What We're Doing
Last Updated: February 19, 2021
RTD’s buses, trains and paratransit services remain a vital lifeline for essential commuters, health care workers, public safety employees, government employees, grocery store workers and others continuing operations across the metro region. Through the pandemic, RTD continues to serve people who must work or take care of others, and for whom other transportation options are severely limited.
Agency Updates
February
- Effective February 10: RTD releases its 2020 Year in Review video.
- Effective February 6: RTD will provide bus shuttles for the vaccination event to be held at the National Western Stockshow complex. Vaccinations are for those who are 70+, and have made an appointment*. Shuttle service at the event will be free of charge, while transportation to the event will require regular fare. See RTD shuttle route map.
- Effective February 1: The CDC's Federal Mask Order requiring passengers to wear masks while waiting in transportation hubs, riding public transit, and disembarking goes into effect.
Agency Support
- RTD will be receiving about $203.4 million through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (CRRSAA), as part of $14 billion allocated in support of U.S. public transit systems to help offset impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We were thankful to be the recipient of $232 million in CARES Act funding, which was a lifeline to help us absorb the financial hardships of the pandemic. This federal grant funding, which came with strict reporting guidelines, was intended to help cover the costs of PPE, cleaning supplies and processes, and to keep transit operations going, including keeping people employed. While these relief funds were a big help, they did not cover our complete financial shortfall. The CARES Acting funding was expended by the end of 2020.
Protecting Our Customers
- Bus, rail and paratransit vehicles are cleaned daily in accordance with RTD’s Pandemic Plan, including wiping down handrails and other high-touch surfaces with an industrial-strength disinfectant/antibacterial cleaner.
- RTD has purchased additional sanitation products and disinfectants, including electrostatic cleaning devices.
- RTD is working with transit agency peers to share lessons learned and best practices.
- We are closely following updates from the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Denver Office of Emergency Management to ensure an appropriate response to the coronavirus.
Agency Updates Timeline
Protecting Our Employees
We care and value our employees and have taken several new measures to keep them healthy and safe. For example, we provide personal protective equipment including face masks and shields, hand sanitizer, gloves and cleaning supplies to our employees. We also implemented a temperature check system that includes a symptom checker to ensure that only people without fevers are allowed entrance into a facility. Visitors have also been prohibited since March 2020 as another safety measure to control who has access to our facilities.
In addition, we have increased the level of cleaning and disinfection of our facilities and vehicles. This includes the introduction of electrostatic cleaning that provides hospital-grade cleaning for our vehicles. This also includes the distribution of cleaning and disinfecting supplies that can be used in each employee’s work area. We also encourage employees to stay home when sick.
We've taken several measures to increase the safety of our operators by designing and installing polycarbonate protective barriers. We also limit the number of passengers in accordance with state requirements and encourage exiting through the rear of buses—this is done by playing automatic messages directing customers to exit via the back of the bus and adding striping to the ground that points in the direction of the exit.
Conditions will continue to evolve, but our commitment to keeping our employees healthy and safe will remain constant.


Bus Maintenance/Cleaning Procedures
- Using a proper concentration mix of disinfectant, the following is cleaned daily on RTD buses:
- Floors
- Stanchions
- Hand railings and hand straps
- Doors and handles
- Backs of doors
- Step wells
- Walls
- Ceilings
- Lights and fixtures
- All glass is cleaned with glass cleaner
- Operator’s cab (including steering wheel and operator controls)
- If the disinfectant supply runs low, all facilities have chlorine bleach available to make a solution as guided by the CDC to disinfect buses.
- RTD’s Bus Maintenance cleaning team consists of 65 employees with eight vacancies. Employees are spread out over three operating divisions (Boulder, East Metro & Platte) and District Shops, and cover three shifts.
- The Boulder operating division is closed on Sundays, our District Shops location is closed on the weekends and both Platte and East Metro operating divisions operate 24/7.
Light Rail Maintenance/Cleaning Procedures
- Using a proper concentration mix of disinfectant, the following is cleaned daily on RTD light rail vehicles:
- Mop floors
- Step wells
- ADA ramp
- Stanchions
- Hand Railings
- Hand straps
- Doors and handles
- Backs of doors
- Walls, side walls, bulkhead walls
- Ceilings
- Lights and fixtures
- Articulating section
- Overhead panels
- Cab door
- Operator’s cab
- All glass is cleaned with glass cleaner
- Seats are vacuumed and cleaned as necessary
- If the disinfectant supply runs low, all facilities have chlorine bleach available to make a solution as guided by the CDC to disinfect light rail vehicles.
- RTD’s Light Rail Maintenance cleaning team consists of 35 employees divided into three shifts.
Facility Closures
- Patrons inside Civic Center Station and the Union Station bus concourse should board the first available bus to their destination and limit the time they spend to no more than 10 minutes prior to the departure of their bus. This is a temporary modification to the existing code of conduct that allows passengers to wait up to two hours for their bus.
- The agency is restricting public access to other RTD buildings, including its headquarters, according to public health guidelines.
- RTD customers in need of new or replacement special discount cards can download an application and follow instructions provided through this webpage, which details all discounted fare programs. For questions about special discounts, please call 303-299-2667.