Regional Transportation District

Regional Transportation District
Regional Transportation District
	Map of the RTD rail system
Overview
Locale	Denver metro area, Colorado
Transit type	Bus; Commuter rail; Light rail;
Number of lines	102 (bus); 4 (commuter rail); 6 (light rail);
Number of stations	57 (light rail); 27 (commuter rail);
Daily ridership	37,800 (commuter rail, weekdays, Q2 2026); 42,300 (light rail, weekdays, Q2 2026); 177,700 (bus, weekdays, Q2 2026);
Annual ridership	8,644,700 (commuter rail, 2025); 10,568,000 (light rail, 2025); 44,050,100 (bus, 2025);
Chief executive	Debra A. Johnson
Headquarters	1660 Blake Street; Denver, Colorado
Website	rtd-denver.com
Operation
Began operation	1974
Reporting marks	RTDC, RTDZ
Number of vehicles	955 (bus); 267 (rail);
Technical
System length	114.2 mi (183.8 km) (rail) 60.1 mi (96.7 km) (light rail); 54.1 mi (87.1 km) (commuter rail); ;

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is the public transit agency for Denver and its metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Colorado. It operates a large bus and rail system that comprises 10 rail lines—both light rail and commuter rail—and 102 bus routes. RTD's rail system consists of 6 light rail lines and an additional 4 commuter rail lines with 84 stations and 114.2 miles (183.8 km) of track. The bus network consists of 85 local routes, 12 regional routes, 10 limited routes, and 5 express routes to Denver International Airport. In 2025, the entire system had a ridership of 64,192,300, or about 261,300 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2026, making RTD the largest transit agency in the Mountain states by both ridership and the number of routes.

RTD serves a 2,349-square-mile (6,080 km²) area with a total of 3.09 million people in 40 municipalities and 8 counties. The agency was organized in 1969 and is governed by a 15-member board of directors that is elected from districts within the service area. RTD has a budget of $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2026 with a majority of its revenue derived from a 1 percent sales tax. The agency has a fleet of 955 fully accessible buses; some of the buses are operated by private carriers under contract with RTD. The rail system comprises 267 railcars, including 201 high-floor light rail vehicles.

Several existing bus operators were acquired and consolidated into RTD to form the initial bus system, later named "The Ride", that debuted on April 12, 1974. A personal rapid transit system had been studied but was scrapped in favor of a conventional light rail system, which was approved by voters in 1987. The first section of the light rail system opened on October 8, 1994, between Downtown Denver and I-25 & Broadway station. The FasTracks transit plan was approved in 2004 and funded the rapid expansion of the RTD system to encompass 122 miles (196 km) of new commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles (29 km) of bus rapid transit (BRT) service, and enhanced bus service.