The Regional Transportation District has bolstered its ability to remove non-riders from its vehicles and facilities in response to disruptive and illegal behavior, particularly at Denver Union Station.

“It has become a bit overwhelming,” chief safety and security officer Mike Meader told the board on April 14. At that committee meeting, interim general manager Paul Ballard listed a range of security problems in recent weeks.

“Easter Sunday itself was really sad. We had a robbery at Union Station,” he said. “We had multiple calls on Easter Sunday for EMS to deal with multiple people with alcohol-induced unconsciousness. We had multiple buses taken out of service on Easter Sunday for urine decontamination, for vomit decontamination.”

Ballard added that another individual who came onto RTD property was wanted for a crime and subsequently arrested. The person had paperwork stating that they had tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in RTD officers seeking medical attention.

Under the revisions to the code of conduct, the pre-pandemic two-hour occupancy limit for RTD facilities is replaced with a statement that use of RTD property is reserved for travel-related purposes and that the agency may use discretion in removing people after they were asked to leave. There are further restrictions on camping and storing property, sitting on RTD premises, and occupying vehicles while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The code also bans sleeping where it creates a hazard or interferes with RTD operations. “It’s just a good rule of thumb to not allow it,” said Robert Grado, the agency’s police chief. He added that some people have died while sleeping on RTD vehicles.

RTD’s code of conduct dates to 2016 and was intended to regulate behavior on agency property. The code permits RTD to bar individuals from riding the system or removing them from RTD property for violations.

At the April 21 board meeting, directors voted 10-5 to adopt the changes. Directors Claudia L. Folska, Shontel M. Lewis, Judy Lubow, Natalie Menten and Ken Mihalik voted against.

Lubow, at the previous meeting, called some of the changes “overreaching.” She singled out the violation generated by remaining at an RTD facility after being asked to leave.

“That to me is so overly broad and filled with too much discretion for abuse that I’m not comfortable with it,” she said. “I would prefer to see something that would give restrictions on that completely unrestricted piece of authority, such as being asked to leave for violations of this code or the criminal code or not being interested in using transit.”

The board amended that provision as Lubow requested. The modification did not go as far as Menten wished, who observed that she “will look forward to being the plaintiff to sue RTD for First Amendment violations.”

The decision also included granting the general manager the ability to change the code of conduct on his own during declared national or state emergencies. The board would have 14 days to ratify the changes. Folska bristled at this feature, saying authority should remain with the board on all changes.

“I would not be comfortable passing the authority of this board to anyone other than the elected people of this board,” she said. “This is our job.”

Meader clarified that even though these changes are occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are a long-term solution to longstanding problems. They will emphasize that RTD’s infrastructure, in particular Union Station, is not designed for people who have intentions other than using public transportation. RTD reported nearly six calls daily to transit police about the bus concourse alone in January.

“We saw the need to make sure that we put some language in there that would again focus on the facility being used for transit services,” he said.

In a related adjustment, the board also deleted the guideline generally proscribing non-disabled passengers from using equipment intended for those with disabilities and replaced it with a prohibition on obstructing disabled riders’ access to such features.