This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Effective April 19, 2020, RTD will be implementing a decrease in service through the COVID-19 Service Plan due to a dramatic decline in ridership that has resulted from the recent coronavirus outbreak. Service levels will be gradually increased as conditions and ridership permit. RTD is proposing to change the service back to normal operations no later than September 20, 2020.
Local Changes
Starting Monday, April 20, Longmont’s local bus service (the 300
series of buses – 323, 324, 326, and 327) will operate on a Saturday schedule for Monday through Saturday operations; the Sunday service will continue as scheduled on the 324. The switch to a Saturday service compresses the current weekday schedule. Buses will now run from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm, with the exception of the Main Street 324 bus which will run until 7:00 pm. All of these local services will continue to be free to the transit riders under Longmont’s Ride Free program.
- All local buses, except the 324, currently operate on hourly headways, meaning a bus serves a specific stop once each hour. There will be few impacts to the 323, 326, and 327 buses with this proposed schedule change.
- The Main Street (324) bus service currently operates every 30 minutes on weekdays. The coming changes will reduce service by half,
running every hour under the new schedule. There will not be any changes to the Sunday service on this route.
Regional Changes
Service changes to the regional bus services between cities are as follows:
- The direct bus service (route LD1) to Denver will be limited to two morning and two afternoon “all stop” buses; express bus service will be eliminated. Longmont to Broomfield routes (LD3) will continue on a Saturday service schedule, allowing connections with the US-36 BRT services to and from Denver during other parts of the day.
- The J-Route to East Boulder and the CU campus will be discontinued.
- The BOLT bus to Downtown Boulder will be running once every hour, Monday thru Saturday.
There will be no changes to the Sunday service on this route.
Additionally, the FLEX bus between Longmont and Ft. Collins will be suspended; the date for this change has not been finalized. Visit RideTransfort.com for updates.
Fare Collection Suspension and New Boarding Procedures
In addition to these service changes, beginning on Sunday, April 5, RTD has suspended fare collection on all buses and trains across the RTD system until further notice. The agency is working through processes for refunds and exchanges on applicable fare products. A rear-door boarding and exiting system has also been implemented to provide another layer of social distancing between operators and riders. Passengers with disabilities should
continue to board RTD vehicles at the front, where a wheelchair lift is available, if needed. RTD’s over-the-road coaches used on regional routes have front doors only and passengers will continue to board and deboard from the front on those buses.
The Longmont FlexRide (formerly call-n-Ride) service will run from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. as demand requires. Rides must be booked by reservation only. This service will also be free to riders.
For more information, visit RTD-Denver.com. Contact RTD directly about any questions regarding these services changes by calling 303-299-6000.
