Bus Information and Updates

For the Summer 23 term, enrolled students will have their entire Transit Pass Fee waived. We've made the decision to waive this fee for a multitude of reasons such as lower than anticipated contract prices with RTD, a likely Fare Free period from our State legislatures, and smart card system updates.

Transit passes will also remain active during the Summer 23 term for students who were enrolled and fee-paying during the Spring 22 term. This includes summer term graduate student employees and those that graduated in the Spring 22 term.

Please be patient as we work through the administrative challanges of waiving this fee and smart card managament. If you have further questions or encounter problems with your card, please let us know at buspass@colorado.edu

Please don't submit a waiver request for the Summer 23 term as this will be waived automatically through the Bursar's office. For those wishing to waive their fee in future terms, please see this website for eligibility requirements on refunding your Bus Pass Fee through the Environmental Center's Bus and Bike Program.

First please look at their card to make sure there is no damage to the card (hole punched, been washed, chewed up, gouged, bent or cracked) that would cause the card to need to be replaced.

Once you have verified that there is no damage, please make sure you are properly tapping your card: 

- To tap you must hold their card flat against the validator for a count of three. 

- Swiping a card will cause it to be “Invalid” since the system can’t read the card.

- A card will tap “Invalid” if tapped twice within 4 minutes and the screen will show “Card Already Tapped” this is a built in feature to prevent people from passing their card back.

- Sometimes tapping a card while it is in a wallet or up against another type of card or in a plastic sleeve can cause “Invalid” please tap card by itself.

The most common problems that we deal with include cards not assigned to the correct user, deactivated cards, and defective cards. The Buff OneCard office isn't able to research student card issues e-mail buspass@colorado.edu instead. Pass Issuance and Replacement RTD College Passes are issued to incoming students upon move-in. If you need a bus pass and are a fee paying student, visit the Buff OneCard office in C4C. If you lost your card they can replace it for $10.

Let us help you out. Just email buspass@colorado.edu with your name and Bus Pass # (starts with 00xxxxxx). We will take it from there and let you know once we get it repaired. We want to make sure you can ride hassle free and as often as you want!

To reduce the stress and expense of traveling remember that your bus pass will get you to DIA. Unlike most previous semesters, RTD is very short staffed and unable to ramp up their service during the peak student travel days. To keep your stress level low catch an earlier bus than you think you'll need and then have th bus drop you off at the front doors of the airport.  Save your time and money and let RTD Sky Ride drive you to the airport!

CU Boulder is partnering with Transit for real-time tracking of Buff Buses including the late-night routes. Riders can receive alerts for Buff Bus route changes/detours in real time. This will help riders consolidate their transportation needs, making Buff Bus tracking available on an app riders already use to track other services like RTD, the Hop and B-Cycle.

Download the Transit app (and select Buff Bus in your settings) for real time Buff Bus information including real-time arrival predictions, simple trip planning, service alerts and more.

Get Transit on Google Play or in the Apple Store. 

We strive to give our customers; the Students, Faculty, and Staff of CU, the option to easily be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Active tranport (walking, biking, skating, skiing, etc..) and other sustainable modes of transportation (public transit and carpooling) are promoted because of their significant positive impacts on the environment, mental and physical health, economy, social equity, and heck it's way more fun. By use of these modes of transportation we can become a more sustainable campus without making major sacrifices. To the right are various modes of transportation that we support; try to find out which mode is best suitable for your lifestyle and needs. Your student bus pass also gets you discounts around town. Check out the Ecopass website for a list of shops and restarants around town that give discounts when you show your bus pass.