In November 2000, The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority was created by voters in seven jurisdictions within the Roaring Fork Valley. Its predecessor, the Roaring Fork Transit Agency, was created in 1993 by means of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Aspen and Pitkin County, who merged their separate transit systems in order to achieve economies of scale.

In 2001 the Roaring Fork Railroad Holding Authority (RFRHA) was merged into RFTA. RFRHA was created in 1993 by the same constituent governments as RFTA, in order to acquire 34 miles of the Rio Grande Railroad corridor in the Roaring Fork Valley, which it purchased in 1997. The corridor was assumed by RFTA, which is preserving it for a future mass transit system and, in the interim, is using it for a recreational trail. In 2002, the Roaring Fork Transit Agency was also merged into RFTA along with its employees and equipment.

Initial members included the communities of Aspen, Snowmass Village, Pitkin County, Basalt, a portion of Eagle County in the Roaring Fork Valley, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs.  In 2005, residents of the Town of New Castle voted to join RFTA. RFTA is primarily funded by dedicated sales taxes levied in each of its member jurisdictions that were approved by voters.

RFTA has received numerous awards, including the “Best Mass Transit System of North America” by Mass Transit Magazine and the best “Large Transit Agency of the Year” from Colorado Association of Transit Agencies.  In 2012, RFTA received the White House Champions of Change Transportation Innovator Award. In 2014, RFTA received the Federal Transit Administrator’s Outstanding Public Service Award and a SHIFT Sustainability Award.

RFTA is the second largest transit system in Colorado, the largest rural transit system in the U.S., and the first rural transit agency to construct and operate a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. VelociRFTA BRT began operation in September 2013.  In 2014, in its first full year of operation, VelociRFTA transported 827,000 passengers.

In 2016, RFTA started assessing regional transit/transportation needs via the Integrated Transportation System Plan (ITSP) and Upper Valley Mobility Study (UVMS). In 2018, the ITSP planning process catalyzed a new public-friendly regional improvements package, branded as Destination 2040. The RFTA Board and Staff, equipped with targeted polling and survey data, agreed to refer a 2.65 mill levy property tax question to regional voters in RFTA’s eight member jurisdictions. On November 2, 2018, eligible voters approved Ballot Question 7A with 11,364 votes in favor and 10,362 votes against; an approval margin of 52 to 48 percent. The additional property tax revenue will help RFTA maintain and improve its services, infrastructure, and equipment, while reducing its reliance on inadequate and uncertain State and Federal grants.