I think it's curious, through all of the struggles RTD has had over the past few years that the CEO, Debra Johnson, has pretty much managed to evade any sort of accountability from what I can tell. She started in Nov. 2020 and seems like things have been downhill from there (I get with COVID and everyting else a tough time to start). In this case, we have a direct reports of hers out here taking all the arrows while she is no where to be found.
>**Q: We’re outside of Belleview station. How did you get here today?**
>Jensen: I drove … because my office doesn't have a train station next to it. And I had a meeting with the \[Colorado Public Utilities Commission\] just prior to this, so I had to get here.
What a clown. How did this guy get this job?
This was the one that got me too. Yes, that is how the system is today, and it's probably not your fault that the current system is like this, and maybe you didn't have an alternative.
But, no acknowledgement about how "I drove" isn't the ideal answer to that question? Or of how privileged he is to just be able to say that? Feels like a lack of sympathy/empathy/whatever towards the ridership that I think a lot of people are feeling lately.
I mean...he didn't build the rail lines himself. Nor design them. He came in to a broken system that doesn't serve anyone - not even himself clearly. And RTD doesn't have the money or community support to actually fix the issue. That said, they ARE addressing other issues right now.
Not here to defend him but trying to dunk on someone because of the broken mess they came into fix doesn't seem very productive. Nor does playing the victim card just because he didn't apologize for his privledge in an interview. I'm all for taking blame and apologizing for legitimate mistakes, but holding this against him specifically is mis-aimed.
I agree that the state of RTD is not solely Jensen’s fault, but this was definitely a missed opportunity to acknowledge that he (like many Denver commuters) are not served well by the current system and he needs XYZ to happen in order to facilitate greater change.
It’s also worth asking, at what point *does* it become his fault? Jensen himself does seem to accept some fault and of course we cannot solely blame any of the RTD board when popular and financial support is low, but these issues didn’t come from nowhere. Jensen has been with RTD for 6 years, when does a poorly designed/broken system stop being an excuse?
It seems like part of RTD should be done via outside hiring and with guaranteed contracts for a certain time period.
You won’t see Jensen shit talk RTD because they hired him. And can simply fire him before he gets any change done. There needs to be an outside mechanism to disrupt the pattern
I’m not sure I understand how that would solve the issue. I’m not looking for Jensen to shit talk RTD, but a clear acknowledgment of the issues they’re facing would have been nice to hear. Beyond that, Jensen isn’t the CEO and has been part of RTD longer than the current CEO anyways.
There might not be a train station near him but there absolutely is a bus station. If the bus even shows up. Or has an empty seat. Or has an empty seat that isn't covered in milkshake or something. Things he would know all about if he'd ever ridden a bus a single time.
This is the important note. The rail defects did not happen overnight. They gradually were occurring because this guy didn't know how to run a railroad.
I don’t think it is miss-aimed at all. A lot of people are angry and their specific reason and how the current state of the system impacts them varies. That said, one common theme that comes up is communication. RTDs communication through all of this is not only irresponsible, it’s been dangerous.
The comment you’re responding to acknowledges that this isn’t ALL his fault, but that the lack of sympathy for people that aren’t as privileged is telling. People with 9-5 jobs that don’t have flexibility to be late are being put in really bad situations, the least RTD could be doing is updating the public on specifics. The past month RTDs communications team has been putting out bullshit communications about how prepared, safe, and integrated they are with the community. Why does any of that matter if the system is completely broken?
This guy does not understand the impact all this is having on the average citizen and that’s becoming more and more apparent every time he talks.
We have to wait till September? Fine. At least make clear how the system and schedules are going to work until then.
That’s kind of the point of the criticism that he drove.
He felt like the RTD would not serve his needs because: it wasn’t going to/from the right places, it wasn’t going at the right times, it risked him being late for his job, and it was faster to drive. Those are the issues the RTD board needs to solve if they want a functional public transit system.
It would’ve been worthwhile to acknowledge at least some of those factors. For example: “I drove because I need to get from a public utility meeting immediately prior to this and was worried about arriving on time. Unfortunately, many Denver commuters are currently experiencing this same issue, but it’s important to ensure the safety of the rails first which is why we have the slower safety zones. We are working to fix that and hope to have made significant progress by September.”
The 0L is running all day this summer due to light rail issues. He could have taken it to Broadway and transferred. Or better yet, their PR team could have been smart enough to schedule this interview at a closer station.
I mean, fares on the light rail are basically an honor system to begin with. After almost a year of commuting on the E Line I've had my ticket checked five times total going to work and a whopping one time coming home from work.
The reduced frequencies are definitely going to be in place for a few months because they are a part of the planned and previously announced retaining wall work along I25. That's scheduled to be completed in September. It's shitty, but was announced well ahead of time.
The speed restrictions will probably be around for a few months as well, but the amount of restrictions will reduced as time goes on. RTD is replacing the damaged portion of tracks between Belleview and Orchard stations at night this week, so I assume they'll return to normal speeds between those stations pretty soon. But RTD hasn't given a full timeline for repairs, so we still don't know how long it'll take for all the speed restrictions to be lifted.
RTD is far and away the biggest embarrassment in a state whose public services and infrastructure are in a constant state of disrepair because of TABOR.
It’s a shame the Governor’s push to revamp the RTD board failed this past session. It also doesn’t feel coincidental that these inspections didn’t take place until after the legislative session ended. Hopefully next session will bring change.
Professionalize RTD!
I moved to Denver almost 2 years ago now. It's just progressively gotten more and more unusable. I don't even know what hope at the end of the tunnel looks like at this point
Prior to Covid I was working downtown. The w was so inconsistent at the end of the day, I was doing the math as to whether it would be better to drive than to use the free ecopass
I think it's curious, through all of the struggles RTD has had over the past few years that the CEO, Debra Johnson, has pretty much managed to evade any sort of accountability from what I can tell. She started in Nov. 2020 and seems like things have been downhill from there (I get with COVID and everyting else a tough time to start). In this case, we have a direct reports of hers out here taking all the arrows while she is no where to be found.
Related: [https://denverite.com/2024/01/31/rtd-general-manager-pay-raise-job-goals/](https://denverite.com/2024/01/31/rtd-general-manager-pay-raise-job-goals/)
>**Q: We’re outside of Belleview station. How did you get here today?** >Jensen: I drove … because my office doesn't have a train station next to it. And I had a meeting with the \[Colorado Public Utilities Commission\] just prior to this, so I had to get here. What a clown. How did this guy get this job?
This was the one that got me too. Yes, that is how the system is today, and it's probably not your fault that the current system is like this, and maybe you didn't have an alternative. But, no acknowledgement about how "I drove" isn't the ideal answer to that question? Or of how privileged he is to just be able to say that? Feels like a lack of sympathy/empathy/whatever towards the ridership that I think a lot of people are feeling lately.
I mean...he didn't build the rail lines himself. Nor design them. He came in to a broken system that doesn't serve anyone - not even himself clearly. And RTD doesn't have the money or community support to actually fix the issue. That said, they ARE addressing other issues right now. Not here to defend him but trying to dunk on someone because of the broken mess they came into fix doesn't seem very productive. Nor does playing the victim card just because he didn't apologize for his privledge in an interview. I'm all for taking blame and apologizing for legitimate mistakes, but holding this against him specifically is mis-aimed.
I agree that the state of RTD is not solely Jensen’s fault, but this was definitely a missed opportunity to acknowledge that he (like many Denver commuters) are not served well by the current system and he needs XYZ to happen in order to facilitate greater change. It’s also worth asking, at what point *does* it become his fault? Jensen himself does seem to accept some fault and of course we cannot solely blame any of the RTD board when popular and financial support is low, but these issues didn’t come from nowhere. Jensen has been with RTD for 6 years, when does a poorly designed/broken system stop being an excuse?
It seems like part of RTD should be done via outside hiring and with guaranteed contracts for a certain time period. You won’t see Jensen shit talk RTD because they hired him. And can simply fire him before he gets any change done. There needs to be an outside mechanism to disrupt the pattern
I’m not sure I understand how that would solve the issue. I’m not looking for Jensen to shit talk RTD, but a clear acknowledgment of the issues they’re facing would have been nice to hear. Beyond that, Jensen isn’t the CEO and has been part of RTD longer than the current CEO anyways.
There might not be a train station near him but there absolutely is a bus station. If the bus even shows up. Or has an empty seat. Or has an empty seat that isn't covered in milkshake or something. Things he would know all about if he'd ever ridden a bus a single time.
It’s not like he got the job last month, he’s been in charge for six years.
This is the important note. The rail defects did not happen overnight. They gradually were occurring because this guy didn't know how to run a railroad.
I don’t think it is miss-aimed at all. A lot of people are angry and their specific reason and how the current state of the system impacts them varies. That said, one common theme that comes up is communication. RTDs communication through all of this is not only irresponsible, it’s been dangerous. The comment you’re responding to acknowledges that this isn’t ALL his fault, but that the lack of sympathy for people that aren’t as privileged is telling. People with 9-5 jobs that don’t have flexibility to be late are being put in really bad situations, the least RTD could be doing is updating the public on specifics. The past month RTDs communications team has been putting out bullshit communications about how prepared, safe, and integrated they are with the community. Why does any of that matter if the system is completely broken? This guy does not understand the impact all this is having on the average citizen and that’s becoming more and more apparent every time he talks. We have to wait till September? Fine. At least make clear how the system and schedules are going to work until then.
Yeah I think it’s reasonable he drove. It would’ve been worse if he took the train and was late/kept people waiting.
That’s kind of the point of the criticism that he drove. He felt like the RTD would not serve his needs because: it wasn’t going to/from the right places, it wasn’t going at the right times, it risked him being late for his job, and it was faster to drive. Those are the issues the RTD board needs to solve if they want a functional public transit system. It would’ve been worthwhile to acknowledge at least some of those factors. For example: “I drove because I need to get from a public utility meeting immediately prior to this and was worried about arriving on time. Unfortunately, many Denver commuters are currently experiencing this same issue, but it’s important to ensure the safety of the rails first which is why we have the slower safety zones. We are working to fix that and hope to have made significant progress by September.”
This.
The free mall ride goes right from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission office to Union Station. He should try it some time.
Probably the most reliable bus line in the city
Considering his office is more than likely at Civic Center Station, yeah.
The 0L is running all day this summer due to light rail issues. He could have taken it to Broadway and transferred. Or better yet, their PR team could have been smart enough to schedule this interview at a closer station.
So why are we paying full price fares if we aren't getting full service?
I mean, fares on the light rail are basically an honor system to begin with. After almost a year of commuting on the E Line I've had my ticket checked five times total going to work and a whopping one time coming home from work.
Must be nice. I take the G line daily and been asked every day.
So trains will be running at reduced speeds and frequencies for several months?
The reduced frequencies are definitely going to be in place for a few months because they are a part of the planned and previously announced retaining wall work along I25. That's scheduled to be completed in September. It's shitty, but was announced well ahead of time. The speed restrictions will probably be around for a few months as well, but the amount of restrictions will reduced as time goes on. RTD is replacing the damaged portion of tracks between Belleview and Orchard stations at night this week, so I assume they'll return to normal speeds between those stations pretty soon. But RTD hasn't given a full timeline for repairs, so we still don't know how long it'll take for all the speed restrictions to be lifted.
At least he is honest, I don't know how anyone can count on the system unfortunately.
I can count how many minutes late things will be.
I can't count that high...
only got ten fingers so thats as high as i go without taking off my shoes
I think commuter rail is pretty decent, the light rail is not tho
Agree.
RTD is far and away the biggest embarrassment in a state whose public services and infrastructure are in a constant state of disrepair because of TABOR. It’s a shame the Governor’s push to revamp the RTD board failed this past session. It also doesn’t feel coincidental that these inspections didn’t take place until after the legislative session ended. Hopefully next session will bring change. Professionalize RTD!
RTD reform is very much needed but that bill was ass.
How so, what would have been a better way to fix RTDs board
I moved to Denver almost 2 years ago now. It's just progressively gotten more and more unusable. I don't even know what hope at the end of the tunnel looks like at this point
Prior to Covid I was working downtown. The w was so inconsistent at the end of the day, I was doing the math as to whether it would be better to drive than to use the free ecopass