TITLE VI PROGRAM: 2025-2027

• • Assure that service is evaluated and provided in a fair, consistent, and equitable manner;
  • Assure that requests and proposals generated from the general public, elected officials, and RFTA staff are evaluated in a fair, consistent and equitable manner;
  • Provide a baseline for service planning of bus routes, headways and other service characteristics;
  • Improve route productivity while minimizing negative impacts to passengers.

This framework is applied to best serve the travel needs of citizens in RFTA’s service area, as well as to achieve RFTA’s vision of connecting and supporting vibrant communities within RFTA’s budgetary resources. Since RFTA’s goals and objectives and the resources available to attain them will change over time, service standards will be revised periodically to reflect those changes.

RFTA’s standards can be applied to identify routes which are most in need of service changes. Service changes may include restructuring to eliminate lower-productivity segments, or adjusting service frequency to better reflect the demand for service.

These service standards are applied to improve the efficiency of existing routes, to establish new routes and to provide justification for eliminating routes. Routes that fail to meet standards, however, are not automatically eliminated. Suspension of service may occur based on a variety of considerations.

The relationship between RFTA’s Service Standards and the agency budget is dynamic. Balancing transit needs, service standards, budget realities and other needs and constraints is challenging, and adjustments are required between the costs and benefits and realities of providing transit service. These service-based standards and the accompanying Infrastructure Standards should be considered guidelines for decision-making.

• Bus Stops – RFTA has over 200 boarding locations throughout its service area, and nine major boarding locations for BRT service. Addition, relocation, or removal of bus stops requires consultation with RFTA staff, assessment of the impacts to the traveling public, and adherence to RFTA’s bus stop guidelines. There have been no additions, relocations or removals of bus stops since the last Title VI update. RFTA has made a commitment throughout the BRT planning and development process to maintain the streamlined regional travel time of BRT. Addition of stops for BRT may only be decided by the RFTA Board. If additional stops are considered for BRT, staff will recommend that the entity proposing the change commits to funding, constructing, and implementing infrastructure that will verifiably offset the travel time penalty of the new station. These infrastructure improvements may include, but are not limited to, queue bypasses, transit signal priority, or bus-only lanes, or combinations of such improvements.The design of bus stop waiting areas and provision of amenities that enhance security and comfort plays a significant role in a person’s decision to use transit. Design of bus stops can affect a person’s actual or perceived sense of safety, comfort, and convenience. View RFTA’s Bus Stop Design Guidelines.
• Pedestrian Connections and Crossings – All new bus stops proposed to be located on or near SH82 need to incorporate safe and comfortable pedestrian crossings of the highway. Grade separation of SH82 is strongly preferred. Bicycle and pedestrian trails and sidewalks surrounding bus stops should be improved for safe, accessible, and attractive bike/ped connectivity.

The number of buses staged at each facility is based on the amount needed for peak pull-out, plus 20% spares, and should also account for the types of vehicles needed for each type of service. If storage capacity is exceeded at the Glenwood Springs Maintenance Facility (GMF) or the Aspen Maintenance Facility (AMF), then buses may be deadheaded to the other facility.