Las Vegas Transit or LVT, also known as Las Vegas Transit System (LVTS), was a private corporation that managed the public transit bus network in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area.
History
Overview The Vegas Transit Company (VTC) started public transportation operations in Las Vegas on August 20, 1942, with three routes and six buses by 1943. The Tanner family (as Tanner Motor Tours of Nevada) acquired VTC, then sold the franchise in 1965 to Henry Burroughs, who rebranded it as the Las Vegas Transit System (LVTS). Both LVTS and Gray Line Tours of Southern Nevada (GLT) were owned by First Gray Line West of Los Angeles, California. LVTS and GLT operated out of the same yard, on Industrial Rd near Charleston Blvd. Due to its lucrative Strip route, LVTS made significant profits for its owners.
LVTS operated between 1965 and approximately 1993. They were bought out by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTCSNV) in early 1993 for $900,000. RTCSNV inaugurated its Citizens Area Transit service in December 1992, and for a time, there were technically two public transit systems in Las Vegas until LVTS faded away. After CAT took over, LVTS only competed with CAT on the busy and lucrative Route #6 "Strip" for several months before being bought out. The CAT system is now known as RTC Transit.
1960s–1970s LVTS ran a frequent service for multiple years during the 1960s and 1970s when the city was small; their routes covered most of the city. At the time, they were considered a vast improvement over its predecessor, Vegas Transit Lines. In 1972, approximately 8,000 passenger trips were operated per weekday. In an article written in Bus World Magazine in 1978, they were praised as a self-sufficient bus system. However, LVTS suspended service to West Las Vegas, a predominantly minority neighborhood, in 1969 after a series of violent incidents; the NAACP sued LVTS in 1974 stating the service was racially discriminatory. At the time, government officials also began exploring the idea of starting a public transit system to take advantage of federal subsidies. Routes in 1978No. Name Headway(min) Runs/ day Busesrequired 1 Hyde Park 60 14 1 3 Salt Lake Hwy 30 27 4 4 Boulder Hwy 30 27 4 5 Huntridge 60 14 1 6 Strip 15 78 6-10 7 College Park 45 20 1 8 Golfridge 60 14 1 9 Vegas Heights 30 20 2 10 University 60 13 1 Notes In September 1974, LVTS experimented with a "grid" route system to expand coverage, replacing the former "hub and spoke" system at the insistence of the Regional Transit Commission. The new system expanded coverage to 75,000 additional riders, but the expected increase in ridership never materialized, and LVTS petitioned to return to the "hub and spoke" in January 1975. They then went back to the old hub and spoke route system and enjoyed an increase in ridership, as detailed in the 1978 magazine article.
As in later decades, the #6 Strip route provided the money for the other money-losing residential routes and allowed the small private transit company to turn a profit. Being a successful private bus company is an exceptional feat, as by the 1960s, virtually all transit systems in the US had been taken over by municipal governments and heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars due to declining ridership. By 1975, LVTS was operating at breakeven or a deficit, and any expansion would have to come via public subsidy.
In 1978, LVTS operated a fleet of 26 buses, with half of them less than 5 years old. During 1976–1977, ridership rose by 21.8%. However, by 1979, an external consultant concluded the system was one of the worst in the nation, and that at least 110 buses would be required to provide adequate service.
1980s–1990s In the early 1980s, the routes were all finally synchronized to arrive/depart at the downtown transfer center at the same time to facilitate passenger transfer, except for the more-frequently running Route #6. In order to hold fares steady, a public/private partnership was set up in 1980 where the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada would apply for federal funds for buses, and approximately of the local matching funds would be provided by LVTS, with the remainder provided by RTC. In turn, RTC would lease the buses to LVTS at no cost. The first RTC-purchased buses arrived in September 1981.
In 1981, the State Futures Commission said that mass transit was the key issue in Clark County; a 1983 ballot proposal to fund an expansion of the system by raising sales taxes was voted down, though. According to Las Vegas Review-Journal articles at the time, LVTS claimed that government subsidies were needed to expand the coverage area and increase frequency of service. They contended the existing coverage with limited residential routes was dictated by the more lucrative Route #6 "Strip", which generated enough profit to support the current system. Even as the population grew by more than 60 percent between 1970 and 1980, residential density across the valley remained below 5 people per , and the system had developed a ridership base concentrated among transit dependent populations, including low income residents and those without access to a vehicle. 60% of LVTS riders were tourists, nearly all riding #6 "Strip". The small coverage area made it difficult for people to use the buses, and ridership was limited to those who had no means of private transportation.
In addition, even though Route #6 "Strip" was the busiest and tourist oriented, that route was operated with the oldest equipment, including the smallest GM New Look buses. The air conditioning units on these older buses were frequently out of service. By contrast, some of the residential routes, with few passengers, were operated with the newest buses, which were city-owned, , Grumman 870s and Gillig Phantoms. One reason for this was the city mandated that these newer city-owned buses, which also had accessibility features, run on the residential areas. Routes in 1992No. Name Headway(min) Runs/ day Days/ wk Busesrequired 1 Hyde Park 60 13 7 1 2 North Las Vegas 60 10-19 6 1 3 Salt Lake Hwy 30 7 2 60 1 4 Boulder Hwy 60 7 1 5 Huntridge 60 13 7 1 6 Strip ≤15 7 6A Sam's Town/ Strip 60 6 1 7 College Park 60 13 7 1 8 Golfridge 60 13 7 1 9 Vegas Heights 60 13 7 1 10 University 30 7 2 11 Henderson 60 10 6 1 12 Spring Valley 60 6 1 13 Strip Shuttle 20 7 14 Mall Hopper 6 2 – Strip Express Notes A limited expansion of coverage followed the late 1970s and early 1980s, but it was too little and too late. In fact, LVTS were voted as the worst transit system in the country during one year in the 1980s The city had outgrown the small private transit system; it was unrealistic for the city to expect a private bus company, without a taxpayer subsidy, to expand and run throughout the city based solely on its Strip revenue. LVTS were providing a public service, but they also needed to turn a profit to continue.
In 1990, the Las Vegas City Council rescinded the 48-year-old private franchise agreement in order to exert more control over public transportation services. That year, voters passed Question 10, which advised the state legislature to issue $100 million per year to fund mass transit in addition to a host of other transportation improvements, marking the start of what would become Citizens Area Transit. LVTS's general manager, Barry Perea, fought to keep LVTS in business and was strongly opposed to the formation of CAT, orchestrated by RTC chairman Bruce Woodbury after Clark County voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase in 1990 to fund a public transit system.
When Citizens Area Transit (CAT) started operating in November 1992, LVTS turned over all residential routes but clung onto the Route #6 "Strip" operation. The newer city-owned buses (Grumman 870s, GMC RTSs, and Gillig Phantoms) were returned and given to CAT. LVTS competed head to head with CAT on the Strip using their older buses from November 1992 until about April or May 1993, when they were bought out by the RTC for $900,000. The cash fare was $1.25 for a LVTS ride and $1 for a CAT ride at the time, indicating an effort by CAT to undercut Las Vegas Transit and speed its demise. What service remained, along with a few buses, was taken over by the affiliated Las Vegas Gray Line, which continued operating for decades afterward. Eventually taken over by Coach USA and renamed Transportation Unlimited, operation of the route finally ended in 2004, being conducted with six ex-Stockton CA RTSs at the end.
Fares In 1971, the one-way fare was $0.50; tokens could be purchased at a discount: 20 tokens for $0.35 each, and 6 tokens for $0.40 each. Legislation was being considered (AB 311) to reduce the fare to $0.20 for senior citizens. Although fares had not risen since the start of LVTS in 1965, those original fares were the most expensive in the United States.
The cash fare was first increased to $0.70 in 1976 and was $0.75 by 1978 with no charge for transfers. In October 1983, the fare was raised again to $0.90 with a $0.15 charge for transfers, and bumped to $0.95 in 1984.
In August 1987, published fares were increased to $1 for adults, $0.50 for seniors/disabled; transfers were $0.15, good for 2 hours (no round-trips nor stopovers).
In November 1991, fares were raised to $1.25 for adults and $0.60 for seniors/disabled, transfers were held at $0.15.
Routes and operations
Structure and overview
Las Vegas Transit's route structure for most of its existence used a "spoke and hub" system, similar to a wagon wheel. The "hub", where most routes met, was downtown Las Vegas. This was in contrast to most transit system, which generally use a "grid" system, as CAT currently does, or a combination of the "grid" and "spoke and hub" system. The reason LVTS used the "spoke and hub" system was simply to maximize coverage of area with the fewest buses. Instead of having a bus line run in both directions along the same street, most of LVTS routes were designed in one-way loops circling a section of the city before returning downtown. This method maximized the service area covered. Furthermore, it allowed riders to go to more places, as a rider could access most other routes via the Downtown Transportation Center. However, some bus riders had to circle the whole route before arriving at their destination, and in most cases, required a transfer downtown as well.
In the late 1970s, the system consisted of nine routes, numbered 1 through 10, without a Route #2. The residential routes were generally subsidized by the lucrative Route #6 "Strip/Downtown". Three of the nine routes were 24-hour routes: Route #3 "Salt Lake Hwy", #4 "Boulder Hwy", and #6 "The Strip". Routes #3, #4, and #9 had 30-minute headways and #6 "Strip" had 15-minute headways. Unfortunately, the routes were not synchronized to meet at the same time and sometimes, a rider had to wait up to 45 minutes for transfer to the next bus.
By the 1980s, arrivals/departures were synchronized, and the headways were increased on residential routes to 60–90 minutes, with limited operating hours, from about 5:30 AM to 10:00 PM. 24-hour service was limited to Route #6. Through the 1980s, LVTS also added several new residential routes: Routes #2 "North Las Vegas", #6A "Sam's Town/Strip", #11 "Henderson", and #12 "Spring Valley". They also added a Route #13 "Strip Shuttle", which benefited mostly the tourists on the Strip, connecting to the Las Vegas Hilton and the Las Vegas Convention Center along Las Vegas Blvd South and Paradise Road. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they also added a Route #14 "Mall Hopper" to work the three major malls in Las Vegas at the time. In 1991, LVTS started the "Strip Express" with limited stops between downtown and several points on the Strip. These were used by both tourists and casino workers.