A typical CAT bus
'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 owned by the
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.
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.
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 renew the bus contract, however, both had opposite opinions about the wages of the operators. Both sides were unable to reach any compromise 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 pick up 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 Desiel-Electric Hybrid vehicles from New Flyer. Later this year, 40 double deck vehicles from Alexander Dennis should arrive on property. While new vehicles continue to arrive and replace the older vehicles at CAT, the RTC is unvieling a new rapid transit system, called ACE, a winking acknowledgement to a gamblers term for the ace card, or 1. The first line will be called "ACE Downtown Connector", and will service the downtown and strip corridors.
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. 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''.
Fares
Fares as of
December 1, 2005
'Fare Type' |
'Regular' |
1'Reduced: 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:' |
$2.502 |
$1.252 |
'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 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.
Route numbers
Future Routes
★ ACE Downtown Connector: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route to serve the downtown and strip areas.
Current Routes
★ 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.
Former Routes
★ 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.
All-time fleet roster
COACH 902 was the first 900 series coach to be placed into regular fixed-route service on April 26, 2007. It served Line 208 on this afternoon and brought a new era of hybrid technology with it.
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 are 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.
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.'
CAT Vehicles
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 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.
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.
Routes, times, frequencies and stops
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.
Special services
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.
External links
Official Sites
★
RTC of Southern Nevada, owns CAT.
★
CAT website for routes and fares
Bus Fan Sites
★
The CAT Bus Yard Website featuring pictures of Southern Nevada buses.
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