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Well, I tried to be a “green” citizen.

I tried to prevent global warming.

I tried to save trees, plants, and baby dinosaurs.

Despite my best efforts, however, the Las Vegas Regional Transit Authority told me to go fornicate myself with a sharp stick … although not in those exact words.

You see, shortly after 1pm today, I walked over to the Stratosphere ACE stop with the full intent to buy a one-way pass (which the RTC calls a “2 hour all access pass”) to go to the Tropicana.

Why was I buying only a one-way pass?

Because the person with whom I was meeting with at the Trop had rented a car for the week, and I anticipated returning home not on the ACE, but in a private vehicle.

Sounds reasonable, no?

Apparently this was not reasonable at all, because when I got to the ACE ticket machine, I quickly learned that the RTC had completely eliminated the $3 one-way ticket option.  A ticket, I might add, which is by far the most popular with locals.  Residents who take the bus to work or shop typically only ride it twice in 24 hours.  Once going to work and once coming back. This makes the $3 pass a logical choice, but according to the ticket machine, it was a choice that had been 86′ed.

Now, at this point I had to make a decision for myself.  I had to decide whether it was worth $7 for a one-way, 3 mile bus ride.  Keep in mind that while I was mulling this over, my own private vehicle was parked at my home only a block away.

After about 15 seconds of careful consideration, I advocated very loudly, in front of two mormon missionaries, for the RTC to engage in carnal acts with a rabid rhinoceros … at which point I walked back to my car, got in, and contributed to both pollution and gridlock as I drove to the Tropicana parking garage.  It wasn’t that I didn’t have the seven bucks for a ticket, it was that there was no way in hell that I would support such an overt rider-unfriendly move on the part of the RTC.

“Come on, Rex.  This is not rider-unfriendly, this is locals-unfriendly and it’s obvious that Las Vegas hates locals.  If you want transit, move to Boston.  The ACE and Deuce buses are geared toward tourists, and it’s obvious that all tourists want 24-hour passes.”

You know, anonymous commenter, I considered your point, and I disagree with you.  At least partially.

While I 100% agree that Las Vegas treats its citizens with contempt and hostility unlike any I have encountered elsewhere … I also believe that this move takes away a great deal of choice and flexibility from tourists.

For instance, if a couple of visitors take a cab from the Stratosphere to Fremont Street to see the light show, and upon arriving, realized that the ACE stops directly adjacent to Binion’s, they might be tempted to take the bus back to their hotel.  Upon learning that it would only be $3/each, and thus cheaper than a cab, this might seal the deal for them.  I believe that this is a perfectly realistic scenario.

Now, however, this option will not be available to them.  In order for this couple to take the bus back to the Strat, they will have to commit $14 to bus fare even if they only intend to use it once.  Depending on traffic, this could actually work out to be slightly more than a cab.

To give you another example, let’s say a party of 4 people drives to Planet Hollywood from the Four Queens, but two members of the party decide that they want to return to the 4Q early.  Under this scenario, they will have absolutely no need for a 24-hour bus pass.  They will, however, have to pay for it.

For another example, lets assume that someone wants to take the ACE Bus 6 hours before they leave to go back home.  Given that the average stay in Las Vegas is between 48-72 hours, this is not a stretch.  Obviously, they are not going to be able to ride the ACE enough times to make their day pass worthwhile.  Here again, the rider will be forced to overpay or take another means of transit.

In my opinion, the removal of the $3 fare option by the RTC may very well hurt ridership.  It might even hurt it significantly.  It is a very monorail-esque move, and we all know how that worked out.  In theory, our transit system is supposed to serve all demographics of Las Vegas, tourists and locals alike.  This latest move, however, is just another ill-conceived money-grab.

As a public entity, the RTC should be taken to task for this, and they should be forced to reinstate a reasonable one-way fare structure from every station in the transit system.  Yes, this is a tourist town, but it is also a city of 2 million residents.  We don’t need another Disneyland tram whose sole focus is the maximization of revenue and the ripping off of everyone who gets near it.  With the traffic situation in this town getting worse with no end in sight, we need a transit system that focuses on the needs of the riders, not the needs of the corrupt entities who run the systems.

I had a good six-week run with the ACE system, but unless the $3 one-way fares return, it is now highly unlikely that I will take it in the future.  As much as I try to be a good citizen of this town, and as much as I try to do the right thing, the fact is that I personally own three automobiles.  I try to minimize their use, and I try to take alternatives whenever possible, but in Las Vegas, there is such a strong disincentive to do so that I don’t even know why I try.

The more I think about it, maybe I won’t try anymore.  The whole thing just seems to be a losing cause.  This town wants everybody in a private automobile for every trip, and they fully intend to punish the hell out of anyone who dares to do otherwise.

I’m beginning to get the hint.

Anyway, it didn’t take long for Las Vegas to turn something promising into complete shit, but in this city … it never does.

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