> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # RTD's Coverage vs. Ridership Decision: What's Been Spent on the Conclusions So Far - URL: https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/8-things-i-learned-after-i-attended-briefings-and-requested-records-regarding-rtds-3-35-million-transit-redesign/ - Published: 2026-08-17T22:02:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-18T01:53:46.000Z - Description: A July 6 invoice shows RTD has billed $766,773 of its $3.35 million transit-redesign contract. The records — and briefings with consultants — reveal how the agency will ask riders to choose between two competing visions for the future of Denver-area transit. - Author: Nicholas Thompson - Tags: RTD, DENVER, Jarrett Walker, RTD Connect A July 6 invoice from [Jarrett Walker + Associates](https://jarrettwalker.com/?ref=thompsonscolorado.com) lists $766,773.34 billed to date on RTD’s $3.35 million transit-redesign contract. [The Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) his firm is undertaking](https://www.rtd-denver.com/community/news/2026/rtd-launches-comprehensive-operations-analysis-to-shape-future-of-transit-service-across-the-denver-metro-area?ref=thompsonscolorado.com) is meant to address where RTD should place resources in the coming years as it [deals with budget shortfalls. ](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/the-math-isnt-mathing-why-fare-hikes-and-service-cuts-may-not-be-enough-for-rtds-budget-woes/) The COA is referred to at RTD as RTD Connect. That total represents 22.9% of the project budget so far. The invoice documents that planners have conducted systemwide network analysis, travel-demand modeling and the early design of alternative transit networks. I also reviewed the proposal Walker's firm submitted and the executed contract. All three of those documents are available for readers below: [INV 8184July 6 consultant invoice showing $240,028.84 billed for the period and $766,773.34 billed to date, INV 8184.pdf1 MBdownload-circle](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/content/files/2026/08/INV-8184.pdf "Download") [125DO007 2026-Comprehensive-Operational-Analysis Fully Executed-RedactedClick to read the fully executed contract between RTD and JWA. 125DO007 2026-Comprehensive-Operational-Analysis Fully Executed-Redacted.pdf20 MBdownload-circle](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/content/files/2026/08/125DO007-2026-Comprehensive-Operational-Analysis-Fully-Executed-Redacted.pdf "Download") [RTD\_2026\_COA\_Proposal\_Open\_RecordsClick to read the proposal Walker's firm submitted to RTD. RTD\_2026\_COA\_Proposal\_Open\_Records.pdf13 MBdownload-circle](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/content/files/2026/08/RTD%5F2026%5FCOA%5FProposal%5FOpen%5FRecords.pdf "Download") I have debated whether publishing more reporting on this issue is the right call after receiving criticism for how I approached it the first time. The first time I approached Jarrett Walker and the COA, r/Denver readers called it poorly executed "clickbait." But I do not want criticism to create a chilling effect on asking good questions grounded in open records. In this case, the records answer two straightforward questions: How much has RTD been billed for the project so far, and what have staff and consultants modeled? Stakeholder briefings I attended answered two more: What does “coverage versus ridership” mean specifically for the Front Range, and what frameworks will the public be asked to consider? I think those questions are worthy of reporting, even as this publication backs away from trying to cover every RTD issue across the Denver metro area. 1. **This should have been a public records story all along** In my first story about RTD’s contract with Jarrett Walker + Associates, I[ criticized the agency for not making Walker available for an interview](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/i-asked-to-interview-rtds-3-5-million-transit-consultant-heres-what-happened/) while the project was underway. [I later walked that criticism back.](https://www.thompsonscolorado.com/what-i-got-wrong-and-what-i-still-stand-by-about-my-jarrett-walker-rtd-story/) RTD’s decision to wait until the public-engagement process began before arranging media interviews with its consultant was not, by itself, evidence that the agency or Walker was hiding anything. The better response was to request the contract, invoices and work products and determine what RTD had been billed for and what the project had produced. I was wrong to imply suspicious conduct based largely on an ordinary decision about when a consultant would be made available to the media. I was not wrong that a $3.35 million transit redesign deserved scrutiny while substantive work was already underway. RTD staff put significant time into locating, reviewing and providing these records, and thought the findings should be published as a result. 1. **I wasn't looking for, and the records did not reveal - a procurement scandal** Let’s start with what these records do—and do not—show. I did not request the contract and billing records because I was searching for a procurement scandal. I do not have the technical or accounting expertise to independently tell readers whether RTD has received its money’s worth so far. RTD Board Director Matt Larsen also told me that evaluating an unfinished project that way misses the point. “It’s like asking if someone building you a $300K house has provided you with a good value after they’ve spent $200K but they haven’t started on the roof,” Larsen said. “It’s kind of worthless until it’s done.” The records answer narrower questions: How much has RTD been billed so far, and what have staff and consultants modeled? 1. **A July 6 invoice listed $766,773 billed to date** Jarrett Walker + Associates’ contract with RTD is worth $3,349,331. Jarrett Walker + Associates is the prime consultant, but it is not performing the entire project alone. Its team includes transportation-planning firm [Fehr & Peers](https://www.fehrandpeers.com/?ref=thompsonscolorado.com), communications and [public-affairs firm GBSM](https://www.gbsm.com/?ref=thompsonscolorado.com) and mobility-data company [LOCUS.](https://locusdata.ai/?ref=thompsonscolorado.com) The July 6 invoice included $155,701.45 from Jarrett Walker + Associates, $53,420.40 from Fehr & Peers, $19,006.99 from GBSM and $11,900 from LOCUS. Those charges totaled $240,028.84—about 7.2% of the entire contract—for work documented as performed in June. The invoice brought total project billing to $766,773.34, or 22.9% of the contract budget. The document is inconsistent about the precise billing period. Its cover page references March and its cost summary references May, while its progress report and detailed labor records identify work performed in June and work anticipated in July. Because the invoice does not clearly identify June 30 as its cutoff, this story uses the cumulative amount shown on the July 6 invoice rather than describing it as a total “through June.” The contract is divided into nine tasks: project management, comparison with peer transit agencies, stakeholder engagement, assessment of the existing network, analysis of travel demand, development of a service-design framework, creation of an updated transit network, a Title VI equity review and preparation of schedules. The percentages in the invoice describe progress within each task—not how close RTD is to completing the entire redesign. The Existing Network Assessment was listed as 61.1% complete. Travel Demand and Market Analysis was 54% complete. Work on the Updated Transit Network was 21.5% complete. The Title VI review and scheduling tasks had not started. The progress report says June work on the updated network included a Core Design Retreat. Planned work for July included refining the network in Remix, estimating costs, producing maps and analyzing proximity, access and travel-time competitiveness. Larsen said he believed the Core Design Retreat was an internal staff exercise and that he did not participate. Walker bills at a rate of $310/hr in the contract. Senior associates bill $200 an hour, while associates/analysts bill at $135-160/hr. #### 4\. The technical work includes mobile-location data Records show RTD has paid $175,000 to date for two LOCUS data products: "Transit Insights" and "Person O-D Flows." Both are anonymous mobile-location datasets, billed at fixed prices and now fully paid off — LOCUS's invoices show $0 remaining due on those line items. That data is used to understand travel patterns beyond transit ridership data alone. Daniel Costantino, a Vice President with Jarrett Walker And Associates, presented the Aug. 13 briefing with stakeholders. Costantino said the study has to take into account how travel patterns across the Denver metro have changed since COVID. Larsen said he had not personally reviewed the data. "I'm sure it will be integrated into the various public presentations," Larsen said. "I think it's probably too early to share productively at the moment." The records also refer to proximity analysis, access analysis and travel-time competitiveness — work LOCUS is billing separately, at staff labor rates rather than fixed price, as part of ongoing peer-agency and market-analysis tasks. 1. **"Ridership versus coverage" comes from Walker's Human Transit framework** Jarrett Walker is the author of [*Human Transit*](https://humantransit.org/book?ref=thompsonscolorado.com). The [ridership-versus-coverage tradeoff](https://humantransit.org/basics-the-ridership-coverage-tradeoff?ref=thompsonscolorado.com) is central to his work. A transit agency with a fixed number of buses can concentrate service in high-demand corridors or spread service more widely across a region. One approach increases frequency and ridership in dense areas. The other increases geographic access but reduces frequency. Both use the same resources and produce different outcomes. In the Aug. 13\. briefing, Costantino said a large portion of RTD's current network is oriented toward ridership goals. Costantino also laid out a color-coded model for how routes will be evaluated as a coverage route or a ridership route. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/Coverage-today-.jpeg) RTD estimates about 60% of its current service supports ridership goals, 35% supports coverage and 5% supports other goals. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/CurrentRoutes-.jpeg) RTD CONNECT maps will use route colors to show service frequency. Red lines represent service every 15 minutes or better, dark-blue lines represent approximately 30-minute service and light-blue lines represent approximately hourly service. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. 1. **RTD will compare its existing network with two alternatives** RTD estimates its current service is roughly 60% ridership-oriented, 35% coverage-oriented and 5% other. Maps presented at the briefing showed frequency levels tied to those goals. This fall, RTD will present two alternatives: one at 80% ridership and 20% coverage, and one at 60% ridership and 40% coverage. On the briefing, I asked if the public will be asked to decide strictly between those two models or if there is a "third rail," that builds a model from public feedback that lands somewhere in between the two pre-drawn conclusions the consultant will reach. Costantino was happy to answer. The consultant described 80/20 and 60/40 coverage vs. ridership as “bookends.” RTD has said the outcome could land somewhere between those two bookends. To help get there, the agency launched the [RTD CONNECT Community Ambassador Program](https://www.rtd-denver.com/community/news/2026/rtd-launches-community-ambassador-program-to-help-shape-future-of-transit-in-metro-area?ref=thompsonscolorado.com), recruiting 30 residents — two from each of the agency's 15 director districts — to gather community input ahead of the Phase 2 alternatives this fall. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/Goal-balance.jpeg) RTD will present an 80% ridership and 20% coverage alternative alongside a 60% ridership and 40% coverage alternative. Consultants described the two models as “bookends,” with the possibility of landing somewhere between them. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. A slide noted both alternatives assume reduced RTD service in early 2028. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/2028-reduced-deer.jpeg) Both network alternatives will present visions for reduced service in early 2028, according to RTD’s presentation. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. 1. **Other Cities have used the same "bookend" process** Walker’s firm has used similar frameworks elsewhere. In [Santa Clara County](https://humantransit.org/vta?ref=thompsonscolorado.com), three network options were developed using the same budget but different allocations between ridership and coverage. A community workshop recommended an 85% ridership and 15% coverage split. In [Houston](https://humantransit.org/2015/08/houston-welcome-to-your-new-network.html?ref=thompsonscolorado.com), a redesign shifted service toward a higher ridership focus, ultimately landing around 75% ridership. ## 8\. The most important question is what the public can still change RTD will hold stakeholder workshops on Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/Workshops-.jpeg) RTD has scheduled stakeholder workshops for Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 to explore ridership and coverage tradeoffs. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. Additional public engagement is planned this fall, with another round in mid-2027 and final plans expected in late 2027\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/97/1e975f01-5ab6-430e-819e-8f0ec8a3bb3a/content/images/2026/08/Project-schedule-.jpeg) RTD plans to present network alternatives in fall 2026, draft plans in mid-2027 and final plans in late 2027\. Screenshot from an Aug. 13, 2026, RTD CONNECT stakeholder briefing. The invoices show that consultants began assessing the existing network, analyzing travel demand and working on updated network concepts before those workshops. It seems service reductions are inevitable going forward. So the comprehensive operations analysis will be important to answer questions like: How large is the reduction and where will it be applied? Can public feedback change total service levels or only their distribution? Which routes and communities gain or lose service? How will feedback be weighed? How will RTD show changes resulting from public input in the final plan? Thompson's Colorado will be tracking the Sept. 30–Oct. 2 workshops, and the RTD CONNECT Community Ambassador Program tasked with gathering that input. *Enjoy RTD Reporting? Consider making a one-time donation to support it here at Thompson's Colorado today by clicking the button below:* [Make A One-Time Donation](#/portal/support) --- Read [RTD’s overview of its Comprehensive Operational Analysis](https://www.rtd-denver.com/community/news/2026/rtd-launches-comprehensive-operations-analysis-to-shape-future-of-transit-service-across-the-denver-metro-area?ref=thompsonscolorado.com).