RTC urges Laughlin to have own bus system

Monday, Oct. 21, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

Laughlin, the casino town nestled on the Colorado River in southern Clark County, may soon have its own bus service.

The Las Vegas-based Regional Transportation Commission, which currently provides rides for about 30,000 people a month in the unincorporated town, is severing ties to the rural area in an effort to control its budget deficit.

RTC officials have been talking to Laughlin Town Advisory Board members for several months, hoping to keep bus service going in Laughlin uninterrupted.

The RTC pullout would allow a Laughlin-based service to apply for federal funding for rural transit systems, Curtis Myles, RTC assistant general manager, said. In addition, the RTC would provide a subsidy of about $200,000 a year.

The Southern Nevada Transit Coalition, a private nonprofit group operating with state and federal funds, is ready to step in to run the bus service and provide another $150,000 this year, Kevin Polk, coalition executive director, said.

The coalition, which took over bus service in Mesquite in September, targets rural areas for transit subsidies, Polk said. It has provided $100,000 for the northeast Clark County town's bus service, and would operate both systems.

Both towns would contribute bus fare revenue to further support the local bus service.

The switch is part of an RTC move to pull out of rural areas to save money. The Laughlin switchover would save the RTC about $350,000 a year, Myles said. The Mesquite change is saving the RTC about $400,000 yearly, despite a $200,000 subsidy this year.

The RTC board will consider the transfer of the Laughlin bus system in November, Myles said.

Mesquite City Attorney Terry Marren said the change has worked for his town of about 15,000 people.

"One of the ways I gauge the success of something like this is by the number of complaint calls I receive," said Marren, who helped negotiate the turnover. "I have not had a single complaint since it started."

He said the big RTC buses that once noisily rolled through Mesquite have been replaced by smaller, more efficient and quieter vans.

"I think everybody is feeling very good about it," Marren said. "For a community like Mesquite or Laughlin, it appears to be a very ideal solution."

Myles said some Laughlin residents were initially skeptical, but their concerns have largely been resolved.

Joe Marr, a town board member and a regular bus rider, said the switch to a locally operated and managed service should not threaten existing service.

"I, as a bus rider, will never see the difference," Marr said. "It should not affect our schedule, the number of buses we have or the price to the rider."

Marr gave the existing service high marks for providing dependable service all day, every day of the week. But as the switch did for Mesquite, a transfer would allow Laughlin to offer door-to-door service for people with disabilities that make it difficult for them to use the regular bus service.

Another change for Laughlin could soon come. Marr said the Nevada town and its sister city on the Arizona side of the river, Bullhead City, are discussing linking the two bus systems.

"We have all the town, city, state and federal OKs," Marr said. "The ball is now in the court of the transportation officials in Bullhead City."

Myles said the RTC is still seeking further budget cuts in the effort to balance its budget. Those cuts could hit riders on the 49-route system in January, he said.

The RTC already has implemented two rounds of service reductions throughout Clark County. Those changes have so far trimmed an estimated $3.5 million deficit this year to about $2 million.