services
Changes to program include instating a $4.50 fare for each trip that provides curb-to-curb travel to help make the program fiscally viable
DENVER (Oct. 1, 2025)––The Regional Transportation District(RTD)’s Board of Directors approved updates to its Access-on-Demand program that provides curb-to-curb service for paratransit customers. Access-on-Demand provides same-day, non-shared trips on each of four RTD-contracted rideshares or taxis. The costs for RTD to provide the Access-on-Demand subsidy continue to increase at a rate of 3% per month, beyond $1.2 million in August. RTD provides Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV) from the Access-a Ride fleet to provide service to customers who use wheelchairs. Costs to provide WAV services adds approximately $1 million monthly. Following an extensive third-party evaluation in 2024, RTD moved towards restructuring the program to ensure its fiscal sustainability.
Access-on-Demand program changes will include instating a $4.50 standard fare/$2.25fare for LiVE eligible customers per trip. Currently, the agency has been subsidizing service for up to $25 a trip for up to 60 trips a month; customers pay the amount exceeding $25. With the program updates, RTD will reduce the subsidy to $20 and customers will still be able to ride as many as 60 trips a month. Customers are able to book trips with up to two stops without incurring an additional base fare. For example, customers could travel from home to a daycare location to a workplace without being required to pay an additional base fare for the second leg of the trip and without the second destination counting against the 60-trip total.
The Board also approved removing two hours of daily service to Access-on-Demand services so that it aligns with that of RTD’s federally mandated Access-a-Ride paratransit service which follows the same days and hours as the agency’s local fixed-route service. Access-on-Demand services will operate22 hours daily from approximately 3:30 a.m.to 1:30 a.m. rather than 24 hours a day. Customer impact to the service reduction of two hours during 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. will be minimal as RTD finds service usage to be less than 1% of customer trips. The Access-on-Demand service is available throughout RTD’s district.
About Access-a-Ride
Access-a-Ride is a federally mandated, complementary service to RTD’s fixed-route bus and rail services for customers who are unable to use fixed-route services some or all of the time. It is a door-to-door shared-ride service that requires a reservation made one to seven days in advance. To use the service, customers must meet criteria as set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Standard fare for RTD’s Access-a-Ride service is $4.50, or $2.25 for paratransit customers who qualify for the income-based fare LiVE discount program. Customers can use fixed-route bus and rail services at no cost to them when presenting their Access-a-Ride ID card.
About Access-on-Demand
Access-on-Demand is a supplemental, premium, curb-to-curb service for paratransit customers that meet ADA criteria and, unlike Access-a-Ride, is not required by federal regulations. The service provides on-demand trips for customers able to use a curb-to-curb service, which would not be suitable for paratransit customers in need of a door-to-door service provided by Access-a-Ride. Access-on-Demand is provided through a combination of contracted rideshare and taxi services and for customers requiring a WAV.
Access-on-Demand program analysis
RTD has seen a 306% increase in the amount appropriated at the Access-on-Demand program's inception in January 2023.The number of active Access-on-Demand users has increased from 2,191 in October 2023 to 3,398 in August 2025. Staff proposed modifications for the program’s fiscal sustainability in 2026 to mitigate rising costs. Additionally, increases in Access-on-Demand WAV trips provided using Access-a-Ride vehicles has impacted traditional Access-a-Ride shared-ride service. Between June and August 2025, Access-a-Ride on-time performance decreased from above 90% to 83%.
Timeframe for updating Access-on-Demand
The program updates for Access-on-Demand services will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, to allow for time for paratransit customers to be notified of and prepared for program changes.
Extensive evaluation
In February 2024, RTD commissioned an American Public Transit Association Paratransit Peer Review to identify ways to improve paratransit services and ensure financial stability for Access-on-Demand. RTD educated panelists about the program who assessed the agency’s paratransit operations through a series of briefings and interviews with RTD employees, contractors, paratransit customers and community stakeholders. Recommendations were presented to RTD’s Operations, Safety and Security (OSS) Committee in November 2024.
RTD solicited feedback from paratransit customers, interested parties and Board members to review the proposed Access-on-Demand scenarios through five virtual and two in-person public meetings. The agency also assessed 21 transit agencies’ Access-on-Demand programs in conducting its analysis. RTD determined the Access-on-Demand program would require a fare, updated service hours and adjusted service area to help defray costs of the program.
Proposed modifications from RTD’s Board meeting on July 29, 2025,were further evaluated by the agency’s OSS Committee on Sept. 10. Accounting for the most recent analysis, last night’s Board resolution determined to instate the $4.50 standard/$2.25 LiVE per trip fare and reduce the subsidy to $20 from $25 to help deliver a more fiscally sustainable service.