The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) has awarded a contract to New Flyer of America for 47 Xcelsior® 60-foot clean-diesel heavy-duty transit buses for the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The contract also includes options for up to 80 additional 60-foot buses, which may be exercised in the future.

The order is funded through local funding sources. The buses are Buy America-compliant and will be manufactured in the United States, supporting domestic jobs, strengthening the North American supply chain and ensuring federal transit investments continue to deliver economic benefits to American communities.

The East Colfax BRT project, led by the city and county of Denver Colo., with Denver RTD and the city of Aurora, Colo., as partners, will deliver 8.5 miles of BRT to East Colfax Avenue between Broadway and I-225. According to Denver RTD, the section within Denver that is between Broadway and Yosemite Street will be center-running, dedicated lane BRT with level boarding in the middle of Colfax Avenue. As the project transitions to Aurora, the improvements switch to the outside lanes of Colfax Avenue with side-running stations in mixed traffic and level boarding at select stations.

Designed to enhance passenger flow and accessibility along the high-capacity corridor, the New Flyer buses will feature a three-door configuration for faster boarding and alighting, level boarding to improve accessibility and reduce dwell times and interior bicycle racks to support multimodal travel.

”[Denver] RTD’s investment in these new buses is about delivering a better customer experience along one of the region’s most important corridors,” said Denver RTD Deputy CEO Angel Peña. “The East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit project will improve safety, reliability, accessibility and connections to opportunity for the communities we serve. We appreciate New Flyer’s partnership in providing Buy America-compliant vehicles that support this work and help us move the region forward.”

When complete in late 2027/early 2028, the full BRT will contain several service features, including:

• All door boarding 

• Off-board fare collection (ticket vending machines (TVMs), fare validators on platforms) 

• Near level boarding (13-inch platform for 14-inch bus floor) 

• Interior bike racks 

• Three-door buses 

• Transit signal priority 

• Dedicated bus lanes in the center of Colfax Avenue 

• Platform security including emergency telephones (ETELS) and cameras 

• Passenger information display systems

Project progression

Denver RTD notes the project is currently preparing to open Phase 1 between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard to Bus Only Lane Operations (BOLO) for Routes 15 and 15L on Sept. 27, 2026, in alignment with the agency's September service changes. Under BOLO, Routes 15 and 15L will use the bus only lanes and center platforms between Pennsylvania Street and Colorado Boulevard with level boarding, bus lanes, interior bike racks and platform security.

To accommodate buses serving the new platforms, modifications to Denver RTD’s fleet were necessary. The agency says that because proper ramp deployment on a 13-inch platform requires lifting the front of the bus, Denver RTD’s Bus Operations team spent the past six months implementing a new feature on the articulated fleet that raises the front end and allows the ramp to deploy correctly. In addition, bike racks on articulated buses have been relocated inside the rear door, which enables customers to roll their bikes on and off the bus, eliminating the need to load them onto a front rack.

The $280 million project is jointly funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the cities of Denver and Aurora. Denver RTD is responsible for the procurement and installation of TVMs, fare validators and ETELS, all paid for with FTA and project funds. 

Beginning the week of Aug. 26, Denver RTD installed ETELS at the seven stations (14 platforms) that are part of the Phase 1 opening. The ETELS will be monitored by the Denver RTD Security Command Center along with the cameras installed at each station.