RTC Transit

Citizens Area Transit (or CAT) is currently the name of the bus system in the Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada area. Not all of Clark County is serviced by regular scheduled routes. The routes primarily operate within the greater Las Vegas area. The CAT system is owned by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

Citizens Area Transit was formed by the Regional Transportation Commission of Clark County to provide reliable bus service to the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Mesquite, and Laughlin. The system began on December 5, 1992 under the direction of Kurt Weinrich, the general manager at that time. The fleet consisted of mostly old vehicles like Flixble Grumman's, GMC RTS's, and Gillig Phantoms. They also had purchased 90 brand new New Flyer D40's. Before CAT had started operations, the privately owned Las Vegas Transit System, Inc. ran the streets of Las Vegas for more than 40 years. Las Vegas Transit service mainly consisted of loop routes that made many turns throughout the city, sometimes doubling back on its own routes and making several "subloops" within a loop. At one point, LVT was named America's worst transit system. Under pressure by the county and state, and by court order of the state court, LVTS Inc. was ordered to cease operations and relinquish all its equipment, land, and property to the RTC.

Soon after starting up operations, CAT began to catch on with the city and blossomed. In 1997, the American Public Transportation Association awarded CAT the highest honor, Best Transit System in America (within its category). CAT was on top of American transit and it was great times. However, things began to change rapidly in the following years. In 2002, The Amalgamated Transit Union and the bus contractor began renewal contract talks. However, both sides were unable to reach any compromise on operators' wages and in May of that year, CAT suffered its very first strike. Several drivers walked off the job and on to the picket lines leaving the system crippled. Coach operators from sister agencies were called in to drive the buses and serve the city. Eventually, all was settled and things returned back to normal.

In 2004, CAT received its first shipment of 10 BRT vehicles from Irisbus. These buses were placed on the new MAX Line that serves North Las Vegas Boulevard. Only a year later, CAT received its first shipment of 50 double decker buses from Alexander Dennis. This brings CAT back into the game of ordering buses in big orders (considering they only order a few buses each time).

In March 2007, CAT received its first shipment of 30 Diesel-Electric Hybrid vehicles from New Flyer. Later this year, 40 double deck vehicles from Alexander Dennis should arrive on site. While new vehicles continue to arrive and replace the older vehicles at CAT, the RTC is unveiling a new rapid transit system, called ACE, a winking acknowledgement to a gambler' s term for the ace card or one. The first line will be called "ACE Downtown Connector" and will service the downtown and strip corridors.

CAT operates Irisbus Civis diesel electric vehicles on one route traversing North Las Vegas Boulevard, connecting Nellis AFB to the Downtown Transportation Center (DTC). This service is known as MAX. These Civis vehicles operate in a dedicated lane and are self steering, with the driver controlling acceleration and braking. This is the first use of this type of vehicle in the United States.

On October 27, 2005 CAT added a fleet of double decker buses on The Strip Route. The route is now called The Deuce.

On April 26, 2007, Coach 902 was the first 900 series coach to be placed into regular fixed-route service. It served Line 208 on this afternoon and brought a new era of hybrid technology with it.

Fares as of December 1, 2005

NOTE: Although Routes 110, 202, and 204 now use double-deck buses, fares on that route are the RESIDENTIAL prices, regardless of what the bus actually advertises inside.

¹ To be able to purchase reduced rides and passes, you MUST show some type of reduced identification, whether it be a high school ID, CAT Reduced ID, or another transit systems Reduced Card.
² To use this pass on the DEUCE, you must pay an additional 50 cents EACH TIME you board.

• ACE Downtown Connector: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route to serve the downtown and strip areas.

• 100's: Local North/South service within the Las Vegas Valley.
• 200's: Local East/West service within the Las Vegas Valley.
• 400's: Circulator/Connector routes.
• 705-717: Special senior citizen routes.
• MAX: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Route currently servicing Las Vegas Blvd. North.
• DEUCE: Exclusive Las Vegas Strip service.

• 300's: Exclusive Las Vegas Strip service.(replaced by the DEUCE).
• 551: Special shuttle connecting the DTC with the Las Vegas Monorail.
• 600's: Outlying routes servicing Laughlin and Mesquite.
• 701-702: Intercity Shuttle loop routes.
• 800's: Express Service for major arterial routes.

Model	Length	Year	Bus Numbers	No. In Fleet (No. Remaining)	Fuel Type	Notes
Flxible Grumman 870	40'	1980	201-208	8 (Retired)	Diesel
Flxible Grumman 870 (Former LVTS)	40'	1982	250-261	12 (Retired)	Diesel
GMC RTS (Former LVTS)	40'	1981	101-105	5 (Retired)	Diesel
Gillig Phantom(Former LVTS)	40'	1990	301-313	13 (Retired)	Diesel
New Flyer D60HF (Former LVTS)	60'	1991	500-503	4 (Retired)	Diesel
TMC RTS	40'	1992	150-154	5 (Retired)	Diesel
New Flyer D40HF	40'	1992	401-490	90 (35)	Diesel	4
New Flyer D40LF	41'	1994	601-604	4 (4)	Diesel
New Flyer D60HF	62'	1995	510-517	8 (8)	Diesel
New Flyer D40LF	41'	1995	610-631	22 (22)	Diesel
New Flyer D40LF	41'	1995	640-657	18 (17)	Diesel
New Flyer D60HF	62'	1997	520-525	6 (6)	Diesel
NABI 436.08	60'	1997	530-564	35 (34)	Diesel
El Dorado Transmark	33'	1998	351-370	20 (Retired)	Diesel	3
New Flyer D40LF	40'	1998	380-399	20 (Rejected Vehicles)	Diesel	9
NABI 436.08	60'	1998	565-575	11 (11)	Diesel
NABI 40-LFW	41'	1999	701-760	60 (57)	Diesel
Neoplan AN460L	60'	2001	504-509	6 (6)	Diesel
New Flyer C40LF	41'	2001	670-676	7 (7)	CNG	5,6
Irisbus Civis	60'	2004	M01-M10	10 (10)	Diesel-Electric	8
New Flyer D60LF	60'	2005	800-829	30 (30)	Diesel	7
Alexander Dennis Enviro 500	40'	2005	200-249	50 (49)	Diesel	1,2
New Flyer DE41LFR	41'	2007	900-929	30 (30)	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
Alexander Dennis Enviro 500	40'	2007	101-140	40 (33)	Diesel	10
New Flyer DE41LFR	40'	2007	TBA	30	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
Alexander Dennis Enviro 500	42'	2008	TBA	40	Diesel
NABI	40'	2008	949-978	30 (30)	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
New Flyer CNG	40'	2008	TBA	20	CNG
Wright StreetCar RTV	62'	2008/2009	TBA	50	Diesel-Hybrid
New Flyer CNG	40'	2009?	TBA	48	CNG	11

¹ These are the first double deckers to be used for fixed route service in Las Vegas.
² The reason for 49 remaining is because 1 coach has already been destroyed in an accident.
³ Although these coaches were fairly new, they have been retired due to their small capacity.
⁴ Coaches are being retired.
⁵ These are the only CNG coaches in the CAT fleet, for now.
⁶ Coaches were originally numbered 660-666.
⁷ Coaches have been refitted with a grill on the engine door to allow cool air to enter engine area thus avoiding engine fires.
⁸ These are the only Irisbus Civis coaches in America.
⁹ These coaches were rejected by RTC and acquired by LACMTA.
¹⁰ These coaches are arriving on RTC property.
¹¹ These vehicles were approved for purchase at the RTC Commission meeting on December 16, 2007. The notice to proceed has been given.

• 
  A retired 1992 TMC RTS.
• A 2007 Dennis E500 sporting current gold and blue livery with "The Deuce" fleetname.
  A 2007 Dennis E500 sporting current gold and blue livery with "The Deuce" fleetname.
• 
  A 2005 Dennis E500 sporting current gold and blue livery with "The Deuce" fleetname.
• 
  A retired 1990 Gillig Phantom.
• 
  A retired 1997 Eldorado National Transmark.
• 
  A 1992 D40HF sporting the original CAT livery.
• 
  A 2002 Neoplan AN460L
• 
  A 1997 New Flyer D60HF.
• 
  A 1998 NABI Model 436.
• 
  A 1995 New Flyer D40LF.
• 
  A 2001 New Flyer C40LF.
• 
  A 1999 NABI 40-LFW sporting the current gold and blue livery.
• 
  A 2005 D60LF.
• 
  A brand new 2007 DE41LFR in the current gold and blue livery.
• 
  A 2003 Irisbus Civis.

Throughout the 15 years of service, CAT has seen its share of accidents. 2 recent accidents involving CAT buses have gotten attention of the local media.

On the night of July 19, 2006, a Deuce double decker bus (Coach 224) blew a tire while traveling north on Interstate 15 and collided head on with a semi-truck which was heading southbound on I-15. The accident occurred around 10:00 pm, but since the two vehicles were so massive in size and had created a massive accident, it took cleanup crew until about 10:00 am the following morning to finish the scene. The driver of the bus survived while the driver of the truck did die. The investigation is citing the contracted maintenance company, Veolia Transportation, for not checking that tire properly, as it was reported in by drivers many times prior to the accident.

On the night of January 3, 2008, a CAT bus collided through 2 brick walls before finally hitting a house and coming to rest. Around 9:30 pm, CAT bus 915, route 207, was heading south on Christy Lane and turning left onto Mabel Road, when a mustang car collided with the bus. This sent the bus out of control and sent it through to the house. There were 3 minor injures on the bus, and unconfirmed injures in the mustang. The bus was not taken out of the property until the next morning, because officials were concerend that the bus might have made the house structurally unsafe. However, support columns were placed and the bus was removed.^{[citation needed]}

CAT operates different sized buses on different routes. Five routes are classified as 100% articulated: 109 (Maryland Parkway), 110 (Eastern Avenue), 201 (Tropicana Avenue), 202 (Flamingo Avenue), and 206 (Charleston Avenue), with the 111 (Pecos/Green Valley) scheduled to use "artics" for select runs. The system's two busiest routes, THE DEUCE and Route 109 Maryland Parkway, provide service to the Las Vegas Strip and McCarran International Airport, respectively. A majority of Las Vegas Valley residents live within a half-mile of CAT service, but this percentage seems to be decreasing, as CAT is not expanding the service area as fast as the metropolitan area is expanding.^{[citation needed]}

CAT also operates event-specific routes for special events such as auto races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, sporting events at Sam Boyd Stadium, and air shows at Nellis Air Force Base.

Most routes run from early morning (04:00) until late night (01:00). Some routes operate less frequently on weekends and holidays. 15 routes operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including THE DEUCE and 109/Maryland Parkway. Las Vegas has one of the most comprehensive night bus networks in the United States, owing to the 24 hour nature of the casinos and hospitality industry.

Even though all buses in the system have wheelchair lifts, CAT operates CAT Paratransit for people who have difficulty in accessing the regular transit system. By-appointment-only paratransit is a door-to-door service. CAT also maintains an open charge account with a local taxicab company to service paratransit ridership when unforeseen delays occur, frequently caused by traffic congestion.

• RTC of Southern Nevada, owns CAT.
• CAT website for routes and fares

• The Vegas Bus Yard Website featuring pictures of Southern Nevada buses.