New Year’s CAT bus rides in the valley are free for the taking

Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 4:31 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

Dec. 27 - 28, 2003

To plan a trip on the free CAT buses for New Year's Day, go to the RTC website, catride.com, or call CAT-RIDE (228-7433).

The Regional Transportation Commission is offering free New Year's rides valleywide on its CAT buses again this year from 6 p.m. Wednesday through 6 p.m. Thursday, but riders who want to take advantage of them may want to plan ahead.

Once the Strip is closed to traffic Wednesday night, buses will be detoured and riders may find themselves with a long walk or short cab ride to their destination.

Buses will continue running their regular routes, including along the Strip, as long as the roads are passable, RTC spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman said. Routes could be detoured as early as 4:30 p.m.

In past years Metro Police has begun closing lanes along Las Vegas Boulevard as the crowds grow, between 8 and 10 p.m., and the entire Strip generally is closed by 10 p.m., Metro spokesman Jose Montoya said. The road remains closed until street sweeping crews finish cleaning, between 1 and 2:30 a.m., he said.

The RTC expects 100,000 people to take advantage of the free rides, which have been offered every New Year's for more than 10 years. Reisman said it's hard to get a firm count on how many people use the service because, while drivers count riders, "they don't demand people board the bus single file." All doors on the buses are opened and used for the free rides to accommodate as many people as possible, she said.

Along the Strip, once the roads are closed, regular bus service (Route 301) will run parallel to the Strip along Industrial Road between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road. Temporary bus stops will be set up along Industrial.

Express service along the Strip (Route 302) will provide parallel service along Paradise Road between Sahara and Tropicana Avenue.

For both routes, the RTC plans to add buses for the southbound stop at the Fremont Street Experience between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m., according to RTC plans.

Other routes that may be affected, according to RTC plans:

Plans are in place for other detours, as needed. Those plans should be posted on the RTC's website, catride.com, early next week, Reisman said, and customer service representatives who help route rides by phone (228-7433) should have that information as soon as detours are finalized.