Southern Nevada officials can ‘get aggressive’ to research, fund proposed light rail

Regional Transportation Commission

A series of bills approved by the Nevada Legislature allows the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada to more vigorously pursue long-term mass transit solutions to the Maryland Parkway corridor and beyond.

The Regional Transportation Commission is studying options to improve mobility along the corridor, including McCarran International Airport, UNLV, Sunrise Hospital and other key locations in the area.

A multimillion-dollar light rail system, cheaper bus rapid transit line and a streetcar route are all being explored for Maryland Parkway. The package of bills included enabling policies in Senate Bill 149, public-private partnerships in Senate Bill 448 and a state infrastructure bank in Assembly Bill 399.

“Now, at this point, what this allowed us to do is really get aggressive in exploring different types of technologies that we can apply to that corridor, and then going to the (federal government) and really officially start getting into the federal process for securing federal funding,” said commission General Manager Tina Quigley.

Bus rapid transit, which is a system of buses with their own lane and fewer stops, would cost an estimated $300 million while a full light rail would be about $600 million, Quigley said.

She said an environmental study on Maryland Parkway is expected to be cleared this summer, with public meetings before fall to hear what residents want. If residents are against light rail, that option would likely be abandoned in favor of one that will gather more community support, she said.

“That’s the most progressed route right now as it relates to moving through the federal process, which means going through the environmental work and preparing preliminary engineering and public outreach,” Quigley said.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed SB149 into law earlier this month, officially giving the RTC the authority to pursue these types of transportation projects. The bill drew support from groups including the Sierra Club and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and also allows the RTC to ask voters to pass a sales tax to fund transportation projects.

The commission has not decided whether voters will see a 2018 ballot question on transportation funding. The bill gives officials until the end of 2020 to request a vote.

Instead, Quigley says, the commission is focused on its On Board transportation study, which seeks to identify transportation improvement priorities. The study is expected to be completed in late 2018.

Quigley says the research that’s been conducted so far shows there is demand for the improvements to the corridor, which sees about 33,000 vehicles and 9,000 transit riders daily.

A description of the study says Nevada’s 2.1 million resident population is projected to grow to 2.7 million people by 2025. The number of annual visitors is also expected to grow from 43 million in 2016 to 53 million in 2025.

SB448 allows public entities in Clark County to partner with private groups to design, construct, operate, maintain and finance certain transportation projects. Nevada statute previously limited these partnerships for roadway projects.

“Through this agreement, the skills and assets of each sector (public and private) are shared in delivering a service or facility for the use of the general public,” according to the RTC. “In addition to the sharing of resources, each party shares in the potential risks and rewards in the delivery of the service and/or facility.”

AB399, meanwhile, creates a structure for a state infrastructure bank that can be used to help finance certain projects, though funding has yet to be identified. This piece of legislation allows the bank, once funded and created, to set up transportation and utility accounts.

Quigley said studying other communities led to these bills being introduced and passed.

“As a result of our peer reviews, we started to review our current statute and quickly realized that we needed to modernize and codify what we currently do today,” Quigley said. “In addition, similar to what other communities had in their toolbox, we wanted to ensure that, if needed, Southern Nevada had the ability to engage in additional funding opportunities that were available and made sense.”

Las Vegas and Columbus, Ohio, are the only two major metropolitan areas in the United States that do not have mass transit systems between the airports and downtown areas, Quigley says. Public meetings will give officials an opportunity to explain the benefits and drawbacks of each option for the corridor.

While a light rail system does come with high costs, it carries other benefits that a bus rapid transit system might not. Quigley said light rail communities including Phoenix and Salt Lake City were used as models and resources for information, and that the Arizona model shows how these systems can spur growth.

“Not only does (light rail) come with extensive amounts of reliability and public comfort as opposed to just bus rapid transit, it also brings with it development along whatever corridor that it’s been constructed,” Quigley said.

She said Phoenix is one of the “mentor cities” that officials have looked to during the research process. Quigley said Phoenix chose a corridor very similar to Maryland Parkway, both areas that have many destinations and are ready for redevelopment.

“Maryland Parkway is one of those corridors that really is ripe and ready for significant mixed use, commercial, residential development,” Quigley said.

Voters passed a ballot question to help support Phoenix’s 20-mile, $1 billion light rail system in 2000.

Officials wanted the system to generate $3.5 billion in economic activity within 10 years. Within that decade, officials have already seen $8.9 billion in developer investment along the route, Quigley said.

“When you do have the right corridor, with destinations and a good number of rooftop and employment densities, you really can do something special for your community,” she said.