The cities could actually charge for access to an api with this data. It would be a new revenue stream for transportation departments and allow for front end viewing to be open to the free market. I'd gladly pay for an app that consisted of OSM with a transit data layer and a strict privacy policy.
I'd be okay requesting the entire map of a region from the front end service to cache and doing the computation with geolocation on my local device.
And they have an app for checking bus locations and buying tickets, and it's free.
I think the API is great for enabling integrations, but I really hope they keep their existing apps. There's no reason end users shouldn't be able to get the data directly from RTD, and they definitely shouldn't be forced into using a sleazy company like Uber.
Charging anything for information about public services is ridiculous. If there is one thing public services should be able to do is to make it as easy as possible for all consumers to be as informed as possible.
I'd be okay requesting the entire map of a region from the front end service to cache and doing the computation with geolocation on my local device.