Maybe we all just needed a break from two month’s worth of anxiety-inducing debate over the fate of the Eco Pass program.  I know I did.  But I do apologize for my delay in providing this update on the final RTD Board decision concerning proposed changes for Business and Neighborhood Eco Passes.

As you will recall, if you followed the recent kerfuffle (a word I don’t get to use very often, but it just seemed to fit here ( , RTD staff had incorporated a number of structural policy adjustments to the Business and Neighborhood Eco Passes into their 2009 Fare Policy recommendations.  The most damaging elements were new minimum contract rates for small businesses (amounting to an additional 100 percent cost increase for the first year and 300 percent in the second year) and a moratorium on new Neighborhood Eco Pass contracts, along with a proposal that was circulating to completely eliminate the Neighborhood Eco Passes in 2010. 

It was clear that some of my Board colleagues initially were inclined to support the staff proposal.  Many of them were concerned, based on staff analysis and their own intuition, that Business and Neighborhood Eco Passes are improperly priced.  Philosophically, they were not convinced that the insurance pricing model, which holds that everyone pays a lower rate for their Eco Pass on the assumption that only some pass holders actually use it to any great extent, should apply to small businesses and neighborhoods.  

I won’t bother to re-hash the arguments from both sides of this policy debate, as you can read about them in some of my previous blog postings on this subject.  I will tell you, though, that the public response to these proposed structural changes in the Eco Pass program was overwhelming.  Most Board members can not remember an issue that generated so many e-mails, public participation comments, and other forms of citizen input.  It was an impressive show of concern from those who recognize the important value the Eco Pass program offers for RTD and our customers.  The thoughtful nature of the input, with very well considered arguments, also was noteworthy.  Most importantly, it worked!

I awoke on September 30, the day of the final RTD Board vote on the 2009 Fare Policy recommendations, feeling that the prospects for mustering sufficient votes to kill the proposed structural changes to the Eco Pass program were bleak.  However, as I reached-out to the other Directors, it became clear that a number of them were giving second thoughts to their initial position.  While there were a wide array of opinions amongst my Board colleagues on the details of their evolving positions, a small majority of them were uncomfortable with such dramatic changes in the Eco Pass program.  Many noted the devastating impact the proposed changes could have on a significant cross-section of RTD’s customers, with specific reference to the public input they had been receiving.

So, going into the Board meeting, I had good reason to believe we might be able to fend-off the worst of the proposed structural changes.  But, one can never be sure until the final vote is taken . . . so here, in the words of Zac Brown from the Daily Camera, is how things turned-out: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/sep/30/rtd-changes-course-ecopass/. 

Of course, for those of us who are most protective of the Eco Pass program, there are elements of the final Board vote that are troubling.  Most concerning, though Neighborhood Eco Passes survived, a majority of my Board colleagues did support the moratorium on new contracts.  The moratorium is slated to end when RTD begins collecting ridership data from new fareboxes the agency is installing next year.  I will be pushing to make certain the farebox installation occurs promptly and that RTD staff does everything possible to expedite data collection.  In the meantime, as the Daily Camera also reported, I have supported efforts to ensure that those neighborhoods who were in the process of forming Eco Pass districts could beat the moratorium deadline:  http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/oct/08/mad-dash-eco-passes/.

So, that is how it all played-out.  Not perfect, by any stretch, but we avoided the most devestating hits to Business and Neighborhood Eco Passes.  And the work continues . . . as the Board agreed to form another committee to study Eco Pass pricing.  My hope is this group will focus on the future, considering how to best use the data that RTD will collect from the new fareboxes, in order to avoid another Eco Pass debate based on conflicting assessments of current ridership statistics, like the one we just had.  Please stay tuned to these pages to see how things progress.

In the meantime, thanks to all of you who spoke-up in support of the Eco Pass program.  You played a very important role in this policy debate and, on a personal note, you inspired me to do my best to preserve this important fare option for RTD customers.  It is exciting to see the passion so many of you have for the success of our regional transit system and it is an honor to represent your interests on the RTD Board. 

Finally, just to remind us to maintain our sense of humor . . . here is a unique perspective on the Eco Pass debate from the great Boulder County Business Report cartoonist, Ron Ruelle: Eco Pass Cartoon.