Denver RTD on-time performance jumps up 30% year-over-year
The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) has exceeded 90% on-time performance for its light rail service in July 2025, a notable increase from the 59.9% tracked in August 2024. The agency says a combination of projects, both the Coping Panels Project and the Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project, and expedited hirings positively impacted service reliability for the system.
“Having asked our customers for patience and understanding while these critical light rail infrastructure projects were underway, it is incredibly gratifying to now see such a substantial improvement in on-time performance,” said Denver RTD General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson. “[Denver] RTD is committed to providing reliable service and the schedule we keep amplifies that pledge to our customers. The team takes this charge seriously and approaches every aspect of our transit service delivery with this top of mind.”
The agency notes the results of its 2025 Customer Excellence Survey show its commitment to providing reliable service, citing year-over-year improvements in rider comments regarding bus or train services usual propensity to keep on time.
Light-rail service delivered 21,160 trips of the 21,848 scheduled, averaging a service availability of 96.8% through August 2025. For buses, year-to-date service availability rests at 99.5% and nearly 99% across all commuter rail lines.
An emphasis on hiring operators
The agency has shifted focus to recruitment for its frontline positions over the last two years, including positions like light-rail operators, by creating efficiencies in its hiring processes, through awareness campaigns about the roles and by hosting more hiring events. Crediting these hiring processes, the agency notes it’s been able to offer more bus and train service compared to 2024 while offering longer hours of operation and more frequency, improving its service availability metric. Denver RTD has also budgeted for 25 more light-rail operators in 2025 while still decreasing its operator vacancy rate by 4% from the same time last year.
Optimizing connections
The agency has also taken steps during its large projects to maintain the best possible on-time performance. During its Downtown Rail Reconstruction project, Denver RTD made adjustments to ensure it could still deliver service near the project zone while keeping 15-minute frequencies and efficient transfers.
Back to Basics
To further bolster its performance, Denver RTD has addressed several maintenance projects over the last 18 months to protect the integrity of the rail network and ensure prior work remains intact through itds Back to Basics program.
The agency began more rigorous light-rail inspections, following guidelines from the American Public Transportation Association, resulting in temporary speed restrictions and over two miles of track replacements. The undertaking was the largest overnight rail replacement project the agency had conducted in its history. Further, Denver RTD completed the second phase of its Coping Panels Project, lifting speed restrictions and single-tracking operations upon its completion.
The agency notes that its 2024 on-time performance was occasionally hindered by copper wire thefts near track signals that temporary disrupted rail service as it made repairs. Denver RTD has since implemented deterrents and launched its internal detective bureau at the beginning of the year to enable Transit Police to handle criminal activity in the district, including wire theft.
Ridership
In the first seven months of the year, Denver RTD saw a total system ridership figure of approximately 36.7 million, 6.1 million of which were light-rail passengers. Since June 2025, the agency has seen an increase in light-rail boardings, surpassing both June and July 2024 light-rail ridership figures in a year-over-year comparison.