Dive Brief:
- The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada on Sunday opened a new bus rapid transit route in Las Vegas using 60-foot zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell buses.
- The route serves downtown Las Vegas, the Las Vegas medical district, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Harry Reid International Airport.
- Dedicated, shared bus and bike lanes, widened sidewalks and passenger amenities along the 7.3-mile Maryland Parkway corridor aim to increase ridership and attract transit-oriented development, RTC Deputy CEO Andrew Kjellman told Smart Cities Dive.
Dive Insight:
The $378 million project, funded by federal grants, local funding and sales tax, aims to benefit transit riders, bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers, Kjellman said. Bus travel time will decrease about 20% on the corridor due to dedicated outside lanes and transit signal priority. Buses will run every 12 minutes during daytime hours.
Ridership along the existing route declined to about 9,000 per day during construction, but the RTC expects to serve 13,000 daily riders by 2040, Kjellman said.
Sidewalks in most locations were widened from 5 feet to 10 feet, and trees were planted along the route. “Extreme heat is a really big issue in Southern Nevada, and so we're adding street trees not only on both sides of the roadway, but down the center of the median as well,” Kjellman said.
The corridor is home to 63,000 residents and 109,000 jobs, according to the RTC, and carries nearly 35,000 vehicles a day. Drivers on the corridor will benefit from traffic signals re-timed to accommodate traffic flow, Kjellman said.
The RTC worked with local government agencies “to bring development closer to the corridor,” he said. Buildings would also shade the route, making it “a more inviting, livable and cooler corridor for our community.”
Fares will remain the same as other RTC bus routes for now, Kjellman said, but the agency is looking to increase fares next year. “As Southern Nevada continues to grow, we’re focused on delivering a better transit experience for every rider … Even as we navigate ongoing transit funding challenges,” RTC CEO M.J. Maynard-Carey said in a statement.
The Las Vegas BRT line is one of over a dozen new transit projects expected to open this year. Many cities are choosing less expensive and more flexible bus rapid transit over light rail projects, Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Urban Institute and creator of The Transport Politic, told Smart Cities Dive.
