About Friends of YVRTA

Friends of the Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority (Friends of YVRTA) is a citizen-led committee. In 2025 we campaigned for the vote that formed the Yampa Valley RTA, and it passed in all six communities with 81% support. This fall we are campaigning for RTA Ballot Issue 7A, the half-percent sales tax that funds it.

We are workers, business owners, parents, and retirees from across the valley, joined by volunteers who agree on one thing: how far you can get should not depend on whether there is a car available that day.

Our purpose is to:

• Make the case for RTA Ballot Issue 7A, plainly and accurately
• Read the packets, show up at the Authority's board meetings, and carry what we hear back to the people making the decisions
• Keep the valley informed on transportation, on this ballot and after it

What we did in 2025

We made the case for forming the RTA at more than nine community events across the region, from Rotary and Casey's Pond to Ballots and Brews nights in Steamboat, Oak Creek, and Craig, and at public hearings in every member community. Voters approved formation on November 4, 2025, 9,400 to 2,178. That vote created the Authority. Now is the chance to sustainably fund it.

Why we are different

We are not a government agency or a transit provider. We are independent of the Authority and of every elected official on its board; we do not coordinate with them, and they see our materials when voters do. We work on ballot issues only, never candidates. We are a registered Colorado issue committee.

Who we are

Luke Philips, organizer, along with Matt · Michael · Laraine · Paige and many more of your neighbors and friends in the Yampa Valley.

Want to join us, have us speak to your group, or ask a question? Send us an email.