RTC to introduce MAX line

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 11:25 a.m.

MAX has arrived.

The Regional Transportation Commission will introduce MAX, or Metropolitan Area Express, to the public over the coming weeks, and in mid-March the vehicles will begin running. MAX is a new mass transit option that for now will ply the route from the Downtown Transportation Center to Nellis Air Force Base.

RTC officials want to distinguish MAX vehicles from standard buses.

"We're calling this the MAX train," RTC General Manager Jacob Snow said Thursday. "We think it does a disservice to call this the MAX bus.

"It operates more like a train."

The vehicles are assembled in several European countries, and are the first of their kind to operate in the United States. The federal government is paying 85 percent of the $19.4 million bill for the system, which is a federal demonstration project to determine the feasibility of the technology.

The 60-foot vehicles, which run more quietly than a standard diesel bus, will operate on dedicated lanes along Las Vegas Boulevard North. Drivers have infrared controls to extend green lights or turn red lights green to keep the vehicles moving through most intersections.

That means the MAX vehicles can make good time, even when stopping to pick up passengers, Snow said.

"In many respects you will be able to travel faster in the MAX vehicle along Las Vegas Boulevard North than you would in your own vehicle," Snow told the RTC board Thursday.

Nick Smith, one of the drivers of the new vehicle, took a two-week course before getting behind the wheel. Smith, who's worked with ATC, the RTC's management company, for 12 years, said the experience behind the wheel of the MAX vehicle is different from driving a bus.

"The main thing is the position of the operator is in the middle," he said. "That's the biggest thing to get used to."

Smith said the vehicle, which holds up to 120 people, is attracting stares when people see it for the first time. He said that among the public, the most common misconception that people have is that the vehicle drives itself.

While filled with high-tech systems, including video screens that show the driver what is around the vehicle, it only drives itself when pulling into the new stations constructed for the system. The computer-controlled optical guidance system allows the vehicle to pull up within an inch or two from platforms.

Doors along the length of the vehicle open simultaneously allowing ticket holders onto the vehicle. The buses also allow for easy access for disabled people and people in wheelchairs.

The RTC is preparing 20 covered and semi-enclosed stations along the route.

"This isn't your grandfather's bus stop," Snow said. "These are well-lit at night. They are very safe."

The stations will have ticket-vending machines, water and beverage machines.

Tickets for the system will cost $1.25, the same as for ordinary Citizens Area Transit buses. Bus riders can get transfers to and from the MAX system, RTC spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman said.