RTD’s budget woes raise serious questions about its priorities

In August 2024, the Office of the State Auditor deemed the Regional Transportation District to be in good financial standing. “State audit finds RTD’s financial health stronger than many of its peers,” an RTD news release headline declared . “RTD met all financial health ratios with no warning indicators,” the former board chairman, Erik Davidson, told state lawmakers at the time. “Health ratios” were good, “cost efficiency metrics” were strong, and RTD declared itself “good stewards of taxpayers’ money.”

After such effusive declarations of financial stability, leave it to RTD to be in complete crisis barely a year later.

Despite a record high budget of $1.5 billion , RTD is facing a mind-boggling deficit somewhere between $100 million and $400 million, and is consideri