Editing RTC Transit (section)

=== 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.