Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006 | 8:57 a.m.
As a 35-year resident of Las Vegas, I have some perspective on traffic problems and have talked to the Regional Transportation Commission about them.
Gil Eisner writes about a nonproductive bureaucracy controlling traffic signals in a Jan. 5 letter and refers to an earlier letter to the Sun by Richard Law about the same. Neither apparently spent time talking to the RTC about traffic light synchronization.
When I called, I received a detailed and polite written response showing people who are dedicated, educated and quite aware of the problems posed by the high growth rate in Las Vegas.
The traffic congestion solutions being implemented are rational given that budgets are limited by shortsighted politicians and the voters. When Mr. Eisner and Mr. Law explicitly complain about the lack of signal timing, they are apparently unaware of what happened eight years ago when the old traffic synchronization computer failed.
The time for commutes more than tripled, with my wife and I enduring over an hour where 20 minutes was usual, and the RTC responded by modernizing and extending the system in a process that continues today.
I urge all residents to get the facts before criticizing people they know nothing about.
Mark Schaffer
Las Vegas
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