RTD is planning to replace Routes 15 and 15L with a new "Lynx BRT" in January 2027. While dedicated bus lanes sound like an improvement, here's what's actually happening: they're eliminating the most-used bus route in the entire RTD network — one that seniors, low-income riders, immigrants, and people with disabilities depend on every single day.

And most riders don't even know. RTD barely communicated this. No announcements on the buses, no multilingual outreach to the communities along Colfax, just a few papers in a few buildings. Most riders think the 15 is just moving to the middle lanes. They have no idea it's being eliminated entirely. I'm an active rider who follows RTD closely and I barely found out myself.

Then construction started with virtually no warning. One day normal, next day chaos — stops gone, shelters torn up, benches removed. Riders with disabilities, low vision, and language barriers were left to figure it out on their own.

Here's what else RTD isn't telling you:

— Lynx stops are more spaced out than the 15. That means longer walks in Colorado winters for elderly riders, disabled riders, and anyone who lives or works between stops.

— Lynx is not a local route — it's an express route. Call it what it is: a 15X. But there's no local 15 left behind it. RTD is eliminating local service on Colfax entirely and calling it an upgrade.

— Lynx is designed to attract choice riders with aesthetics and speed. But the people on the 15 aren't there because it looks nice. They're there because they have no other option. A prettier bus that's harder to use is not an improvement. Choice riders don't avoid the 15 because of the bus — they avoid it because of Colfax. The shirtless guy doing yoga outside the 7/11 will still be there. Lynx won't change that.

— If Lynx fails at launch, there is no fallback. The 15 &15L will already be gone. RTD's ridership is already a third below pre-pandemic levels. They cannot afford to gamble the most used route in their network with nothing to fall back on. Ridership drops mean less fare revenue, which means more cuts, which means even fewer riders. It's a death spiral.

— It's actually cheaper to keep both running. The 15 and 15L infrastructure already exists. Routes are coded, drivers are trained, buses are in the fleet. The marginal cost of running them alongside Lynx is minimal compared to the cost of shutting them down, retraining, renotifying, and managing the accessibility complaints that will follow.

— The 15 isn't just a route — it's one of the oldest and most trusted in the system. The number matches Colfax's coordinate grid (1500 North). That's intuitive and helps riders learn the city. Replacing it with "Lynx" erases that logic. Numbers and letters are universal. "Lynx" is not.

— RTD has proven it can make smart decisions. They kept Route 37 alive — weekdays only, hourly — because it serves a need. They cut truly useless routes like 41L and 157. The 15 & 15L work. They're choosing to eliminate it anyway.

— Lynx is only being built on the east leg of Colfax — from Broadway to Yosemite — the part that's already less congested. If this is truly about making Colfax faster, why aren't they building it on the whole of Colfax instead of just a fraction? This isn't about speed. It's about branding on the easiest stretch to build.

— This isn't about Denver only. Aurora riders get left behind too. Lynx gets dedicated lanes and priority in Denver. In Aurora, it's just a rebranded bus with less familiarity and no real BRT features. But the 15 and 15L are being eliminated everywhere.

— An example of the 15 & 15L riders  is My Mom.  My mother is an Iraqi immigrant with limited English. The 15 and 15L are the only routes she knows. If Lynx replaces them, she cannot ride alone. I would have to go with her every time. RTD isn't just changing a bus route — they're taking away her independence. Thousands of riders like her will be left behind.

I'm not asking RTD to cancel Lynx. I'm asking them to run both. Keep Lynx as the express option for riders who want speed. Keep the 15 and 15L as local & limited routes for the riders who need them. More options. Better coverage. No one gets left behind.

Other cities run BRT and local bus on the same corridor. Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Portland. Denver already has better transit than most comparable cities. There is no excuse not to do the same here.

If you ride the 15, depend on it, or know someone who does — please sign and share. This affects thousands of real people who don't even know it's happening yet.