RTD modifies buses for East Colfax’s partial opening

RTD is adapting existing buses to bring East Colfax’s Broadway-to-Colorado Boulevard segment into use ahead of the full bus rapid transit system. The Regional Transportation District’s September 8, 2026, investment update describes vehicle changes and operator training for the initial operation, while forecasting full BRT service for late 2027 or early 2028.

For riders and businesses along that stretch, the practical distinction is between access to an initial segment and delivery of the complete service. RTD’s June 15 announcement targeted a fall reopening between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard—a narrower milestone than completing the entire project.

Preparing buses for the new platforms

RTD said it was modifying existing articulated buses so their ramps could work with the new platforms and moving bicycle racks inside. Operator training began during the week of August 3, according to the September update.

Those preparations explain the staged approach: existing vehicles can be adapted to use new infrastructure before the full BRT operating package arrives. Vehicle readiness is therefore part of making the segment usable. The update documents preparation; it supplies no measured travel-time or accessibility results from passenger operations.

RTD said the opening decision was confirmed with the project team on August 26. It also reported a Federal Transit Administration visit on September 1. That visit is part of the agency’s account of its preparations and should not be treated as a separately documented federal authorization to start service.

A project-wide estimate

The September update describes East Colfax as a roughly $280 million project. That rounded estimate gives the scale of the overall investment. It does not establish spending to date, a separate price for the Broadway–Colorado segment or the incremental operating cost of bringing that segment into use.

RTD characterized progress as on time and on budget in June. That remains an attributed agency assessment. The rounded September estimate alone cannot demonstrate a saving or overrun, while the initial-opening and full-service forecasts concern different deliverables and cannot establish a delay by themselves.

The outstanding delivery question is when the project moves from adapted buses using the initial segment to the complete BRT operation. The September update places that later milestone within a late-2027/early-2028 forecast window, without establishing a single binding full-service opening day.