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Dec 9, 2025
RTD grapples with illicit drugs and the use of buses and trains as shelters
Boulder Daily Camera
For potential metro Denver public transit riders bothered by open illicit drug use and people who lack housing taking shelter on buses and trains, Regional Transportation District chief executive Debra Johnson this week suggested collective action: "There's strength in numbers."
"If there are more people on a transit vehicle, the average human being is less likely to act up," Johnson said Wednesday in Denver Union Station after a gathering with public transit counterparts from around the nation.
That critical mass of riders who collectively deter crime and create a more secure transit experience looms as the ultimate solution to challenges that the RTD and other transit agencies face, especially when extreme weather hits. Big cities like London, Tokyo, and New York have it. But achieving strength in numbers elsewhere has been difficult, especially in metro Denver, where the total annual ridership on RTD buses and trains has plummeted from 106 million in 2019 to around 60 million.
This has forced an expensive and widening crackdown on misbehavior, costing at least $50 million this year, according to agency data. RTD officials say their efforts to ensure safety on buses and trains are starting to make a difference.
It's a vexing situation that emerged as a focus this week as officials from a dozen U.S. public transit agencies gathered in Denver to discuss how to keep public transit safe and appealing. A study, funded by the Federal Transit Administration, served as the basis for this conference. It found that rising rates of illegal drug use and deteriorating safety conditions in public transit have become increasingly pressing issues for riders and staff.
"This is a problem across America.... Nobody has solved this," said David Cooper, director of the Transit Cooperative Research Program study. At the meeting in Denver, public transit officials reached a consensus that local governments must help transit agencies ensure safety for riders, Cooper said.
"We need
