HB24-1447 BILL SUMMARY
Transit Reform
Concerning transit reform, and, in connection therewith, requiring the regional transportation district to coordinate with the Denver regional council of governments regarding route service changes, requiring the regional transportation district to provide a district retention report to the general assembly, updating the regional transportation district's land use authority, creating a subcommittee to evaluate the regional transportation district's governance and to make recommendations to the general assembly, and making an appropriation.
BILL SUMMARY
The bill makes modifications to several aspects of the regional transportation district (district), including modifications to increase transit ridership and to promote district transparency and accountability.
Definition. Section 1 of the bill adds a definition of "underserved community" for purposes of the district.
Regional fixed guideway mass transit systems. In connection with the district's authority to implement regional fixed guideway mass transit systems, section 2 of the bill requires the district to:
● Submit its proposed fixed-route transit service plans to the Denver regional council of governments (DRCOG) for its review and input;
● Coordinate with DRCOG regarding the implementation of fixed-route transit service plans;
● Ensure that district service decisions are consistent with the DRCOG regional transportation plan while taking into account the need to expand services to underserved communities;
● Coordinate transit and land use decisions to ensure that transit services will be provided to new and existing transit-oriented communities; and
● Acknowledge established transit centers and provide a preference for transit centers when determining transit services and routes.
In addition, section 2 requires the department of transportation (department), in consultation with DRCOG, to contract with a third party to conduct a study regarding the size of the district and transit-reliant services and to submit the results of the study to specified entities by March 1, 2026. The district board of directors (board) is required to take into consideration the findings of the study in the creation of its 10-year strategic plan, which section 13 requires the board to create specifies that a county may request its own subregional service council.
Section 3 requires the district board of directors (board) to provide an annual report to the transportation legislation review committee (TLRC) of the general assembly and to every city council and board of county commissioners in the district regarding ridership and budget status, route restoration and expansion, public safety data, and staffing retention and vacancy rates.
Section 3 4 specifies that in operating a fixed guideway mass transit system, the district is required to coordinate its transit service delivery schedule with the transit service delivery schedules of other mass transit providers to facilitate the use of transit across the district and relevant transit entities for connectivity to other mobility options within the region.
Current board through December 31, 2024. Currently, the board consists of 15 directors, each of whom is elected to serve a 4-year term by the eligible electors in one of 15 director districts. District elections are held in November of even-numbered years, and each director represents only the residents of the director district in which the director was elected. Of the 15 directors on the current board, 8 directors were elected in November 2020 for terms that expire on December 31, 2024, and 7 directors were elected in November 2022 for terms that expire on December 31, 2026.
Section 4 terminates the current board on December 31, 2024, and specifies that the offices of the 8 directors whose terms expire on December 31, 2024, will not be filled at the district election in November 2024. Section 4 also specifies that the offices of the 7 directors whose terms expire on December 31, 2026, will not be filled at the November 2026 district election, and that those 7 directors will serve the last 2 years of their terms on a newly created transitional board that will govern the district from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026.
Transitional board from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026, the district is governed by a board consisting of 11 voting directors and 3 nonvoting ex officio directors (transitional board), each of whom serves the district at large. Section 5 specifies that the directors of the transitional board include:
● The 7 directors who were elected to the board at the district election in November 2022 who will serve the second 2 years of their terms as voting directors on the transitional board; except that a vacancy caused on or after January 1, 2025, by such a director will not be filled. In addition, beginning January 1, 2025, each director elected at the November 2022 district election represents the entire district rather than only the director district that the director was elected to represent at such election.
● 2 voting directors who are elected at large by the eligible electors of the district at the November 2024 district election for a 4-year term beginning on January 1, 2025. Such directors serve the first 2 years of their terms on the transitional board and serve the second 2 years of their terms on a newly created board (new board) that will govern the district beginning January 1, 2027.
● 2 voting directors who satisfy certain criteria who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for terms beginning January 1, 2025. Of such directors, one serves a 2-year term that expires on December 31, 2026, and one serves a 4-year term, the second 2 years of which the director serves on the new board.
● The executive director of the department or the director's designee, who is a nonvoting ex officio director; and
● 2 nonvoting directors who satisfy certain criteria and who are appointed by DRCOG for terms beginning January 1, 2025. Of such directors, one serves a 2-year term that expires on December 31, 2026, and one serves a 4-year term, the second 2 years of which the director serves on the new board.
New board beginning January 1, 2027. Beginning January 1, 2027, the district is governed by a new board that consists of 7 voting directors and 3 nonvoting directors, all of whom serve 4-year terms. Section 6 specifies that the directors on the new board include:
● 5 voting directors who are elected by the eligible electors of the district. Of the first 5 elected directors to serve on the new board, 2 directors represent the district at large and are the directors who were elected at the November 2024 district election and served the first 2 years of their terms on the transitional board, and 3 are elected by the eligible electors of one of 3 director districts at the November 2026 district election for terms beginning January 1, 2027.
● 2 voting directors who represent the district at large, satisfy certain criteria, and are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Of the first directors appointed by the governor, one director is the director who served the first 2 years of the director's term on the transitional board, and one director is appointed by the governor by January 1, 2027, for a term beginning on January 1, 2027.
● The executive director of the department or the director's designee, who is a nonvoting ex officio director; and
● 2 nonvoting directors who represent the district at large, satisfy certain criteria, and are appointed by DRCOG. Of the directors appointed by DRCOG, one director is the director who served the first 2 years of the director's term on the transitional board and one director is appointed by DRCOG by January 1, 2027, for a term beginning on January 1, 2027.
Section 6 also requires the board, in cooperation with district staff and with community input, to develop an onboarding program for incoming directors and requires each incoming director to complete the onboarding program.
District elections. Section 7 specifies that the last district election held pursuant to current law, where directors were elected by the eligible electors in one of 15 director districts, was the district election in November 2022.
Section 8 specifies election procedures for the new board. Of the 5 elected directors, 2 directors, who are first elected at the November 2024 district election, must reside in the district but may reside anywhere in the district and 3 directors, who are first elected at the November 2026 district election, must reside in and be elected by the eligible electors who reside in one of 3 new director districts.
Based on information from the 2020 federal decennial census, section 8 requires the director of research of the legislative council, with the assistance of the director of the office of legislative legal services, to apportion the population of the district into 3 compact and contiguous director districts so that the 3 directors who are required to live in and be elected by the eligible electors in a particular director district will represent, to the extent practicable, a director district that is equal in population to the other 2 director districts. The director of research of the legislative council must complete the apportionment by August 31, 2025, and submit the recommended apportionment to the Colorado supreme court. The Colorado supreme court is required to amend or approve the recommended apportionment by October 31, 2025. The director of research of the legislative council, with the assistance of the office of legislative legal services, is required to reapportion the district after the 2030 federal decennial census and after each federal decennial census thereafter.
Section 8 also specifies that:
● The regular district election is held jointly with the state general election in every even-numbered year;
● The district is required to use instant runoff voting for district elections;
● The regular term of office of elected directors is 4 years;
● Nominations for the election of directors for the transitional board and the new board are made by petition in accordance with the general election laws of the state and signed by at least 250 eligible electors residing within the district; and
● A write-in candidate for director is not allowed.
Additional modifications to statutes governing the board. In addition, the bill makes the following changes in connection with the expiration of the current board and the creation of the transitional board and the new board:
● Section 1 modifies the definition of "director district" as applicable to the current board, the transitional board, and the new board;
● Section 9 specifies that a vacancy caused on or after January 1, 2025, by a director elected at the November 2022 district election, will not be filled. Section 10 specifies that a vacancy caused by an elected director of the transitional board or the new board is filled by appointment by the governor and that a vacancy of an appointed member of the transitional board or the new board is filled by the appointing authority.
● Section 11 specifies that any action of the transitional board or the new board requires a majority vote by the directors entitled to vote who are present and voting; and
● Section 12 specifies that the annual compensation for directors of the transitional board and new board is an amount equal to 20% of the salary paid to a county judge; except that any director of the new board that is a full-time state or local government official or a full-time state or local government employee serves as a director without additional compensation.
10-year strategic plan. By September 1, 2026 30, 2027, section 13 5 requires the current board to develop and submit to the general assembly a 10-year strategic plan that addresses the district's plans and strategies to increase ridership, improve transparency, use district-owned land to prioritize certain types of development, and update parking policies to achieve specified goals; support state and regional climate, housing, and transportation goals; and identify funding opportunities to expand transit and improve system efficiency and equity.
In addition, the current board is required to continue working to implement the recommendations of the 2021 "RTD Accountability Committee Final Report" created by DRCOG and the 2020 performance audit of the district and to report its progress to specified entities by December 31, 2025.
Opportunities to increase ridership. Section 14 6 requires the district to pursue and take advantage of opportunities to increase and build ridership improve service coverage and increase ridership connectivity and accessibility by working with entities that are hosting special events to facilitate increased ridership to and from the events; working with entities to facilitate increased ridership among youth; and considering recommendations and requests for changes in service routes or schedules that would result in increased ridership; and identifying land use policies, strategies, and financial tools to enable the development of affordable housing and dense, walkable, mixed-use communities near transit stations and routes improved service coverage and increased ridership, connectivity, and accessibility.
District budget and planning. Section 15 7 requires the district to make its annual budget and other specified budget information available to the public on its website in a format that is easy to access, understand, and navigate.
Section 15 7 also requires the district to create, maintain, and regularly update on its website information regarding the district's financial plan that includes specified information about district capital projects and to create 3 public accountability dashboards, the first of which provides financial information regarding each district capital project, the second of which shows ridership by route and reliability of service, and the third of which shows specified district workforce statistics. In addition, the district is required to include on its website a summary page for planned service changes that includes detailed timing changes, effects on local transfers, and the reason for the planned changes.
Fair market value for use of district transfer facilities. Current law requires that a person using any portion of a transfer facility for the provision of retail or commercial goods or services or for the provision of residential uses pay rent at fair market value. Section 16 8 repeals the requirement that a person pay rent at fair market value for such use of a transfer facility.
Mass transit bus driver training program. Section 17 requires the department to establish a mass transit bus driver training program to assist in the development and placement of public mass transit bus operators for department-sponsored mass transit services and for other public mass transit operators.
Coordination between transit providers and metropolitan planning organizations. Section 18 requires a transportation provider to:
● Submit its proposed fixed-route transit service plans to the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) in which it is located for its review and input;
● Coordinate with the MPO regarding the implementation of fixed-route transit service plans;
● Ensure that the transit provider's service decisions are consistent with the MPO's regional transportation plan;
● Coordinate transit and land use decisions to ensure that transit services will be provided to new and existing transit-oriented communities; and
● Acknowledge established transit centers and provide a preference for transit centers when determining transit services and routes.
Instant runoff voting for district elections. Sections 19, 20, and 21 modify the "Uniform Election Code of 1992" to implement instant runoff voting for district elections.
Money transferred to the department in connection with the Burnham Yard rail property. On July 1, 2022, the state treasurer transferred $6,500,000 from the general fund to the state highway fund for an environmental study on relocating the consolidated main rail line away from interstate highway 25 in connection with the development of the Burnham Yard rail property. Section 22 authorizes the department to instead use the money for site preparation, site enhancements, planning, and facilitating a track alignment that preserves buildable land while promoting transit and rail capacity and increasing safety in connection with the development of the Burnham Yard rail property.
Anti-ableism training. Section 9 requires the transit and rail division of the department of transportation to include anti-ableism training in any training program that it provides for transit operators.
Subcommittee to evaluate district governance. Section 10 creates a district governance subcommittee (subcommittee) of the TLRC to meet during the 2024 legislative interim to review, solicit input, and make recommendations to the general assembly regarding the governance structure for the district. Section 10 specifies the membership of the subcommittee and the appointing authorities for the subcommittee members. The subcommittee is required to hold at least 2 meetings during the 2024 legislative interim and is required to provide an opportunity for collaborative community engagement, both in-person and virtually, at each subcommittee meeting. The department is required to hire a neutral third-party facilitator (facilitator) to assist the subcommittee in its work. In addition to the subcommittee meetings, the facilitator is required to ensure that the subcommittee holds at least one community meeting to listen to and record public comment in each of the 5 subregional service councils of the district.
The subcommittee is required to examine and make recommendations to the TLRC concerning the ideal size of the board, the number of board directors who should be elected and appointed and the appropriate appointing authorities for appointed directors, the directives and duties of the board, the annual salary for a district director, methods to ensure equitable representation of the district community, a plan for the transition of the current board to a new board, and a plan to ensure that the board maximizes ridership and service coverage, connectivity, and accessibility within the district.
The TLRC is required to meet to review the recommendations of the subcommittee and to make recommendations to the governor and to the general assembly for legislation as it deems necessary based on the recommendations of the subcommittee. The TLRC may hold 2 meetings in addition to the number of meetings allowed to an interim committee pursuant to the joint rules of the general assembly to discuss the recommendations of the subcommittee and to request, review, and approve draft legislation. The meeting deadlines applicable to interim committees pursuant to the joint rules of the general assembly do not apply to the additional 2 meetings. The TLRC may request that one bill be drafted and may approve one bill for introduction during the 2025 legislative session regarding the governance of the district that is not subject to the interim committee bill limitations specified by the joint rules of the general assembly and that is not required to be reviewed by the legislative council.
(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)