The Road Ahead with RTC: Proposed Transit Service Improvements

SPONSORED: The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) is proposing improvements to our community’s transit service. Before implementing these changes, the RTC is seeking community feedback.

The community is asked to review the changes and provide feedback by February 23, 2023. Comments can be submitted via email to mdulude@rtcwashoe.com or via phone to (775) 335-0019.

If approved by the RTC Board at the February 24, 2023 meeting, the proposed changes would be implemented in early May 2023 and would redesign transit routes to improve service. These changes were recommended by the community and the RTC Board as part of the RTC’s Transit Optimization Plan Strategies (TOPS) to improve transit in Washoe County. The TOPS recommendations are outlined on the RTC’s website. The RTC began rolling out the recommended improvements in 2021. This is year two of the five-year improvement plan and additional improvements are planned to continue as staffing and funding allow.

The RTC is proposing the following changes be implemented in May 2023:

Improved Northwest Reno Service

• Route 11: Extend east to McCarran Boulevard in Sparks and extend west to 7th Street Walmart in Reno via the Sky Mountain/Sky Valley loop. Maintain 30-minute service. Provide a connection to Route 4, Somersett-Verdi FlexRIDE, and Sparks-Spanish Springs FlexRIDE.
• Route 4: Modify to loop around Walmart. Eliminate library extension. Fill in Sunday service gap. Modify segment run times.
• Somersett-Verdi FlexRIDE: Extend FlexRIDE service zone eastward.
• Route 3: Discontinue this route and replace it with redesigned service options. The southern portion of this route will be replaced with the new Route 11 westward extension and the northern portion of this route will be replaced with an expanded Somersett-Verdi FlexRIDE zone.

Modified Sparks Service

• Route 11: Extend east to McCarran Boulevard in Sparks and extend west to the 7th Street Walmart in Reno via the Sky Mountain/Sky Valley loop. Maintain 30-minute service. Provide a connection to Route 4, Somersett-Verdi FlexRIDE, and Sparks-Spanish Springs FlexRIDE
• Route 21: Extend to Northern Nevada Medical Center.
• Route 26: Discontinue this route and replace with expanded Route 11 and expanded Route 21.

Enhanced Senior Services

• Washoe Senior Ride Program: Improve CardONE loading process. Each month, participants will automatically receive a subsidy of $10 per taxi trip up to 6 trips per month.
• Washoe Uber Rides Program: Increase coverage of up to $10 per trip for up to 6 trips per month.

Other Improvements

• Regional Connector: Approve a reciprocal fare agreement with Jump Around Carson (JAC), the transit system in Carson City, to eliminate transfer fees for users connecting between the JAC and RTC transit systems.
• All routes: Continuation of timetable adjustments to continue improving travel times and on-time performance.
• Ongoing Technology Improvements: Introduce a new transit app called Transit. The app will allow passengers to coordinate and plan trips on both RTC RIDE and RTC FlexRIDE at the same time and will be integrated with the Token Transit app to allow passengers to pay for their trip within the app. The Transit app will also allow passengers to view real-time bus locations and see when the next bus will arrive at their stop.

The RTC continually analyzes its transit operations to maximize resources and improve efficiency to enhance and provide quality customer service to riders. This analysis tracks ridership data, gathers input from the transit operators, and input received from passengers and the public.

For more information, visit rtcwashoe.com

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