RTC says impact of bus cuts will be minimal

Monday, Dec. 2, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

People also can submit comments over the phone at 228-7433.

The Regional Transportation Commission says its plans to cut bus routes in the Las Vegas Valley will hurt few of the thousands who use the system daily.

But those who depend on the targeted routes, now scheduled to end Jan. 26, will feel the loss.

"There doesn't seem to be any other way to get from my home to where I go shopping," said Donna Stark, a regular rider on Route 219, which runs along Craig Road from Las Vegas Boulevard to Tenaya Way.

Stark, retired and surviving on a fixed disability income, has alternatives. She could use the paratransit service the RTC provides for people with disabilities.

But to save a few dollars a day, she takes the regular bus service, which is free for people who are certified for the paratransit system. The paratransit service, Stark explained, costs $4 for a round trip from her home.

The RTC says it has no choice but to cut bus routes. By law, the regional agency cannot run at a deficit. RTC officials say cutting service on five routes will probably be the last round of cuts in a yearlong effort to reduce costs by $2.8 million.

The targeted routes are either served by other RTC buses or are simply inefficient to operate because of low ridership, agency spokeswoman Heather Curry said.

The 801 express, running from downtown to Nellis Boulevard along Las Vegas Boulevard, and the 802 line, running from Lone Mountain Road to downtown along Rancho Drive, both are express routes and duplicate existing service.

The 302 express, serving the Strip, is also facing extinction.

RTC transit officials also plan to cut stand-alone routes serving Oakey Boulevard, Craig and a circular route in Summerlin.

RTC officials said they tried to minimize the negative effect of the cuts. At least seven routes valleywide, including a duplicate Strip route, would get more frequent service to offset the cuts.

The RTC is conducting a series of public hearings to let riders know of the cuts and to seek input into the decisions.

Rider input is important, Curry said. During an earlier round of cuts, the RTC was able to substitute a new form of service in Henderson for a regular bus route, a suggestion that came in part from riders, she said.

But so far, the number of comments received from riders on this round of service reductions has been relatively small, Curry said.

Five people attended the first meeting, nine the next and 11 the third meeting, she said. Two more are scheduled, and the public can comment during the next RTC board meeting Dec. 12, when the board is expected to approve the cuts.

People can also call, fax or write the agency with comments. The agency's customer service representatives have received 40 comments in those ways, Curry said.

Most of those comments focus on the service along Craig and Oakey, she said.

For the Oakey route, alternative routes run parallel along Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard, Curry said. But for Craig, "there's not really any parallel service."

She said the RTC is changing the routes of other bus runs to provide more service to the east-west road, mostly through north-south intersections.

"Craig Road itself will lose quite a bit of service," Curry said. But construction along the road already has disrupted regular service on the line, she said.

"That street has been torn up so much lately, and that will continue and that has impacted that route a lot."

Early Tuesday afternoon about a dozen people were aboard the westbound bus that picked up Stark and one other passenger at Craig and Clayton. Stark said the number of passengers is about typical -- not a full house, but not the worst performing bus line either.

Curry, however, said the Craig Road route consistently has some of the lowest ridership numbers in the system.

"It's just not been a very efficient route. When you look at some of the other routes at the same period of the day, you're going to see a different story," she said. "You're going to see buses that are full."

Five of the six routes targeted for elimination are among the worst 10 in terms of ridership. The yearly average for the Summerlin circulator, according to RTC figures, is the worst of any of the system's 49 routes.

The other routes saved from this round of cuts either provide essential service to an area, are federally funded and not affected by the budget crunch, or have growing passenger volumes.

But although Curry said the RTC's cuts are probably essential, she said cutting any line is a difficult job.

"We realize it's going to have an impact," she said. "We want to make that impact as minimal as possible."

Another recent rider along Craig will feel that impact, and not minimally.

Jessica del Gado, 21, moved to Las Vegas from Mexico a year ago. Del Gado, who is learning English, depends on the Craig route to get her from home to her job at a restaurant. Other members of the family also use the bus service along the road on a daily basis, she said.

The elimination of her bus route "will be a problem," she said."

Heather Curry

RTC SPOKESWOMAN