Chalk-up more forward progress by RTD’s Ad Hoc Eco Pass Committee toward a sustainable pricing formula for these pass programs.

After years of acrimonious debate between RTD and advocates of the Eco Pass, a working group of representatives for RTD staff and other Eco Pass purchasing groups came together around a unified recommendation on the pricing formula for some of these passes.  I attached a memo below that details the recommendation, but the summary is that Business Eco Passes will be priced based on a formula that accounts for the following factors:

1)  There will be 20 business categories based on four different service level areas and five different ranges of company size;

2)  The actual ridership data will be calculated for businesses in each of the different categories, based on information from the new fareboxes RTD is installing; and,

3)  The value of each ride will be discounted by 40 percent, in keeping with discounts that RTD applies to its other pass programs and other values that accrue to RTD through the Eco Pass program.

The Ad Hoc Committee members accepted this formula by unanimous consent.   It also was agreed that there will be no price increases for the Eco Pass, beyond RTD’s standard fare increases, until the new ridership data is available.

The working group will now take-on other challenging issues, like the opportunity to lift the current moritoium on the Neighborhood Eco Pass program.   This has been another major sticking point between RTD and Eco Pass advocates, but the success in working through the Business Eco Pass issues give me great confidence that we will make progress in this area, as well.

The Ad Hoc Eco Pass Committee is scheduled to wrap-up its work on September 30.  At that time, the Committee will prepare its final recommendations on a sustainable pricing formula for the Eco Pass program for full RTD Board consideration.   So, stay tuned . . .

RTD Pass Program Committee Update