RTD: Zoned fares for light rail

Riders must learn a new system

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 1, 2006 at midnight

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RTD institutes a complicated zoned fare system on its light-rail lines this weekend as a dress rehearsal for the opening of the 19-mile T-REX line in November.

The new system will lower the light-rail fare for a few riders traveling only between the Mineral Avenue station in Littleton and Evans Avenue.

For others, it will remain either $1.50 or $2.75, depending on their travel distance. Once T-REX opens, the added distance will make for a fare of $3.75 for end-to-end travel.

But for all riders, including those who will jam onto the T-REX trains this fall, it means learning a new system.

The plan divides the rail system into zones. Riders can travel in one or two zones for the $1.50 local fare. Travel in the three existing zones requires a $2.75 express fare.

But when the T-REX light rail corridor opens Nov. 17, there will be a fourth zone. Traveling the length of the system will require a $3.75 regional fare.

Here's how it's divided:

Zone A consists of all stations from Five Points through downtown to the I-25/Broadway station. Zone B consists of Evans and Englewood stations on the southwest corridor, and all of the stations from Louisiana Avenue to Yale Avenue on T-REX.

Zone C is Oxford to Mineral stations on the southwest corridor, and on T-REX it's from Southmoor to Dry Creek stations, including the Interstate 225 spur to Nine Mile station in Aurora.

Zone D is the County Line and Lincoln Avenue stations on T-REX.

New ticket machines will guide riders through the process. Touch-screens will allow riders to pick their destination, and the machine will tell them the correct fare.

But for regular RTD riders who use monthly local passes, it's more complicated.

Starting in July, the $54 monthly pass for local service will be labeled for travel either in zones A and B or zones B and C. Local pass holders who want to go farther must use the ticket machines at the stations to purchase a $1.25 "upgrade" ticket before boarding. It would have to be shown to fare inspectors who randomly check riders for the proper fares on RTD's "honor system" of payment.

But to complicate it further, if the holder of a zone A-B pass is taking a trip in zones B and C, he must first use the ticket machine to obtain a free "boarding pass" at the station where he catches the train, as proof that he hadn't traveled through three zones.

The same rules will apply when the T-REX lines open, except, with the addition of zone D, there will be two possible upgrades - an extra $1.25 to travel into a third zone, or an extra $2.25 to travel in all four zones.

In practice, it will mean a much greater chance for being caught with the wrong fare. First-time offenders get a warning, but a second offense brings a ticket and fine of $48. It escalates to $112 for repeat offenses. RTD doesn't get the fines; Denver or Arapahoe County collect them in their courts.

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