Denver partners with Lyft and Masabi on mobile ticketing

Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) has partnered with Lyft and Masabi to launch another mobile ticketing platform for its public transit services.

Customers can already buy mobile tickets through the Uber, Transit and RTD apps, and the RTD says this new service offers customers one more way, alongside Lyft ride-share, car rentals and scooters, to access reliable and efficient transportation in the metro area.

In Denver, 58 percent of Lyft customers report using a Lyft service — shared rides, bikeshare systems, e-scooters — to get to or from a mass transit station.

Debra A. Johnson, RTD Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, said: “Lyft customers have been able to open the app and see transit options available to them since last year. [This] announcement now makes it possible for our customers to plan and pay for travel in one place, [something] that we know is of the highest value to those we serve.”

Tickets in the app cost the same as other existing options, and customers can look for ‘transit’ on the Lyft app homescreen, where they can search and compare routes, purchase multiple fares using any credit or debit payment method currently enabled in Lyft, save unused tickets for up to 45 days, and activate tickets with a single tap.

Users will also be able to identify nearby bus and rail connections in addition to Lyft vehicles and scooters.

Budget cuts

In November, the RTD Board of Directors approved the 2021 budget that included up to US$140 million in spending cuts from original projections and plans to eliminate nearly 400 jobs through layoffs and more than 300 vacant positions.

The cuts will also include furloughs and wage reductions for some employees who remain, with those making over US$120,000 seeing a 3.5 percent pay cut for 2021, and those making more than US$180,000 facing a 7.5 percent cut.

Bus and rail services will remain at about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pressures on transit agencies’ budgets across the US, the RTD was already facing large funding gaps in its FasTracks rail-expansion plan, and had been reviewing its existing services as part of the Reimagine RTD planning effort — something that has been further complicated by the pandemic, with some activities now expected to be delayed.

Denver’s bus and rail services are crucial for thousands of workers and people without their own transportation, but new restrictions on restaurants, offices and bars as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are predicted to further reduce ridership and revenue.