TRANSPORTATION:

Officials laud transit center, buses as ‘close’ to light rail

$11 million Centennial Hills Transit Center partially funded with federal stimulus funds

Kyle Hansen

From left, County Commissioner Larry Brown, RTC General Manager Jacob Snow, Mayor Oscar Goodman, City Councilman Steve Ross and RTC Deputy General Manager Tina Quigley ceremoniously break ground for the Centennial Hills Transit Center.

By Kyle Hansen (contact)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 | 5:04 p.m.

Centennial Hills Transit Center groundbreaking

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RTC: Centennial Hills Transit Center

Courtesy Regional Transportation Commission

Map of Centennial Hills Transit Center

N Durango Dr & Oso Blanca Rd, Las Vegas

Las Vegas and Clark County officials joined the Regional Transportation Commission in breaking ground this morning for a new $11 million transit center in the northwest valley.

The Centennial Hills Transit Center will include about 900 parking spaces, passenger drop-off areas, bike storage and an air-conditioned building for passengers to wait for buses.

“It’s really designed to be a ‘multi-mobile’ facility,” said General Manager Jacob Snow.

The commission hopes the facility at U.S. 95 and Durango Drive will encourage people to take public transportation, to carpool or to participate in other ride-sharing programs.

“It will go a long way toward making (mass) transit a more viable option for those in the northwest,” said Councilman Steve Ross.

The facility, which is scheduled to open in January 2010, is partially funded with $8.8 million in federal money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It will also be one end of a new bus line -- the ACExpress C line -- that will take advantage of HOV lanes on U.S. 95 to travel to downtown Las Vegas, then continue to the Strip and UNLV.

The new bus line is one part of the commission’s plan to connect distant parts of the valley with downtown and the resort corridor.

Future lines are planned for Las Vegas Boulevard, Boulder Highway, Sahara Avenue and Flamingo Road.

The bus lines are designed to imitate light rail systems used in other cities.

Many parts of the route have dedicated bus-only lanes and the buses will stop at raised platform stations, where passengers will buy tickets before boarding.

“We’ve had a lot of discussion in this valley about light rail. This is the closest thing we can bring for the cost of a bus,” Snow said. “It is really a train-on-tires concept. It’s designed around the light rail concept. It looks like it’s a train.”

Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown, who also serves as the chair of the transportation commission, said the new diesel-electric hybrid buses are something people have asked for.

He said the upgraded bus system will lead those who travel by car “to make that conscious decision to at least try the system -- and that’s what we need.”

“They’re going to look and see it’s the newest equipment,” Brown said. “We have to make it convenient. We have to make it safe. We have to make it reliable.”

A ride on the new buses from Centennial Hills to the new downtown transit station is expected to take about 18 minutes and will cost $1.75, Snow said. Currently, it take more than an hour to travel the same distance on public transportation, Snow said.

Brown said the so called “rubber-tire rapid transit” is a way to incrementally build up a mass-transit system in the area.

“We’re building this foundation for a successful transit system valley-wide,” he said. “But we can’t overnight turn on a switch and be (Washington) D.C. or Boston or New York with subway systems and fixed light rail. We have to slowly build the system.”

Discussion: 7 comments so far…

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By NevadaFive

June 24, 2009

9:54 p.m.

Suggest removal

As a part-time bus rider - I can positively say this is a major waste of money. Residents in the NW valley are not about to lower themselves to take the bus - not matter how futuristic it appears. This money would have been better spent on increasing ridership by adding more busses on Charleston, Sahara, Tropicana - where the population concentration is higher. I believe if buses along Sahara (for instance) were running every 5 to 7 minutes during peak periods (6am to 9pm) more people would be inclined to use public transportation.
"...to at least try the system," as Commissioner Brown hopes is not worth $11M in tax monies. It is an incredible waste.
By Auslander

June 24, 2009

10:12 p.m.

Suggest removal

I am most pleased to see this development. Whether NW valley residents will actually use it remains to be seen, but I for one will "lower myself" to cut my commute time in half.
By gregoryabutler

June 25, 2009

12:10 a.m.

Suggest removal

So, you guys are getting a fake subway now - a BUS that looks like a subway car, but runs on the street?

Sorry, folks - REAL subways run on RAILS.

And, by the way, it's called a "subway" - not "light rail"!!!!

"Light rail" is nerdy policy wonk speak!

Cities like New York that have REAL subways call them - subways! (and no, it doesn't matter if it's underground or on the surface, it's still called a "subway"!)
By revtomperl

June 25, 2009

9:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

Lots of silly comments, mostly people in our society have their brains out of joint and their noses in the air and think that they can be free agents who don't have to respect the sacredness of the creation and use it wisely. To spend this money has some benefit to create a few construction jobs and offers some transportation alternatives for those who are tired of riding around in their self contained steel envelopes. Oh, in lots of places, they have light rail. If you aren't interested in progress, move someplace where they have subways.
By ProzacsPerspective

June 25, 2009

3:46 p.m.

Suggest removal

fyi, gregoryabutler

Here in LA we have a "subway" that runs both underground and street level. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, so does NYC.

Here we also have a system imported from Brazil; cut a path for 'light rail' (above ground for you), don't lay ANY tracks and send mega-buses up and down the path. Give the mega-buses the 'right of way' with flashing lights and lowered crossings gates.

It's considered an extremely cost effective alternative to all 'rail/subway' installations.

Even Progressives can find that sexy.

Cheers
By squier13

June 26, 2009

8:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

Sorry to sound like a "wonk" but the NYC subway is heavy rail. LA operates 2 heavy rail lines (Red, Purple) and 3 light rail lines (Blue, Gold, Green). DC Metrorail and Chigago's "L" are both heavy rail. Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Charlotte, and many others operate light rail.

Too bad Las Vegas is choosing BRT, it is a tremendous waste of money. That bus in the photo is almost as expensive as a light rail vehicle, has 1/3 the service life, of which half will be spent out of service in maintenance.

Don't waste money on crappy imitations of light rail, just buy the real thing.
By squier13

June 26, 2009

8:16 a.m.

Suggest removal

Funny they tell you the cost of only the transit center and not the total cost of the new C Line BRT. From the list of infrastructure in the article it sounds like it will be every bit as expensive as a bare bones streetcar line.

Harry Reid's site says he earmarked $20 million just for the C line construction. Add in state and local contributions and this thing is getting expensive! Calculate resurfacing the busway every few years, repairing and replacing the vehicles, rising fuel costs, and lower passenger capacity and this thing will turn out to be quite expensive. Is it cheaper than rail or just cheap transit flimflam?