Editing RTC Transit (section)

== History ==

=== Las Vegas Transit ===
The privately owned [[Las Vegas Transit]] System, Inc. ("LVT") provided bus service on the streets of Las Vegas for more than 40 years. LVT service mainly consisted of loop routes that made many turns throughout the city, sometimes doubling back on its own routes and making several "subloops" within a loop. At one point, LVT was named America's worst transit system.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTCSNV or RTC) was formed in 1965 by state legislation to oversee federally-mandated transportation planning in Clark County. Under pressure by the county and state, and by order of the state court, the company was ordered to cease operations except on Route 6-The Strip and relinquish all its city-owned buses to the Regional Transportation Commission of Clark County as of November 15, 1992. LVT and its successors continued to operate service in competition with Citizens Area Transit until about 2005.

=== Citizens Area Transit era (1992–2008) ===
[[File:Citizens Area Transit logo.png|thumb|left|Logo for Citizens Area Transit from 1992–2008]]
[[File:RTC Transit bus.jpg|thumb|right|A typical CAT bus with the original teal and magenta livery used from 1992 to 2001]]
Citizens Area Transit ("CAT") was formed by the RTC to provide reliable bus service to the cities of [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[North Las Vegas, Nevada|North Las Vegas]], [[Henderson, Nevada|Henderson]], [[Las Vegas Township]], [[Mesquite, Nevada|Mesquite]], and [[Laughlin, Nevada|Laughlin]]. The system began on November 15, 1992 under the direction of Kurt Weinrich, its general manager. Initially the old LVT routes were operated unchanged except for route 6–The Strip, which LVT still retained. The system was totally reconfigured and Strip service begun December 5, 1992. The fleet consisted of mostly old vehicles such as [[Flxible]] Grummans, [[Rapid Transit Series|GMC RTSs]], [[Rapid Transit Series|TMC RTSs]] and [[Gillig]] Phantoms. They had also purchased 90 new [[New Flyer Industries|New Flyer D40HFs]]. The initial route structure was soon seen as deficient and second complete revision was made in June on 1993. Soon after, CAT began to catch on with the city and blossomed. In 1997, the [[American Public Transportation Association]] awarded CAT with their highest honor, Best Transit System in America (within its category). However, things began to change in the following years. In 2002, The [[Amalgamated Transit Union]] and the bus contractor, ATC, began contract renewal negotiations, but the two sides were unable to reach a compromise on operators' wages and in May of that year, CAT suffered its first [[Strike action|strike]]. Several drivers walked off the job and onto the picket lines, and service had to be suspended on several routes. Coach operators from sister agencies were called in to drive the buses and serve the city before a settlement was reached.

[[File:Citizens Area Transit MAX "Metropolitan Area Express" (7398003208).jpg|thumb|right|Irisbus Civis near Fremont Street (2012)]]
In 2004, CAT received its first shipment of 10 [[Iveco Bus|Irisbus Civis]] [[bus rapid transit]] (BRT) vehicles from [[Iveco Bus|Irisbus]]. These buses served on the new [[Metropolitan Area Express BRT Line|Metropolitan Area Express]] (MAX) route, which serves [[Nellis Air Force Base]] via [[Las Vegas Boulevard|North Las Vegas Boulevard]]. RTC was a member of the BRT Consortium organized by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in 1999. North Las Vegas Boulevard had been restriped in spring 2000, which converted what had been a breakdown lane into a dedicated transit lane; RTC subsequently applied for a federal grant in 2002 under the Bus Rapid Transit Initiative. The Civis featured an optical guidance system (OGS) to automate docking at level-boarding platforms, similar to a light-rail system; however, the OGS proved to be unreliable in service due to the difficulty of maintaining pavement markings. Revenue service on MAX started on June 30, 2004; ridership increased by 25% by the end of 2004, and end-to-end travel times were cut approximately in half, from 50 to 25 minutes.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/Las_vegas_final_report.pdf |title=Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Express Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Demonstration Project |date=August 2005 |author=Booz Allen Hamilton |publisher=Federal Transit Administration |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref>

A year later, CAT received its first shipment of 50 [[Alexander Dennis Enviro500|double decker buses]] from [[Alexander Dennis]]. As new vehicles arrived, the RTC started a vehicle replacement program and began to retire its older CAT fleet. In March 2007, CAT received its first shipment of 30 Diesel-Electric Hybrid vehicles from [[New Flyer Industries|New Flyer]]. Later that year, an additional 40 double deck vehicles from Alexander Dennis arrived, and the RTC unveiled a new rapid transit system which uses the new Diesel-Hybrid RTV Streetcar from [[Wrightbus|Wright Group]]. The first line was called the '''"Gold Line"''', which serviced the downtown and strip corridors.

=== RTC Transit era (present) ===
[[File:RTC Transit LOGO.PNG|thumb|125px|left|Current logo]]
In late 2007, the RTC began to rebrand the Citizens Area Transit system as '''RTC Transit'''.  The [[New Flyer Industries|New Flyer]] 900 series coaches were the last to be purchased with the CAT logo, and the first to be purchased with the RTC logo. The CAT bus stop signs around the city were replaced by "Transit Stop" signs using the RTC logo. All rider alerts, bus announcements, bus books, and new [[North American Bus Industries|NABI]] Hybrid, [[North American Bus Industries|NABI]] Diesel and [[New Flyer Industries|New Flyer]] [[Compressed natural gas|CNG]] buses no longer use the CAT logo.

The RTC received 50 [[North American Bus Industries|NABI]] vehicles and the final shipment of 40 42&nbsp;ft "Deuce" double-deck buses in summer 2008. The RTC also began to receive 45 [[New Flyer Industries|New Flyer]] [[Compressed natural gas|CNG]] vehicles in late fall 2008. The rebranding was completed on January 1, 2009 when RTC vehicles started featuring "RTC TRANSIT" along with the normal route destination headers.  All remaining CAT buses are in the process of retirement or being refurbished to the new RTC gold/blue livery.

In 2007, nine RTC executives received pay raises which averaged 22%. The raises were based on the findings of a consultant, Peter Ronza, who was once employed by Clark County.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

The RTC faced serious legal issues in 2008 after several car accidents involving bus shelters occurred. The public demanded that the RTC improve the safety of its shelters, while the RTC stated that there was only so much they could do. The RTC created a Bus Shelter Advisory Committee, and made studies concerning bus stop safety.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}
[[File:BRT Las Vegas 08 2010 289.jpg|thumb|RTC express [[bus rapid transit|BRT]] line in Las Vegas]]
In 2009, the RTC raised bus fares despite public outcry. In 2009 and 2010, proposed bus fares increased from 62% for monthly passes to 100% for full day fare passes. The RTC argued that the fare hikes were due to higher fuel costs, however the largest increase in transit expenditures came from a tripling in capital outlays, rising from $54.5 million in 2007 to $162.9 million in 2009. The price for thirty-day bus passes increased 225% from 1999 to 2010. Ridership was at an all-time high in 2008 due to the very high gas prices, with many people deciding to try transit instead. Ridership numbers declined in 2009 when fuel prices dropped and riders either returned to their own vehicles or began carpooling with co-workers and family.

In January 2010, RTC introduced the '''ACE''' branding for its bus rapid transit offerings. The first ACE route was the ACE Gold Line, connecting downtown Las Vegas, the [[Las Vegas Convention Center]], the Strip, and the South Strip Transfer Terminal. In addition, ACExpress was introduced as branding for its express bus service, with an express bus line connecting the Centennial Hills neighborhood northwest of the city with downtown Las Vegas, the Center Strip, and [[UNLV]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lvrj.com/special_sections/guide_to_lasvegas/50802252.html |newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal |title=RTC to launch new ACE rapid transit services in January |date=July 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007022024/http://www.lvrj.com/special_sections/guide_to_lasvegas/50802252.html |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In May 2010, RTC rebranded its lines away from the "ACE" name due to a lawsuit from Ace Cab, a local Las Vegas taxi operator; ACE Gold became the Strip and Downtown Express (SDX); ACExpress became Centennial Express (CX), and ACE Green became the Boulder Highway Express (BHX)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/17/lawsuit-prompts-rtc-drop-ace-name-bus-lines/ |newspaper=Las Vegas Sun |title=Lawsuit prompts RTC to drop 'ACE' name from bus lines |author=Green, Steve |date=August 17, 2010}}</ref>

The [[Institute for Transportation and Development Policy]] (ITDP), under its [[BRT Standard]], has classified the Strip and Downtown Express as a "Basic BRT" corridor.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/best-practices-2013/ | title = BRT Rankings | date = 2020 | publisher = [[Institute for Transportation and Development Policy]] | access-date = April 26, 2020 }}</ref> The SDX was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not return.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-18 |title=RTC to suspend Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Express bus route |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/traffic/rtc-to-suspend-las-vegas-strip-and-downtown-express-bus-route-1985079/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Future ===
In 2018, RTC began examining the possibility of installing [[light rail]] or enhanced bus rapid transit service along high-ridership routes, particularly the Maryland Parkway corridor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Panel likes light rail line linking key Las Vegas facilities |url=http://news3lv.com/news/local/panel-likes-light-rail-line-linking-key-las-vegas-facilities |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=News3LV |date=8 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Marroquin |first1=Art |title=North Las Vegas leaders envision light-rail line |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/news-columns/road-warrior/north-las-vegas-leaders-envision-light-rail-line/ |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=Las Vegas Review Journal |date=25 June 2018}}</ref> Subsequently, the Federal Transit Administration awarded the RTC $150 million to upgrade Route 109 to a BRT with 7.2 miles of bus/bike lanes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-01 |title=Maryland Parkway bus rapid transit project gets a big boost |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/traffic/maryland-parkway-bus-rapid-transit-project-gets-a-big-boost-3026853/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>