The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) is proposing to construct the Flamingo Road Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project, which would consist of a 10-mile corridor that would extend from Rainbow Boulevard to Nellis Boulevard. Flamingo Road is a major east-west arterial roadway in the Las Vegas metropolitan area that currently carries high transit ridership. It intersects with the Las Vegas Resort Corridor, the major focus of employment in the region. With the proposed project, a BRT system would be constructed along Flamingo Road to permit outside-running buses to travel in new, bus-only lanes through highly congested areas and to travel in mixed flow through the Las Vegas Resort Corridor.
This intermodal project seeks to improve the efficiency and quality of transit service by converting existing breakdown lanes to bus only lanes, by improving passenger amenities, by increasing the use of optional off-board fare collection at high volume transit stops, and by expanding Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure to improve both traffic and transit operations. Collectively, these components provide a significant improvement in the speed, reliability, and efficiency of the transit service. This, in turn, allows RTC Transit to decrease operating cost and to increase ridership.
RTC is requesting $28.5 million in TIGER II Discretionary Grant funding for this project. It is also part of the continuing process towards transit system improvement in the Las Vegas Valley. The RTC is in the middle of a $120 million program of capital improvements that include the Bonneville Transit Center, a new rapid transit route, and a new express transit route. The Flamingo Road BRT Project will build synergy with these on-going investments.
The development of the project comes from a 2008 RTC study of the corridor, which can be found here.
The following are documents used in support of the application for funding the Flamingo Road BRT Project:
Flamingo Road Bus Rapid Transit Categorical Exclusion Documentation (developed June 29, 2010)
- Technical Memorandum (PDF)
Letters of Support (PDF)
