The state and regional transit and transportation landscape have been the site of some of Confluence’s most consequential work, from RTD governance reform that spent years in gridlock to front range passenger rail negotiations to the state’s largest infrastructure funding effort in half a century. The same methodology. Different rooms.
RTD governance recommendations codified in legislation
Vote on governance restructuring reversed one week after initial failure
Months of passenger rail IGA negotiations
Transit governance reform in Colorado had been discussed for years without resolution. RTD’s fully elected board structure, one of only three in the country, had produced chronic accountability gaps and a pattern of decisions that prioritized board members’ political interests over system performance. Legislation alone had not moved it.
In 2025, SB25-161 created the RTD Accountability Committee, a 15-member body charged with examining RTD governance, paratransit, workforce, and local government collaboration. Confluence was selected to design and facilitate the process. Over five months, the committee worked through a structured sequence: grounding members in shared understanding before generating ideas, surfacing evidence before weighing proposals, and building toward consensus before voting.
A governance recommendation that initially failed to reach the required supermajority was later adopted 11–2 after additional deliberation. The committee’s 31 recommendations, including a restructured nine-member hybrid board, were codified in SB26-150, which passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor. The legislative declaration cited the committee’s process and the role of a neutral facilitator verbatim.
RTD Accountability Committee, Final Report
The Clean Transit Enterprise is an unusual institution: a dedicated-revenue enterprise within CDOT with statutory independence, a small staff, and a mandate to deliver measurable climate outcomes through a complex network of transit agency partners across Colorado. CTE derives its revenues from two sources — the Clean Transit Retail Delivery Fee, which funds the Transit ZEV Program, and the Oil and Gas Production Fee, which funds formula and discretionary grants for transit service expansion and a passenger rail program.
Confluence’s relationship with CTE began in 2025 after passage of SB25-230. Working with CTE Director Craig Secrest, Confluence designed the formula grant program structure, the application process, and the stakeholder engagement plan for rollout. Weekly sessions with eligible transit agencies across Colorado were managed and facilitated by Confluence throughout the application period. The engagement reached transit agencies and local governments across the state and built the stakeholder foundation for the program’s first grant rounds.
In 2026, CTE retained Confluence to lead the development of the enterprise’s first five-year strategic plan and to serve as an ongoing thought partner to the Director and Board. The engagement began with a full-day Board retreat in March 2026, designed to surface strategic priorities, stress-test program assumptions, and establish the foundation for the plan. The retreat produced alignment on five candidate strategic goals and substantive Board input on the harder questions: the appropriate balance between CTE’s role as a funding partner versus a more direct accountability-focused enterprise, the strategic direction of the Transit ZEV Program in a shifting federal environment, and how CTE should measure and communicate program outcomes.
Confluence is leading the drafting of the FY2026-FY2030 Strategic Plan, working iteratively with the Director. The plan is organized around five strategic goals, each with short, mid, and five-year objectives, and is designed as a living document with structured review cycles intended to provide continuity through changes in state administration and legislative leadership.
Full strategic planning entry on the Strategic Planning page.
2025 · Formula grant design and stakeho engagement
2026 · Strategic planning and general co
Stakeholder engagement design · Webinar
facilitation · Eligible applicant outreach
Following passage of legislation to advance front range passenger rail service in Colorado, a Special Advisor to the Governor asked Confluence President Berrick Abramson to serve as lead facilitator for negotiations toward an intergovernmental agreement among the key parties: the Governor’s Office, CDOT, the Regional Transportation District, and the Front Range Passenger Rail District.
After more than eight months of facilitated discussions, the principals reached agreement on an IGA. Abramson also led presentations on the project to the boards of multiple transit and transportation bodies and to municipal organizations including the Colorado Municipal League, the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and the Metro Caucus of Mayors.
Months of facilitated intergovernmental
negotiations
Governor’s Office · CDOT · RTD · Front Range
Passenger Rail District
Executed intergovernmental agreement · Presentations to multiple boards and municipal bodies
At the request of the Executive Directors of CDOT and the Senior Advisor to the Governor and Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Abramson convened and facilitated a multi-meeting series on the future of transit and rail in Colorado.
Those meetings created the framework and coalition of support for SB24-194 and other associated legislation, and established the foundation for the ongoing effort to develop front range passenger rail service in Colorado.
CDOT Executive Director · Senior Advisor to Governor · OEDIT
Framework and coalition for SB24-194 · Foundation for front range passenger rail effort
At the request of Governor Polis and his Chief of Staff, Abramson developed a plan, managed logistics, and facilitated a working group to examine the state’s transportation funding needs and strategies.
The common ground produced through the working group laid the foundation for legislation and a ballot initiative that represented the largest investment in state infrastructure in half a century.
Governor Polis · Chief of Staff
Legislation and ballot initiative · Largest state infrastructure investment in fifty years
The legislative declaration cited the committee’s process and the role of a neutral facilitator verbatim.
SB26-150 · RTD Accountability Committee
State agency leaders, Governor’s offices, county governments, and organizations navigating problems that have resisted every standard approach reach out directly. The engagement starts with a conversation.
CO · NC · FL · National
