Streets in Southern Nevada can be right down dangerous, but new money from the federal government could help make our roads safer.

That's this week on Nevada Week .

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

(Maria Silva) Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Maria Silva, in for Amber Renee Dixon who is on maternity leave.

We'll talk to the CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission about projects in the works to help improve the daily commute in just a moment.

But first, from the Strip to the suburbs, traffic can be tricky, even dangerous.

But a new influx of money from the federal government through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aims to help.

Joining us to talk about the safety of our streets are Joey Paskey, City Traffic Engineer for the City of Las Vegas; and Erin Breen, Director with the Road Equity Alliance Project.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

(Erin Breen) Thanks for having me.

-So I'm going to take off my glasses because I have some stats that I need to read right now, and this is really important.

And I want to start with you, Erin.

You've been doing this for many years here in Southern Nevada.

How many years?

-Oh, you had to do that, huh?

[laughter] It will be 27 years on April 1.

-Well, I remember calling you 15 years ago, at five o'clock in the morning for a live shot.

And you were ready to do this because you're passionate about this.

-I am.

-But some stats here...

Between 2018 and 2022, an estimated, listen to this, 308 pedestrians died in Clark County between 2017 and 2021.

27 bicyclists died in Clark County.

We hear these-- It's jarring to hear these numbers.

-You're right.

-You have to deal with this every day.

And you have some new stats already for the year, and we're just, what, in March?

-Right, right.

You know, I take them personally is the problem.

So many of us work so hard to try to quell those numbers.

We are not alone.

It's a-- it's a national trend in many, many cities.

And the difference is, we're going to talk today a little about Vision Zero, the difference is having programs like that and not having them.

And so far we've been on the not having them side, so our numbers are up.

And we've joined lots of communities across the country in that, in that fact.

-And you do have some stats to share just from this year alone, 2023.

-I do, and very sadly.

So we call "vulnerable road users" those people who are outside of cars.

So it's pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

And they're 3% to 5% of the road users.

So they're a very small number.

But last year in the state of Nevada, 58% of our fatalities were, in fact, those vulnerable road users.

And in Clark County, 58%.

And so far this year, year to date in our city, 61% of our fatalities have been people not traveling in cars.

-Joey, Erin just mentioned Vision Zero.

A lot of people may not be aware that this exists here in Southern Nevada.

What is this program?

It's been around for decades, started actually in Europe.

(Joey Paskey) Correct.

So Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all.

It is not a new concept, as you said.

And like many other agencies, the City has been implementing safety improvements that support Vision Zero for many years.

But where this is different is that Vision Zero recognizes that people are human, and we're going to make mistakes.

So we are taking this responsibility to design and operate a transportation system that makes these inevitable mistakes less severe.

-Now, I do need to say in doing research, I did find your vision statement which says, as you touched on it, "...eliminate all transportation of fatalities and serious injuries in the city of Las Vegas by 2050."

Now when you hear this, you might think a city, growing pains, we keep growing.

We hear these staggering numbers.

Could this be a reality?

Do you-- Are you met with a lot of skepticism when you tell people by 2050 zero fatalities?

-Yes, we are often met with skepticism on this.

And what we try to do when we hear this is we try to challenge people to think, How could our goal be anything other than zero?

I mean, this could be one of your family members.

This could be one of your friends.

And even the United States Department of Transportation has adopted zero as their goal.

So we are not the only ones.

We are in very good company here, and I would think Erin would support us on this.

How could zero-- -1,000%.

Absolutely.

And it is happening.

That's the crazy thing.

There's a city in New Jersey that has had zero fatalities for the last two years.

So this is, it's not a new concept.

It is tried and true, recognizing again that we're all going to be human and we're all going to do things that might not be very smart, and if we lessen the severity of the crash-- The whole thing is, we're not going to eliminate crashes, because people are always going to be people.

But if we can make the crash less severe-- so no critical injuries, no fatalities-- and that's the key.

-And that's a big part of this, right, reactive versus proactive?

-Correct.

-And let's also talk about the funding.

We talked, the City of Las Vegas is getting quite a bit of money, 1.85 million, more than $1.8 million for this program.

How will the money be used?

-We're very excited about this.

This is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which really has the opportunity to be truly transformational towards preventing deaths and serious injuries in the nation.

And we received this as part of the Safe Streets and Roads For All program.

And we're gonna use this to build on our existing Vision Zero Action Plan, which is a living document, and going to use this for our data management and reporting and as well as to do an update in the future to our action plan.

We're excited.

There are four more years available in this program.

It's a $5 billion program.

Billion with a B.

This is really a great opportunity.

And we think there are going to be great opportunities again in the future for additional funding for implementation of the projects, hopefully to get some of our intersection improvements, pedestrian safety improvements out there on the street.

-And let's talk about a stretch of road that definitely needs a lot of attention, Boulder Highway.

We were talking off camera that every time I have to drive down there, I tense up knowing that-- And you have to be vigilant at all times.

But it is one of the deadliest roads here in Southern Nevada.

-Very sadly for the last two years, it's once again led our list of deadly roads for, for pedestrians.

Six people lost their lives on Boulder Highway as pedestrians last year.

And you know, it's-- I always say about Boulder Highway, at least it tells you in its name what it is.

We have lots of roads that are-- We don't call Flamingo Road Flamingo Highway, but that's what it is.

Or something like Blue Diamond or St. Rose Parkway.

We are a city that is built for cars, and it's very difficult for other road users to be safe on our streets.

And that's why it's so important that, you know, all these years that I've been talking about this stuff, Maria, it's finally coming to fruition.

So the City has been doing a lot of this for a long time, but now other entities are joining as well.

And, and at the same time though, the infrastructure money became available.

So it was like the perfect storm, only a good storm that, that thought processes have changed and money has become available to implement them.

-And it's interesting, the point that Boulder Highway is a what, 17-mile stretch?

So those are different jurisdictions: A little bit City of Las Vegas, County a big portion of it, as well as Henderson.

City of Henderson, they are doing some road improvements as well.

Let's talk about the County, the fact that they did have to create an Office of Traffic Safety for that very reason, because it's so bad out there when it comes to safety on our roads.

-Well, let's talk about how awesome that is.

-Yes, wonderful news.

Andrew Bennett is the director.

-And you know what a perfect, perfect person to lead that.

And so again, that's a convergence where all the stars lined up, you know?

You have commissioners that are committed, committed to changing our quality of life basically is what it comes down to.

And so, so they develop this Office of Traffic Safety, and they're doing wonderful things that-- I've always pointed at the City for being the leader in a lot of especially vulnerable road user projects.

But I am so happy to say that the County is, is right behind them these days.

I can't tell you how exciting that is.

-And it is a group effort.

-It totally is.

-Again, we talk about not just the City, the County, what you're doing, but also us as residents of this great state.

It's also up to us.

That's a big part of it, correct, Vision Zero?

-Absolutely.

And a really neat part of our Vision Zero program is that we, the City, didn't create our Vision Zero action plan by ourself.

It was a very collaborative effort, and we put together a technical advisory committee that was made up of a large number of city departments.

But it wasn't just our city departments.

We had over 20 peer and partner agencies that were involved in doing that, and that included Las Vegas Metro, the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Commissions of both Washoe County and Southern Nevada, the Clark County Office of Traffic Safety, local safety professionals like Erin.

They didn't just help us put the plan together over the course of a year and a half.

They're going to stay through implementation; they all have responsibilities as part of our plan, and they're going to help us see it through all the way to fruition.

And we're very, very fortunate to have had them on through the whole thing.

-And you have a lot of other programs, the Citywide Intersection Crash Mitigation Program, as well.

Tell us real quick about that.

-So that was actually the precursor to our Vision Zero action plan.

And it was kind of one of those things where you can't fix your problems until you know where they actually are.

And so we wanted to know where our biggest problems were and that we found out where our top 10 intersections for crashes.

And that's exactly what we did.

We figured out where our top five intersections for vehicular crashes were, our top five intersections for crashes for vulnerable users, and that we were able to find out what those were and then program them in for future improvements.

So a lot of those reside, if you look at our action plan, they reside in there for planning for future funding to take care of in the-- -And you have all this information online-- -We do.

- --which is wonderful.

We have that on our website as well.

I want to touch on something that's also really important, which is kids and teens.

That's something that you're passionate about as well.

Erin, you work on this so much for many years.

I just yesterday, by sheer coincidence, on Nextdoor someone posted: Parents of children -- they go to, I won't name the middle school-- please teach your children that are walking home about safety.

I had a group of girls run across the road in front of me and a bunch of cars-- in front of a bunch of cars.

And several people were honking at them, and the kids did not care.

What is being done, especially through your program, to make sure that these kids know about road safety and that they do also abide by the traffic laws?

-Well, so one of the big-- One of the big issues is that kids are so contained in elementary school, and suddenly they get to middle school and they get a little freedom and they don't know what to do with it.

So actually right now, a big, a big committee of community representatives-- Again, it's we're not in a vacuum here, everybody's together.

We are working on looking at how could we develop a program to have crossing guards for middle schoolers.

And that's a-- It's greatly needed.

It's been recognized that it's needed.

And so hopefully, we're going to come up with a plan for how we're going to fund that, because that's the problem.

-And before we do leave you, I do want to tell you a little bit about the contest that you have going on to incorporate and help these kids, CCSD.

Real quick.

-That's awesome.

That's the RTC program along with us.

It's called Save a Life, Win a MacBook.

And Mainor and Wirth attorneys have donated the prizes.

So all throughout the Clark County School District if your child is from kindergarten to 12 years of age, go to our website at pedsafe.vegas.

All of the information is there.

They develop a bus shelter message really aimed at drivers, or in the bus message aimed at pedestrians.

And the two winners, one wins a MacBook and one wins an iPad.

But more importantly, we take all, a lot of the top 14 entries, turn them into a calendar, do art shows with them, but the kids learn a little about traffic safety while they're developing those messages.

And that's our goal.

-Erin, thank you so much for what you're doing here in Southern Nevada.

-Thank you.

-Joey, you as well.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you both.

Well, 30 years ago the Regional Transportation Commission formed.

The goal was to coordinate transportation solutions for the entire valley.

The goal may be the same 30 years on, but some of the challenges, of course, have changed.

Managing those challenges is M.J. Maynard, CEO of the RTC.

She's here now to talk about the agency's future plans for managing transportation.

Welcome.

Thanks for being here.

(M.J. Maynard) Thanks.

I'm happy to be here.

-Now, I'm excited to talk to you because I don't think a lot of people realize what the RTC does.

We know the buses.

We see the buses out there.

But it goes beyond that.

-It sure does.

And it's funny.

When I speak to the committee, many times I ask, "Raise your hand.

How many know of the RTC and what we do?"

And every time it's, "Oh, you're the bus people."

We are, but we are also the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

And in that role, we oversee the entire transportation planning process for Southern Nevada.

We work directly with the jurisdictions.

We are also the roadway funding agency.

We are the traffic manager for the entire region.

And again, people are always surprised to hear that.

And then we also implemented and oversee the bike share program in Downtown Las Vegas.

-So you have a lot on your plate.

And I bring that up because yesterday, well, earlier this week, there was an incident, and I was getting all my updates on the road closures from the RTC's Twitter account.

-First of all, I'm so-- Thanks for following us.

We do our best.

We have great relationships with all of the, you know, it's Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

We co-locate with Department of Public Safety.

And so we have obviously the app, the camera system we tap into.

We, by Tweet, by text, we ensure that as we learn what's happening on the arterials or the freeway system, we want the committee to know so that they can better plan their commute.

-And let's talk about 30 years in Southern Nevada.

You had a big celebration in December.

Also honored some of your bus drivers who have been there from the get go, as well as your mechanics.

Tell me a little bit about that celebration.

-You know, I know for us here in Southern Nevada, we think, 30 years!

Such a long time.

But when you compare the RTC to some of the transit systems on the East Coast.

For example, the subway system in Boston is over 100 years old.

So 30 years, you know, the fundamental role of the RTC is to connect people.

And so for the last 30 years, we've been really privileged to be able to provide folks public transit connections to where they work, where they live, where they play.

But for such a young system, I think people are surprised to learn just what a busy system we are.

Pre-pandemic, so 2019, we were ranked as the 12th busiest bus system in the United States.

We provided over 65 million annual passenger trips.

Coming out of the pandemic, we are now ranked about 14th busiest.

Just last year, we moved more than 41 million passenger rides on our transit system.

We're also-- and I'm really proud of the team-- we are ranked as the most efficient bus system in the United States.

Again, for just a 30-year-old transit system, we try to work really diligently with the assets that we have.

And so we have-- We rank as having the lowest operating cost.

And so we're really proud of it.

But it's been a, it's been a journey.

And there's more to come.

-And let's talk about those incredible bus drivers.

How many do you have on board?

-So we contract out our service.

Our drivers work for NV Keolis.

Combined, there's probably close to 2,000 employees that work diligently to ensure that transit is out on the roads every single day.

-And let's talk about those bus drivers.

Obviously, there's safety, a top priority.

There's-- It was recently mentioning some of them might be getting, you know, death threats or a lot of disgruntled bus riders.

They're frustrated.

How are you keeping your bus drivers safe?

That's so important.

-You know, it's really important, and we actually meet with the drivers, quite frankly, just to hear what it is that they need.

So back in 2016, we actually introduced driver enclosures on board the buses.

I think we're the first transit system in the United States to do that.

So this-- And then during the pandemic, we made sure those driver enclosures were fully enclosed.

So there's a safety barrier, if you will.

But, you know, one incident against, whether it's against an operator or a passenger that takes public transit is one too many.

And so we again, we work closely with the police department.

We work closely with our federal government to identify federal dollars to-- We've invested in a new camera system.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department asks us to have the ability to have a live look in.

So if there's something happening on board a bus, we're able to look on board in realtime.

We-- Oh, I'm sorry.

-I was going to say it's wonderful you are keeping them safe.

We're going to meet a bus driver in just a bit.

You mentioned federal funding.

I want to talk a little bit about the more than $1.6 million that you recently received, or you're getting from Safe Streets and Roads, the grant program.

-Yes.

-How will that money be used here in Southern Nevada?

-So that-- That's sort of a step one of a multi-step process.

We will work closely with all of the jurisdictions, so the cities and the county, to identify almost a planning process to use criteria to identify what safety measures would need to take place to make the roads safer.

So for example, it could be a reengineering design of the roadways.

It might be more pedestrian signalization.

It might be technology, advanced intersection analytics, that will detect folks that are running red lights.

Things of that nature.

Once that criteria is put together, then we can wait for the second round of funding to look for funding to implement those changes.

-And I love that you really are about getting the community's input.

That's so important.

You recently did your On Board Mobility Plan.

This survey, more than 40,000 people responded to that survey.

Talk to us about that.

What did you find out from their responses?

-Well, so we want-- We never want to be the agency that makes decisions behind our desk, right?

And so we work for the public.

It's really-- It's we have to work very diligently to ensure that we're not just posting a flyer, Hey, we're gonna be at the library.

Come talk to us.

So we, we get out to the customers where they are.

We also do, whether it is online surveys, surveys in person, we work with community groups to talk to their folks.

And we heard that Southern Nevadans want more high capacity transit.

They would like to see safety as a greater feature, safety and comfort on board the bus.

And we were just really pleasantly surprised that many southern Nevadans, and these are folks that we not only did a survey with folks that take transit, but also folks that don't take transit.

And the folks that don't take transit were really keen on ensuring that there were services provided for seniors, for the disabled community, and for students.

And so all of those are priority in our on board plan.

-And we did visit your RTC Mobility Training Center.

And I was really impressed that that even exists.

Again, I think another facility that people might not know is around.

Tell us a little bit about that.

I was reading information you even do dog training there, as well.

-We do, we do.

Our job is really to do what we can to enhance the quality of life for southern Nevadans.

And many times it's freedom, being independent, travel independently to where you need to go.

So the Mobility Training Center helps, whether it's students, seniors, or the visually impaired, learn how to take a fixed-route bus.

So we actually have real buses inside the facility.

We also certify paratransit customers at that facility.

So I encourage, we have tours, if anybody wants to come down and take a look.

But it's, it really is about how can folks more independently travel around Southern Nevada.

-Okay, so 30 years.

What are we expecting, let's say, the next 30 years for the RTC?

-Next 30 years, our number one priority is to identify a sustainable funding source that will allow us to continue at least operating what we have, but also to implement some of the 64 projects that have been identified in our long-range On Board Mobility Plan.

And so this is-- I think funding is probably the, the most important, the most important problem, challenge, and opportunity that we face right now.

-And speaking of funding, you are keeping a close eye on what's happening up in Carson City with the legislature.

Tell us about that, because you are facing a deficit.

-We are.

We've had conversations with our RTC Board of Commissioners.

We've had conversations with our Transportation Resource Advisory Committee (TRAC) that's made up of key stakeholders here in Southern Nevada.

So the business committee, Chambers of Commerce, education, healthcare, labor, seniors, veterans, and they've all scrubbed our numbers and they said yes, RTC, you have a fiscal cliff that is approaching.

So we want you to start socializing and looking for opportunities for additional funding.

So as we start to work with the legislators, both the Assembly and the Senate, that's something that we're-- It will be a top priority for us as these conversations begin.

-I will definitely be keeping a close eye on that and check in with you in a few months when it comes to that.

And I need to ask you on a personal level, what are you most proud of when it comes to the RTC?

-I am proud of all of the employees.

And not just RTC employees, but the drivers and mechanics.

Everybody that every day they get up, they care deeply about the community in which they serve, and I couldn't be prouder of all the work that they do behind the scenes and right in front of the customer to make sure that we are serving southern Nevadans in the way they need to be served.

-And it was pretty special to see the video of the ceremony and how proud those bus drivers and mechanics were to go up there and greet you and meet the mayor and just know that they're being, you know, commended for what they do.

-They are amazing.

They're the heartbeat.

They really are the heartbeat of, of what we do.

And we could not do it without them.

-And M.J., thank you so much for being here.

And speaking of your bus drivers, I got the chance to sit down with one of the bus drivers who's been on the job for 30 years.

And when you meet her, you will understand why she's been behind that wheel for so very long, why her bus riders just adore her, plus how she is inspiring younger generations to follow in her footsteps.

The RTC celebrating 30 years of providing transit service for both southern Nevadans and tourists alike.

Fifteen bus drivers have been around since day one, including Miss Sara Ghaly.

(Sara Ghaly) Wow!

Hi, Miss Maria.

-Hi, Sara.

How are you?

-Come on in.

-All right, let's go for a ride.

Sara, 30 years on the job as a bus driver.

30 years on the Las Vegas Strip, the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip.

Tell me about that experience.

-Well, it's a lot of change.

I see a lot of traffic, a lot of people, a lot of new casino.

When I was there in 1992, it wasn't so many.

It was really small.

Like Hacienda now is Mandalay Bay.

Luxor wasn't there.

Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, all this new.

A lot of people move to Vegas.

-Yeah.

And a lot of tourists too.

Now, you're dealing with a lot of tourists every day.

How has that experience been?

-I have no problem.

-And talk about-- you actually are on the double-decker bus.

That's a huge bus.

You drive that on the Las Vegas Strip.

-On Las Vegas, it's a huge bus.

It look to me it's a small bus, actually.

-But it is big.

I mean, you've gotten used to driving and you do it.

I was watching you driving that bus, and it's just so effortless for you.

You do it so easily.

-Of course easy because I'm used to more on big buses.

If you put me on my car, uh-oh.

I don't know how to drive my car.

-Now, Sara, you're also inspiring our future drivers.

Tell me the story about that young man who waited for you on the Las Vegas Strip.

-This young man, he's named Patrick.

Patrick used to ride the bus.

He was 14 years old.

He was waiting for me with a big smile.

Guess what?

He's a bus driver now.

-So when you saw him the first time, did you go, You look familiar.

-You are my son.

-Oh!

Recently you were honored along with the other 14 drivers who have been here those 30 years.

The mayor was there.

And they called you heroes.

Do you consider yourself a hero?

-Yes.

-Yes, I love it, because let's talk about that.

During the pandemic, you were still working, right?

-I worked.

-You were an essential worker?

-Yes.

I worked six days at the time when the pandemic was.

-Because people are essential workers still had to get to work.

-Right.

-Yes.

So you are a hero.

-Thank you.

-And like Sara, all of our bus drivers are definitely heroes in my book.

Thank you so much for what you do on a daily basis.

And thank you at home for joining us for this week's Nevada Week .

To see any of the resources discussed, including information on road safety efforts, improvements, and transportation projects, go to our website, vegaspbs.org/nevada.

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