Editorial: Swap cars for buses

Thursday, June 21, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

It is occasionally said, only half-jokingly, that if you live in the northwest Las Vegas Valley, an unwritten law states that you must work in Henderson in the southeast, and that if you live in Henderson, you must work in the northwest.

Evidence of this unwritten law can be seen every weekday on U.S. 95, the main northwest-southeast route. During peak traffic hours on many stretches in both directions, thousands of cars snorkel along almost bumper to bumper for miles.

A partial solution is in the works. The Regional Transportation Commission is negotiating with northwest property owners to buy land suitable as park and ride sites.

Common in most large cities surrounded by bedroom communities, park and ride sites allow commuters to drive a few miles from their homes, park and board either buses or rail cars to get most of the rest of the way.

In this case, the RTC is planning for buses, including double-deckers, that will use a high-occupancy vehicles lane to transport northwest commuters to the Downtown Transportation Center, where they can board other buses for their trips on into work.

It is hoped this plan will be ready when the widening of U.S. 95 between Craig Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard is finished, perhaps this year.

Looking ahead 10 years, the RTC would like to have more than a dozen park and ride sites linking U.S. 95 to rapid bus service.

We support the RTC's plan. Many drivers would find convenient alternative transportation to be a godsend. Savings on gasoline and in the wear and tear on their vehicles would more than compensate for the cost of bus tickets.

Not too far into the future, we hope, the RTC will have alternatively fueled buses running the length of U.S. 95 in the valley in both directions, with convenient connecting buses and park and ride lots available at all the major exits. This would do even more to reduce traffic and the pollution it creates, and spare workers the annoyance and expense of their long commutes.