The race to represent Boulder on the RTD board has become surprisingly contentious, with disputes over missing campaign signs and pointed exchanges on social media. The two candidates, Jack Rosenthal and Audrey DeBarros, bring different backgrounds to the race as the agency faces a major budget shortfall and prepares for passenger rail service to Boulder.
Rosenthal is a software engineer and transit advocate who helped draft the Transit Access Bill and says he has taken more than 800 RTD bus rides in the past year. DeBarros is the longtime executive director of Commuting Solutions, a nonprofit focused on improving transportation options in the northwest Denver metro area, where she has helped advance major bus and bikeway projects along U.S. 36 and CO 119.
Get to know Rosenthal and DeBarros.
Boulder’s next representative on the Regional Transportation District (RTD) board will help shape the agency’s direction as it confronts declining ridership, service cuts and a major budget deficit, all while preparing for the proposed Colorado Connector (CoCo) passenger train linking Boulder, Denver and Fort Collins.
RTD provides bus and rail service to the Denver metro area, covering eight counties and serving a region of about 3 million people. Its 15-member board approves the agency’s budget — the proposed 2027 budget totals about $1.34 billion, with a projected $148 million shortfall.
The board also shapes policy decisions, authorizes major route changes and oversees RTD leadership, including hiring the next CEO.
Rosenthal and DeBarros are competing to represent District O, which includes Boulder, Louisville, Superior and western Boulder County.
Their campaigns reflect competing visions of what the board needs.
“You look at the board today, and I would say that two board members out of 15 authentically rely on RTD to get everywhere. The remainder take RTD when it’s convenient for them to do so,” Rosenthal said. “That’s great, but we need folks representing us who are authentic riders themselves.”
“I actually have transportation planning, implementation, advocacy, public policy experience. I’ve had the good fortune of working with our local governments, RTD, CDOT, the Denver Regional Council of Governments to implement major investments in our region,” DeBarros said. “Great ideas are wonderful, but I’m the only candidate who knows how to actually get things done.”
The winner will serve a two-year term, earning $12,000 annually. Typically, RTD directors serve four-year terms, but these terms are shorter to accommodate major structural changes approved this year that will reduce the board from 15 elected directors to nine members, including four appointed by the governor.
The race has also taken a personal turn. Rosenthal said he found some of his campaign yard signs in a dumpster and suggested in a social media post that DeBarros and the “political establishment” were behind it. DeBarros said she knew nothing about the missing signs.
Rosenthal also created a campaign video responding to a critical comment from DeBarros’ husband, Rob DeBarros, who questioned Rosenthal’s Colorado roots, knowledge and experience, even asking whether he knew “what the letters RTD stand for.”
Rob DeBarros also asked whether Rosenthal had “some kind of bromance” with RTD.
Rosenthal responded to the questions in the video, laughing at the suggestion of a bromance.
“While I do love RTD, I love my husband even more,” he answered.
A budget crisis and the promise of passenger rail
RTD has struggled with its budget since 2020, when pandemic-era travel restrictions reduced ridership and revenue. The agency cut $140 million from its 2021 budget, laid off about 400 employees and cut service to 60% of pre-pandemic levels.
Federal Covid-19 relief funds helped sustain service for several years, but when that funding expired in 2024, the agency faced a $282 million deficit. RTD has since reduced the shortfall to $148 million through measures that include cutting some bus and rail services and proposing to eliminate 80 positions from next year’s budget.
About 70% of RTD’s funding comes from a 1% sales tax in its Denver metro service area. The agency also receives funding from state and federal grants and fare revenues.
The financial challenges come alongside concerns about service quality. A 2025 RTD accountability report identified unreliable service, declining fare revenue, stagnant ridership and perceptions of poor safety as major challenges.
Meanwhile, the agency is preparing for a project Boulder residents have awaited for decades: passenger rail. RTD is partnering with the state on the Colorado Connector, a proposed passenger rail service that would initially run three trains daily between Denver and Fort Collins beginning in 2029. A measure on this year’s ballot could add more frequent trains and extend the route south to Pueblo.
Get to know Jack Rosenthal: A rider’s perspective
Rosenthal said he has been taking public transit all his life and even met his husband, Bo, on Boulder’s BOUND bus. He got involved in transit advocacy in 2020, when RTD sharply cut service during the pandemic.
“I actually bought a car in 2020 because I had to,” he said. (He’s since sold it.)
“One of the most frustrating things that you can have as an RTD rider is when you dedicate yourself to riding it everywhere you want to go, and it’s not going to get you there when you need to get there,” he said, citing poor service as a reason ridership has fallen since the service cuts. “If we want people to actually ride, we need to see that the service works for them.”
The cuts prompted Rosenthal to learn about RTD’s governance structure and begin advocating both on his own and with the transit advocacy group Greater Denver Transit.
He successfully advocated for a policy banning advertising wraps that obscure bus windows, so passengers can see outside. He also opposed a proposed 2027 budget that would have cut service by 20% while spending more than $500 million to replace RTD’s buses with diesel vehicles. The final budget proposal reduced service cuts to 7%.
Rosenthal also helped state Rep. Junie Joseph draft and pass the Transit Access Bill, which called for clearer transit maps and expanded language access on RTD signage. That bill grew out of a coffee meeting with Joseph, where they developed a list of top priorities to improve transit. Also on the list were partner passes and low-income fares statewide.
Rosenthal has earned endorsements from Joseph, along with Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, state Sen. Judy Amabile, the Boulder Progressives and labor groups including ATU Local 1001, which represents RTD operators and mechanics. Greater Denver Transit has also endorsed him.
If elected, Rosenthal said his top three priorities would be advancing the CoCo train, restoring direct bus service for major events like Sundance, the BOLDERBoulder and Broncos games, and growing ridership by providing services people want, including more frequent airport shuttles.
Get to know Audrey DeBarros: Decades of transportation experience
DeBarros has been the executive director of Commuting Solutions for more than 20 years. Before that, she worked in marketing, including in government positions. DeBarros said she was drawn to transportation advocacy because transportation affects everyone.
“It is foundational to my purpose to help people,” she said.
During her time at Commuting Solutions, DeBarros was part of the team that planned the redesign of U.S. 36, including new express lanes, a bikeway and the Flatiron Flyer bus service.
A decade ago, she also formed a coalition involving Longmont, Boulder, Boulder County, RTD and CDOT to pursue $160 million for improvements to CO 119, including a new bikeway and Diagonal Flyer bus service.
“I was a part of all the advocacy for that, including a $25 million federal grant that is being used to construct safety and multimodal improvements to the Hover and 119 intersection,” she said. “So I just have deep experience working at all levels of government to achieve our goals and dreams.”
DeBarros is endorsed by Rep. Joe Neguse and several current or former RTD board members, including current District O director Lynn Guissinger; Boulder Chamber CEO and former RTD vice chair John Tayer; former RTD chair and Louisville Mayor Chuck Sisk; and current RTD Chair Patrick O’Keefe.
Her top three policy priorities are improving RTD’s fiscal sustainability; advancing RTD Connect, an ongoing planning process that gathers feedback from residents and stakeholders; and restoring a program that allowed local governments to pay for more frequent bus service for their residents, which RTD discontinued during the pandemic.
