A state-appointed Accountability Committee on Friday threw its weight behind a sweeping shake-up of how metro Denver’s Regional Transportation District is run, urging lawmakers to shrink the elected board from 15 members to nine and swap some of those seats for appointed directors. The panel wants the overhaul rolled out as quickly as practical, and no later than 2028, paired with new oversight rules, fresh studies on paratransit and disability mobility, and a shift in how RTD’s lawyers report inside the agency. The package lands just as legislators mull their next moves and as RTD faces mounting pressure to improve reliability and finish long-delayed projects.
According to The Denver Post, the committee’s majority is backing a nine-member "hybrid" board. Under the draft, four of those directors would be appointed by the governor, nonvoting seats would be added for the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, and RTD’s top attorney would report directly to the board instead of the CEO. The panel also called for a formal study of how people with disabilities move around metro Denver and floated the question of whether the state should take over ownership or operations of RTD’s rail assets. The Post reported that two members issued dissenting views: RTD director Matt Larsen filed a formal dissent arguing the plan relies on too few elected seats, and Sen. Matt Ball signaled he expects to sponsor legislation once he has reviewed the recommendations.
How the panel was formed
The Accountability Committee was created by the legislature in 2025 under SB25-161, which ordered the group to deliver recommendations to the transportation committees by Jan. 30, 2026. The law tasked the panel with digging into RTD’s governance and board pay, paratransit and disability access, representation of local governments and state agencies, and workforce retention, then reporting its findings and proposals back to lawmakers.
Supporters and critics are split
Supporters on the committee argue that cutting the board down to nine members would make it easier for RTD, cities, counties, and state agencies to actually get things done together instead of bogging down in the process. Skeptics see something very different. They warn that a hybrid model, with some governor-appointed members, risks muting neighborhood voices and shifting power away from the ballot box. Retired consultant Miller Hudson told The Denver Post that adding a governor-appointed bloc is “the wrong thing to do” and could disenfranchise riders and residents who rely on the system.
What comes next
The committee has now sent its written recommendations to the General Assembly and the governor, giving lawmakers a roadmap they can turn into bills, hearings, or both under the process laid out in statute. RTD, for its part, has posted the Accountability Committee’s records and materials for public review, something the agency says is meant to help shape both legislative debate and public comment as the proposals move into the political arena. RTD maintains an online records page devoted to the committee’s work.
Legal and political implications
Turning the committee’s blueprint into reality would require changes to state law that governs how RTD’s board is structured and elected, so the looming fight over appointed versus elected seats is expected to play out in committee rooms and public testimony. Gov. Jared Polis and other state leaders have already framed governance changes as part of a broader push to hold RTD accountable and to speed up transit expansion, a theme highlighted in recent coverage of the governor’s policy agenda.
