Citizens Area Transit
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| Locale | Las Vegas, Nevada |
|---|---|
| Transit type | Bus System<tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">Began operation</th><td>December 5, 1992</td></tr><tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">No. of lines</th><td>47</td></tr> |
| Operator | Veolia Transportation |
Citizens Area Transit (or CAT) is 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 operated by Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.
Contents |
[edit] History
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. The 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. Although they did comply with relinquishing everything, LVTS continued to run for a few more years before finally fading away in the Vegas lights.
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. The Amalgamated Transit Union and the RTC began to have opposite opinions about how things were to be run. Both sides were unable to reach any compromise and in 2002, 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 pick up the buses and serve the city. Eventually all was settled and things returned back to normal.
In 2004, CAT recieved 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 recieved 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).
[edit] Equipment
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 (however, supervisors have informed drivers not to use the guiding system anymore due to a bus imbalance). 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.
[edit] Fares
Fares as of December 1, 2005
| Fare Type | Regular | 1Reduced: Seniors/Students |
| Residential One-Way Fare: | $1.25 | $0.60 |
| Strip One-Way Fare: | $2.00 | $1.00 |
| One-Trip Ridecard (same as Red. One-Way Fare): | $1.25 | $0.60 |
| Residential 1-Day Pass: | $2.50 | $1.25 |
| Strip 1-Day Pass: | $5.00 | $5.00 |
| 30-Day Pass: | $40.00 | $20.00 |
NOTE: Although Routes 115 and 202 now use double-deck buses (not Deuce buses, whose name only applies to double-deck buses on The Strip), 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 id, whether it be a high school ID, CAT Reduced ID, or another transit systems Reduced Card.
[edit] Route numbers
[edit] All-Time fleet roster
| Model | Length | Year | Bus Numbers | No. In Fleet (No. Remaining) | Fuel Type | Notes |
GMC RTS |
40' | 198? | 101-105 | 5 (0) | Diesel | |
| GMC RTS |
40' | 198? | 150-154 | 5 (0) | Diesel | |
| Flixble Grumman 870 |
40' | 198? | 201-208 | 8 (0) | Diesel | |
| Flixble Grumman 870 |
40' | 198? | 250-261 | 12 (0) | Diesel | |
| Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 |
40' | 2005 | 200-249 | 50 (46) | Diesel | 1,2 |
| Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 |
40' | 2007 | TBA | 40 | Diesel | |
| Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 |
40' | 2008 | TBA | 40 | Diesel | |
| Gillig Phantom |
40' | 1990 | 301-313 | 13 (0) | Diesel | |
| El Dorado Transmark |
33' | 1998 | 351-370 | 20 (20) | Diesel | 3 |
| New Flyer D40LF |
40' | 1998 | 380-399 | 20 (0) | Diesel | 9 |
| New Flyer D40HF |
40' | 1992 | 401-490 | 90 (75) | Diesel | 4 |
| New Flyer D60HF |
60' | 1991 | 500-503 | 4 (1) | Diesel | |
| Neoplan AN460L |
60' | 2001 | 504-509 | 6 (6) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D60HF |
60' | 1995 | 510-517 | 8 (8) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D60HF |
60' | 1997 | 520-525 | 6 (6) | Diesel | |
| NABI 436.08 |
60' | 1997 | 530-564 | 35 (34) | Diesel | |
| NABI 436.08 |
60' | 1998 | 565-575 | 11 (11) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D40LF |
40' | 1994 | 601-604 | 4 (4) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D40LF |
40' | 1995 | 610-631 | 22 (22) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D40LF |
40' | 1995 | 640-657 | 18 (18) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer C40LF |
40' | 2001 | 670-676 | 7 (7) | CNG | 5,6 |
| NABI 40-LFW |
40' | 1999 | 701-760 | 60 (60) | Diesel | |
| New Flyer D60LF |
60' | 2005 | 800-829 | 30 (30) | Diesel | 7 |
| Irisbus Civis |
60' | 2004 | M01-M10 | 10 (10) | Diesel-Electric | 8 |
| Wright StreetCar RTV |
62' | 2008 | TBA | 50 | Diesel-Hybrid | |
| New Flyer DE40LFR |
40' | 200? | TBA | 20 | Diesel-Electric |
denotes accessible vehicles
1 These are the first double deckers to be used for fixed route service in Las Vegas.
2 The reason for 46 remaining is because 4 coaches have already been destroyed in accidents.
3 Although these coaches are fairly new, they are in danger of retirement due to their small capacity.
4 Coaches are being retired.
5 These are the only CNG coaches in the CAT fleet.
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.
[edit] Service area
CAT operates different size 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 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.
CAT also operates event-specific routes for the NASCAR races at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and events at Sam Boyd Stadium located about 7 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
CAT recently introduced London-inspired double decker buses to their Strip service. They are known as The Deuce, a winking acknowledgment to the gambler's term for two.
[edit] Routes, times, frequencies and stops
Most routes run from early morning (05:00) until late night (01:00). Some routes operate less frequently on weekends. Fourteen routes operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including THE DEUCE and 109/Maryland Parkway.
[edit] Special services
Even though all buses in the system have wheelchair lifts, CAT operates 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.
[edit] External links
- RTC of Southern Nevada, operates CAT
- CAT website for routes and fares
- The CAT Bus Yard The only website on the net that is dedicated to the buses of Citizens Area Transit.
