The Regional Transportation District will begin public meetings next week to discuss proposed changes to bus services taking place in January.

The proposed changes address an ongoing increase in ridership after ridership dropped significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decrease in riders, RTD has been providing limited service since April 2020.

The changes would increase service on some routes to improve on-time performance, service reliability and support the ridership increases, RTD said in an announcement.

FlexRide, the AB regional bus route and the BOLT regional bus route would be affected by the changes, in addition to the following local bus routes: 3, 8, 10, 12, 15, 15L, 16, 19, 36, 37, 44, 48, 83, 208, 324 and BOUND.

The changes vary by route but include time adjustments, extending trips, adding stops and expanding hours of operation. Specific changes proposed for each route can be found at rtd-denver.com.

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RTD customers will have the chance to provide feedback about the proposed changes at three virtual meetings on Monday, Oct. 4 at noon, Monday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m.

All three meetings will be conducted through Microsoft Teams. Presentations about the changes will be posted on the RTD website in English and Spanish.

The public can also provide input about the proposed changes through Thursday, Oct. 7 by emailing service.changes@rtd-denver.com or by calling (303) 299-2004.

If approved, the proposed service changes would go into effect on Jan. 9, 2022.

In addition to these proposed service changes, officials will continue to monitor routes and make ongoing adjustments to accommodate changes in ridership, RTD said in an announcement.