Speedy bus on the way: Vegas-Henderson on the map

By Mike Trask

Friday, April 27, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

Retiree Ron Nocei waited patiently for a bus, reading the newspaper and sipping water.

The 73-year-old doesn't drive anymore.

"I just quit," he said, squinting into the sunlight at Boulder Highway and Warm Springs Road. "It's just too many crazy people out there."

He has relatively few complaints about taking the bus for trips to the doctor or to grab lunch, except that the drivers sometimes run late and he often has to transfer buses.

In a couple of years Nocei will have an easier ride.

The Regional Transportation Commission MAX bus rapid transit system connecting Henderson to downtown Las Vegas is scheduled to debut in 2009 with a $90 million line along Boulder Highway. The route will travel along the highway median, except north of Harmon, where it will use the street alongside other vehicles.

The sleek 60-foot-long bus - with a sloped front that looks more like a train than a bus - will be a welcome sight to people like Nocei. But what about everyone else?

Henderson residents had previously opposed plans for a light-rail system that would have linked the city with neighboring Las Vegas, saying transfer stations and park-and-ride lots would lead to inconveniences and crime. The City Council sided with the residents.

Councilman Andy Hafen, also a member of the RTC, said because the MAX bus will use an existing highway, residents will be less worried about the effect on their neighborhoods.

So far there has been no outrage directed at the MAX bus, which would have at least six stops in Henderson , with the line ending at Horizon Drive.

Reginald Hetzel, a member of the Horizon View Homeowners Association board, said he has not heard any complaints in his neighborhood, about three blocks from Boulder Highway.

"I couldn't see anybody getting upset about that," he said.

The city is putting a positive spin on the line. Henderson is also working on an investment strategy to try to improve commerce along Boulder Highway.

"It's just recognizing that Boulder Highway does carry quite a number of people each day," said Stephanie Garcia-Vause, deputy director of community development. "There are opportunities to invest here and there is vacant land."

In Henderson the road features mainly strip malls stuffed with fast - food restaurants, grocery stores and a couple of neighborhood pubs. Farther north is the Boulder Strip, a collection of casinos, strip clubs and trailer parks.

RTC officials are convinced the MAX bus will be filled. Ridership is projected to match the existing high-speed route connecting Las Vegas Boulevard to Nellis Air Force Base - 2.35 million annual riders, about 6,500 a day.

Jacob Snow, the RTC's general manager, said the current Boulder Highway route is among the busiest in the region. But he knows it will take clever marketing to persuade valley travelers to try something new.

A 2004 Henderson survey found only about 5 percent of the city's 250,000 residents commute to downtown Las Vegas.

"The bus is often viewed as a four-letter word," Snow said.

But Snow thinks comfortable stations and the futuristic look of the bus could persuade people to give it a try.

"It seems people just take to that vehicle," Hafen said.

The RTC describes the MAX buses as a "cross between a bus and a bullet train." Each will carry up to 120 passengers using a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion engine hailed as much quieter than that of normal buses.

New Henderson Councilwoman Gerri Schroder likes the idea. "I think it's just a matter of rethinking," she said. "We're so used to getting in our cars and going, especially on the West Coast. You could just relax and read the paper."

Like Nocei does. He did, however, express one bit of pessimism about the projected 2009 route opening.

"I hope I live that long," he said.