A Las Vegas Experience

Citizens Area Transit - A Nightmare

During the month of July 2008, I decided to conduct a personal experiment regarding local transportation. I parked my car, went to the DTC (Downtown Transit Center) and bought a monthly pass ($40).

Watching all the hoopla about the RTC (those who run CAT) on their TV ads and public service announcements, one would think they have everything under control and traveling by bus should be a pleasurable experience. Friendly faces, shinny units, some like the Max with a futuristic line, other as the Deuce with two decks, etc., etc.

So, I said to myself, gas has hit $4 a gallon and maybe now it’s the time to give this mode of transportation a try. And so I did, to my chagrin.

To begin with, some of the drivers are not so pleasant, even though most are. I guess their job is difficult and a few are not ready to drive, smile and be patient all at the same time.

The schedules are another issue. In general they suck, big time! Luckily they gave me a booklet with all the routes and hours but even then I have to structure my travels as if I were overseas, heck sometimes it’s easier to schedule a flight!

Just as an example, if you go from point A to point B and you need one line only, you are lucky. Save the fact that some hours may not be available, it’s a matter of being at the closest stop to your starting point on time, preferably even early. However, if you have the need to transfer from one line to another to reach your destination, be prepared to be very, very patient.

Let’s say you want to go from Cashman Field to Eastern and Bonanza. A trip that by car will probably take you no more than 4 minutes. Of course in this example you are not using your car, so you’ve got to be flexible right?

From Cashman Field going West you can take the 208 line to Maryland and Bonanza - That’s a - 35-second ride - Great! Now, at Maryland and Bonanza you must transfer to 215 going West. From that corner to destination the trip is about 3 minutes. Whoa! Total traveling time about the same as if you were doing it by car. Isn’t that exciting?

So, what’s the problem you say? The problem is the schedules. To begin with, sometimes a bus may be a little earlier, others a heck of a lot late. So, the guessing game takes over.

If your first bus - in this case the 208 - it’s supposed to be at Cashman Field at 6:10, you better get there at 6:00 (just in case). Now, once you arrived at your connecting point - Maryland and Bonanza in this example - your other line (215W) could have been there 1 minute ago and you’re out of luck. Now you have to sit and wait for sometimes 30 minutes until another 215W comes by.

The bottom line is that, even for such a short hop. You have to allow yourself up to 45 minutes for a net trip of 4 minutes.

Why have these people decided to use large (and mostly empty) buses with such long delays in between runs as opposed to smaller buses with more frequent runs escapes me.

Another issue is the total lack of small and frequent neighborhood runs. Save the only one I know of, which is the City Ride, going from the DTC to Charleston and Bruce, there is nothing else to move you locally and within neighborhoods. Depending on where you live, you may have to walk and walk, just to find a bus stop that may or may not be the full ride, but just your starting point.

It seems as if the people responsible for this service look at it more or less as if doing you a favor and not a real service for the people of Las Vegas. It’s true that their fees are not expensive, but I’d rather pay a little more and have a more comprehensive service, or at least a real service.

After this monthly experience I fully understand why the residents of our City are not giving up their cars. As long as anyone can afford it, driving your own vehicle it’s the only sensible thing to do.