Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide ridership surges amid holiday light rail expansion
Ridership on the 16th Street FreeRide shuttle climbed in 2025 after the Regional Transportation District restored full service along the route in October.
The no-cost bus service had more than 1.2 million boardings from January through July and is poised to surpass 2024 totals. July produced more than 200,000 boardings, the highest monthly figure since 2022.
Monthly averages have risen to more than 170,000 boardings this year, compared with 125,000 per month in 2024. Those figures approach pre-pandemic levels, when the shuttle regularly exceeded 200,000 boardings per month in strong years before COVID-19 disruptions reduced ridership by more than 60% in 2020 and 2021.
“The 16th Street FreeRide is a prime example of how RTD is making lives better through the connections it provides,” said Debra Johnson, RTD general manager and CEO, in a news release.
Full operations from Union Station to Civic Center Station resumed Oct. 5 after more than three years of detours caused by the reconstruction of the 16th Street pedestrian mall and rail transit infrastructure.
And riders responded en masse. RTD recorded some 252,000 boardings in October for the 1.2-mile route shuttle.
“According to the most recent ridership report, utilization was nearly double that seen during early construction detours, as boardings dropped to 135,000 in January 2023 when construction on 16th Street was fully underway,” according to the release.
The shuttle runs seven days a week with fully electric vehicles and links downtown shopping, dining, theaters and attractions.
The agency also resumed special holiday light rail service in Denver’s Downtown Loop last month after an 86-day reconstruction project at the Kalamath Street and Colfax Avenue crossing.
The temporary Holiday Train runs every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily between I-25•Broadway and 30th•Downing stations. Service began Nov. 28 and continues through Jan. 3.
The route follows the suspended L Line and connects riders to downtown holiday events, including ice skating at Skyline Park and light displays at the City and County Building.
The agency introduced gingerbread house-themed wraps on select buses and light rail trains. The decorations feature candy canes and snowman cookies and will remain through the holiday season.
All bus and rail services will operate on a limited Sunday/holiday schedule Dec. 24-26 and Dec. 31-Jan. 2 for the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.
The agency is offering zero-fare service systemwide from 7 p.m. Dec. 31 through 7 a.m. Jan. 1 in partnership with Molson Coors.
Customers should check schedules in advance. Real-time information is available through the Next Ride app or rtd-denver.com Service Alerts.
The special holiday service ends ahead of Jan. 4 service changes that restore regular D, H and L line patterns.
CBI warns of misleading info in Maggie Long homicide investigation
Sage Kelley
sage.kelley@denvergazette.com
Updated 42 minutes ago
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) warned concerned residents about a flyer circulating through Bailey, sharing incorrect information about the death of 17-year-old Maggie Long. Long was found dead in her burned home near Bailey on Dec. 1, 2017. The...
Sage Kelley
Reporter
Colorado, some Coloradans make appearances in the Epstein Files
RACHAEL WRIGHT Special to The Gazette
rachael-wright-special-to-the-gazette@denvergazette.com
Updated 7 hours ago
With the U.S. Department of Justice’s release of 3 million more files pertaining to convicted sex felon Jeffrey Epstein, multiple written mentions of alleged connections to Colorado towns and business owners have come to light. A word search of the documents for “Colorado” generates 1,485 hits, with inquiries for cities including Denver and Aspen generating several thousands more. Chad...
Friends forever: Broadway superstars Denver-bound to sing praises of legends
John Moore
john.moore@denvergazette.com
Updated 1 hour ago
Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara will honor Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews with tribute concert joined by Colorado Symphony I remember seeing Sutton Foster’s utterly charming breakout role as Millie Dillmount in the 2002 Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and...
John Moore
Reporter
Ice climbers pick it at Longmont World Cup competition
Michael Braithwaite
michael.braithwaite@gazette.com
Updated 24 hours ago
As the sun rose behind The Climbing Collective, it was cold. Ice cold. On the building’s southwest exterior, strengthening sunlight illuminated puffy coats and clouds of breath — both a rarity along the Front Range this tepid winter. But the...
Michael Braithwaite
Reporter
In a meeting Colorado GOP chair Brita Horn calls ‘illegal,’ Republicans vote to demand her resignation
Ernest Luning
ernest-luning@denvergazette.com
Updated 23 hours ago
Roughly half the membership of the Colorado Republican Party’s state central committee on Saturday voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution expressing “no confidence” in state GOP Chairman Brita Horn’s leadership and calling for her immediate resignation in an online meeting...
Ernest Luning
Reporter
The freest man in Colorado history | Vince Bzdek
Vince Bzdek
vince-bzdek@denvergazette.com
Updated 17 hours ago
Every Coloradan should know the story of Buffalo Soldier John Taylor, who fought harder and longer than perhaps any man in our history to be truly free. Taylor’s story stands out above all others in a thought-provoking exhibit about Buffalo...
Vince Bzdek
Reporter
20 years after Fort Carson soldier’s death, family seeks answers
Mary Shinn
mary-shinn@denvergazette.com
Updated 3 hours ago
Amber Stone reported her husband missing on Valentine’s Day 20 years ago. A week later he was found in a sewage treatment pond on Fort Carson. Stone is certain her husband, Joseph Eric Barker, didn’t walk barefoot across Fort Carson...
Mary Shinn
Reporter
PHOTOS: Lunar New Year at the Far East Center
Stephen Swofford
stephen-swofford@denvergazette.com
Updated 1 day ago
Stephen Swofford
Reporter
Colorado Medicaid probe uncovers millions of dollars in alleged transport fraud ring
Nicole C. Brambila nico.brambila@denvergazette.com
nico.brambila@denvergazette.com
Updated 7 hours ago
Colorado Medicaid officials detected $25 million in abnormal billing over just four months two years ago — a surge that prompted a new state law and the suspension of dozens of providers in what authorities now describe as an organized...
Greeley voters to decide fate of project that includes minor league hockey arena
Hap Fry, Special to The Gazette
hap-fry@gazette.com
Updated 57 minutes ago
GREELEY • The fate of the Cascadia development — and quite possibly the future direction of the city — is in the hands of Greeley voters this Tuesday during a special city election on whether the landscape-altering project should be...
Hap Fry, Special to The Gazette
Reporter
PREV
PREVIOUS
As Denver Pavilions and Sports Castle start new eras, so does Gart Properties with next generation
Gart Properties, a Denver real estate venture tied to a century-old family business, is entering a new era. The Gart Companies named Evan Gart, 34, as president of Gart Properties. Gart, who is the great-grandson of its founder Nathan Gart, has worked at the company for nine years. The Gart family business dates back to […]
Aurora police arrest suspect in arson case after several fires in cars, apartments
Aurora police arrested an arson suspect Tuesday morning in a case involving a series of fires last week. Aurora Police Department officers arrested Michael Anthony Lopez, 30, on multiple charges of arson, including second and fourth-degree arson, according to a news release. Lopez is in custody at the Aurora Municipal Detention Center on $50,000 bond […]