The downtown Denver Broncos celebration last week led to a huge boost of ridership for the Regional Transportation District.
The district's entire bus-and-rail system rose an unprecedented 28 percent over the agency's typical weekday travel — a drive powered by Broncos fans who wanted to avoid traffic congestion on streets and highways as they made to the celebratory parade along 17th Street and Broadway and a rally at Civic Center Park.
On an average weekday, RTD logs about 320,000 passenger boardings trains or buses, but that number surged to 409,000 on Feb. 9 for the Broncos celebration, including trips on 16th Street Mall free shuttle and the Free Metro Ride.