Group - RTC Transit

RTC Transit is the name of the bus system in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of, Clark County, Nevada. Not all of Clark County is serviced by regular scheduled routes. The routes primarily operate within the Las Vegas Valley. RTC Transit 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 Flxible Grumman's, GMC RTS's, TMC RTS's and Gillig Phantoms. They also had purchased 90 brand new New Flyer D40HF'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). However, things began to change rapidly in the following years. In 2002, The Amalgamated Transit Union and the bus contractor, ATC, 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 first strike. Several drivers walked off the job and on to the picket lines leaving the system crippled. Several routes were initially suspended of service as a result. 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.