RTC opens new bus maintenance facility

By Kyle B. Hansen

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada opened a huge new maintenance facility today in the southern valley.

The Sunset Maintenance Facility, on Sunset Road and Decatur Boulevard just north of the Las Vegas Beltway, will service about 250 buses and 50 paratransit vehicles and has room for expansion.

“We need desperately a state of the art transit system,” said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., at the grand opening. “This facility will ensure that the 50 ACE buses and the CAT buses and the Deuce buses are going to be maintained in a way that is worthy of these beautiful buses and worthy of the people that will be riding on these buses.”

The new facility takes up 36.6 acres, with ample bus parking, a large maintenance building, an administration building, a gas station and wash bays. And there is still space to add another maintenance building and another office building if needed, General Manager Jacob Snow said.

The commission also has an 11-year-old maintenance facility in North Las Vegas, which it will continue to use. Its facility on Tropicana Avenue, which was on leased land, will close now that the new facility is open.

“We needed to find a permanent home and we needed a bigger facility,” Snow said. “The size of this facility represents what we think is the future for public transit here.”

The commission also says the facility represents its efforts to be green, with high-efficiency insulation and lighting, low-flow water features and water-efficient landscaping.

The water used by the bus wash at the facility will recycle 98 percent of the water it uses.

“Not only will this facility go a long way towards improving mobility across this valley at a time when we really need it, ... but it’s also been done in such a way that recognizes those good principles of sustainability,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., at the opening.

The completion of the facility is a step toward the opening of the new ACE high-speed bus lines, expected to begin service early next year.

The facility will service 50 new ACE buses, which resemble light rail train cars.

“We’re constantly keeping our fleet as state of the art as possible and to do that, you need these types of facilities,” said Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown, who also serves as the chairman of the transportation commission.

“If we’re going to get people out their cars in Southern Nevada, we have to continue to excel. We have to be the best; there’s no question about it,” he said during the ceremony. “Certainly with the fleet and with the facility and with the personnel, we can accomplish that goal.”

The facility cost about $75 million to build. Federal transportation funds from congressional earmarks covered about $64 million, Snow said.

While earmarks are often criticized, Titus and Berkley supported the project and said it is an example of how funds should be used.

“This is not a bridge to nowhere,” Berkley said. “This is the future throughout our community so that our constituents can get from A to B and back to A again in a safe manner, in an efficient manner, in a clean manner.

“It gives me tremendous pride to be able to stand here with you looking at these fabulous buses in this remarkable facility and knowing that we are providing for the people of Southern Nevada.”