4.4 Buses and the strip trolly
Strip Buses - (702) 228-7433
RTC Transit is the name of the public bus system in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Clark County, Nevada. RTC Transit is owned by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, and it services most of Clark County including the Las Vegas strip with regularly scheduled routes.
The privately owned Las Vegas Transit System, Inc. ("LVT") provided bus service for Las Vegas for more than 40 years. At one point, LVT was named America's worst transit system. Under pressure from the county and state, and by court order, the company was ordered to cease operations and relinquish all its equipment, land, and property to the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Clark County.
In 1992, the Citizens Area Transit (CAT) was formed by the RTC to provide reliable bus service to the Las Vegas area. The fare for a one way ride up or down The Strip was $2.00.
In 2005, CAT received its first shipment of 50 double decker buses which were put on the The Strip Route. The CAT fleet was retired in 2007 and the Citizens Area Transit system was rebranded as RTC Transit. RTC received another 40 double-deck buses in the summer of 2008.
The route is now called "The Deuce" The London-type double decker buses are heated and air conditioned and the view from the top is spectacular. The buses seat 27 people on the lower deck, 53 on the upper deck, and are 40 feet long.
The RTC raised its fares to $3.00 in 2009, blaming higher fuel costs experienced in 2008 and the bad economy of 2009. In 2010, the RTC approved another rate hike which became effective on August 2, 2010.
The Resort Corridor (The Deuce Strip) Route No. 301 has been replaced with "Deuce on the Strip" which operates 24/7 starts at the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas and, heading southbound, stops at designated stops -- virtually every hotel and casino -- making the trip along the Las Vegas Strip painfully slow. (It can take an hour or more to get from Downtown to the south end of The Strip.) The Deuce makes a U-Turn in front of the LV Premium Outlet after passing Mandalay Bay before heading northbound. The slow Deuce on the Strip (used to be called No. 301) bus operates about every 15 or 20 minutes 24 hours a day.
The Strip & Downtown Express Deuce (Route No. SDX) bus provides express service along the Las Vegas Strip from the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, to downtown Las Vegas, the strip, and the south strip area. It stops at fewer hotels so it is faster. The Express Deuce runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
The fare along The Strip is now $6.00 for a 2-hour pass; $8.00 for a 24-hour pass and $20.00 for a 3-day pass. You can order it online or buy from most 7-Eleven locations, a pass means you get unlimited rides during that time period. Fares can either be paid onboard (exact amount only) or at a ticket vending machine at selected stops. Pass (see photo above) must be swiped at the farebox when boarding. If you are over 60 it is half price ONLY ON RESIDENTIAL ROUTES, there is no discount on the strip route :(. You have to tell the driver - they will not ask you.
Take Advantage of Free Monorail
Since most LV hotels belong to the same companies, they created a free monorail transportation in between hotels for free. Namely: 1) Bellagio - CityCenter - Monte Carlo hotel tram. 2) Excalibur - Luxor - Mandalay Bay hotel tram. 3) Treasure Island - Mirage tram. For more info visit this page and scroll to the bottom.
History: Arrow Strip Trolley
In Good Old Days The Vegas.com Arrow trolley bus used to have three separate routes. This casino-to-casino fleet of trolleys is run by the huge Sin City website: Vegas.com. Each bus features kiosks with touch-screen TVs that allow riders to access Vegas.com to make dinner reservations and purchase show and club passes, all while on board.
Riders used to get off at a number of stops along both sides of the Las Vegas Strip. They could purchase the passes at most hotel tour desks. Arrow one-way rides cost $2.50; $10 for an all-day pass. The trolley bus was generally less crowded than the city "Deuce" buses. The Arrow operates every twenty minutes, traffic permitting, from 8:30 a.m. until midnight. But now its a history.
The Arrow had three separate routes (1.) a strip loop that runs from Mandalay Bay up to Wynn Las Vegas; (2.) a North Strip/Downtown loop that runs from the Fashion Show Mall to Downtown including the convention center and (3.) a far south strip route to the Outlet Mall.
The Arrow carried 2,000 to 5,000 riders a day compared to the Monorail's 24,000 and the Deuce's 30,000. Vehicles from the old Las Vegas Strip Trolley were remodeled as The Vegas.com Arrow Shuttle in 2007. They pick up right at your casino-hotel and cannot pick up passengers on Las Vegas Blvd.
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