A legal battle over access to public transportation for those with disabilities is again brewing in the very town where it and “The Gang of 19” made national headlines almost 50 years ago.

Members of the Atlantis ADAPT community and two additional plaintiffs, Dawn Russell and Claudia Folska, filed a complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction in the Colorado District Court on Sunday, seeking to halt recent changes to RTD’s Access-on-Demand program, alleging they violate federal law and unfairly impact those with disabilities.

The complaint argues that RTD is profiting by increasing costs and cutting services to the curb-to-curb program, upon which many disabled riders rely, while reducing costs for those without disabilities.

“Just last year, the RTD lowered daily fares for its bus, commuter rail, and light rail services for Coloradans without disabilities by nearly 10% and its monthly fares by 33%,” court documents stated. “Further, RTD was given permission by Colorado voters to keep its projected revenue of about $50-60 million per year by Ballot Measure 7A in 2024.”

Ballot Measure 7A, which was approved by voters, required that if the RTD were to keep the projected revenue, among other requirements, it would maintain “the availability of services for people with disabilities.”

“As a former RTD Board Director, I can say unequivocally that Access-on-Demand was created to expand freedom and opportunity for riders. Cutting this service kills the spirit of what it was intended to do,” Folska said in a statement. “This injunction is not just a legal action—it’s a necessary correction. RTD’s decision-making ignored data, community input, and riders’ lived reality. RTD is breaking the law, and we have to enforce it.”

The popular service provides on-demand transportation to RTD users with disabilities through taxis and ride-sharing companies such as Uber. Disabled riders are currently eligible for up to 60 rides per month, with RTD providing a $25 voucher toward each ride.

“RTD is in receipt of the complaint and its accompanying motion for a preliminary injunction and is in the process of reviewing,” a statement to The Denver Gazette read. “The agency remains committed to serving the transit needs of all customers who rely on its bus, rail, and paratransit services.”

Many disabled riders depend on the program for access to workplaces, grocery stores, doctors’ offices, restaurants, and more.

However, in October, RTD announced it would introduce a $4.50 standard base fare per trip or $2.25 for riders eligible for reduced rides.

Previously, there had been no base fare for the curb-to-curb service.

The agency also approved reducing the program’s operating hours by two and lowering its per-ride subsidy from $25 to $20, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Customers may still take up to 60 rides per month.

Although RTD has experienced a 306% increase in program funding since its inception in January 2023, the number of active Access-on-Demand users has increased from 2,191 in October 2023 to 3,398 in August 2025. 

The agency noted in an October press release that costs to provide Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles from the program’s fleet amount to an additional $1 million per month.

The plaintiffs also claim that cuts to services that “affect only Coloradans with disabilities, while cutting costs for Coloradans without disabilities, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.”

Denver has come a long way since the summer of 1978, when wheelchair activists surrounded Regional Transportation District buses for two days, bringing traffic to a standstill and shining a national spotlight on the city’s then-inaccessible public transit system.

Seven years after that protest, RTD became the first metropolitan region in the country to provide wheelchair-accessible service on all local buses, sparking a nationwide disability rights movement.