Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County

Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County

Founded	1979; 45 years ago (1979) by the Nevada Legislature
Headquarters	Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Locale	Northern Nevada
Service area	Washoe County
Service type	Bus service, paratransit, express bus service, highway construction and transportation planning
Daily ridership	18,300 (weekdays, Q3 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	5,162,600 (2023)[2]
Operator	Keolis (RIDE) MTM (ACCESS)
Chief executive	Bill Thomas
Website	rtcwashoe.com

The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) is the public body responsible for the transportation needs throughout Reno, Sparks and Washoe County, Nevada. The RTC, founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1979, is an amalgamation of the Regional Street and Highway Commission, the Regional Transit Commission and the Washoe County Area Transportation Study Policy Committee.^[3] They provide public transportation services, street and highway construction, and transportation planning. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 5,162,600, or about 18,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

RTC RIDE is the public transit bus system.^[4] From its inception as Citifare in the late 1970s, the system has since been rebranded and has grown to include a service area of approximately 60 square miles (160 km²) and an annual ridership of 8.5 million.

During the early part of the 20th century, streetcars provided public transportation between Reno and Sparks and served Downtown Reno, the University of Nevada, and the early suburbs of Reno. By the late 1920s, the streetcars became unprofitable and the tracks were removed. The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) created the Citifare bus system after several decades of substandard private bus transit. Citifare service began on September 17, 1978 with five used buses serving four routes. Throughout the next twenty five years, the system grew to a fleet of 75 buses operating 30 routes. These years also saw the construction of two transit centers—CitiCenter in Downtown Reno in 1984 and CitiStation near Victorian Square in Downtown Sparks. By 2003, the growing success of the system, coupled with planning efforts to incorporate bus rapid transit and transit oriented development into the community, lead the RTC to implement a rebranding of the entire organization, as well as Citifare, over the upcoming years.

With the rebranding of the entire organization, planning, streets and highways construction, and public transportation were streamlined to provide a better identity for the organization and to improve service to the community. Original Nova coaches were gradually replaced with low floor Gillig coaches. New logos and bus livery was implemented. New shelters and bus stop signage were also introduced. The RTC also began working on new capital projects to replace the aging CitiCenter and CitiStation transit terminals. In October 2008, RTC opened RTC Centennial Plaza in Sparks and the RTC Citicenter in downtown Reno was replaced by the new RTC 4th Street Station on October 31, 2010.

Children 5 years old or younger 6 ride free when accompanied by a fare-paying rider.^[5] Fares may be purchased on board in cash^[5] or purchased with an online or fax order form.^[6] Beginning in December 2016 passes are also available for purchase on the Token Transit mobile ticketing app.^[7]

RTC RIDE operates on a hub and spoke system, with routes that radiate out from the transit centers and then returning in. It also operates on a pulse system that allows for timed transfers at the transit centers every fifteen minutes. Routes 1-19 generally operate in the Reno area and originate from RTC 4TH STREET STATION. Routes 20-29 generally operate in the Sparks area and originate from RTC CENTENNIAL PLAZA. Routes 50-59 generally operate in South Reno and originate from RTC MEADOWOOD MALL TRANSFER FACILITY.

• 1- South Virginia
• 2- 9th Street/Silverada/Sparks
• 3- Kings Row/Mae Anne/Sky Mountain
• 4- West 7th
• 5- Sutro/Wedekind/Sun Valley
• 6- Arlington/Moana
• 7- Stead
• 9- Glendale/Kietzke
• 11- 4th Street/Prater Way/East Sparks
• 12- Airport Terminal/Neil/Meadowood Mall
• 13- Kirman/Locust/Park Lane
• 14- East Mill
• 15- Sutro/Selmi/TMCC
• 16- Idlewild
• 18- Glendale/Greg
• 21- Sparks Marina/East Prater
• 54- Mira Loma/Rock
• 56- South Meadows/Damonte Ranch

These are routes that formerly operated within the past 20 years:

• 1- South Virginia (Replaced by RTC RAPID and RAPID CONNECT)
• 2s- West Sparks (Discontinued)
• 3CC & 3CL- Kings Row/Mae Anne/Sky Mountain (Replaced by Route 11)
• 8- Washington/Evans loop
• 10- South Virginia
• 10- Parr Blvd/TMCC (second iteration)
• 11X- Reno-Sparks Express
• 12- West Sparks (replaced by Route 2s)
• 14A- Mill/Airport
• 17 – Lemmon Valley (replaced by FlexRide North Valleys, parts integrated into the Route 7)
• 18X- Glendale-Greg Express (replaced by Route 28/discontinued in September 2017)
• 19- Greg/Vista (second iteration)
• 19- Wells/Plumb/Airport (Replaced by Route 13)
• 22- Northeast Sparks
• 24- Vassar/Airport
• 25- East Prater/Baring (replaced by FlexRide Sparks/Spanish Springs)
• 26- East Prater (Partially Replaced by Routes 11 and 21)
• 28- Glendale/Spice Island
• 37- Moya/Lear (largely incorporated into route 7)
• 55- Ridgeview
• 57- Damonte Ranch (incorporated into route 56)
• RTC CONNECT (Route was renamed back to route 1 on 8/11/13)

• 2004 Gillig Phantom (Bus Numbers 492-494) Used for Training mostly
• 2006–2008 Gillig BRT Diesel (Bus Numbers 509-530)
• 2010 New Flyer DE60LFA (Bus Numbers 606-613)
• 2013 Proterra Ecoliner 35-Foot (Bus Numbers 306-309)
• 2013 Gillig BRTPlus Hybrid (Bus Numbers 531-538)
• 2017–2018 Proterra Catalyst E2 40-Foot (Bus Numbers 310-324)
• 2018 Proterra Catalyst E2 40 Foot (Bus Numbers 539-542) Used on RTC REGIONAL CONNECTOR
• 2020–2021 New Flyer XDE40 Hybrid (Bus Numbers 543-561)
• 2020–2021 Proterra ZX5 40-Foot (Bus Numbers 325 and 326)

• 1980–1988 GMC RTS-04
• 1991 TMC RTS-06
• 1998–2000 NovaBus RTS-06
• 2002 Neoplan USA AN460LF (Bus # 605)
• 2003 Optima Opus
• 2003–2004 Gillig Low Floor (Bus Numbers 478-491)
• 2007 Gillig BRT Hybrid (Bus Numbers 503 and 504)
• 2007–2008 Gillig BRT (Bus Numbers 495-502 and 505-508)

RTC RAPID is RTC's bus rapid transit system.^[8] RAPID consists of two routes with limited stops and higher frequencies.

v t e Virginia Line
Legend
Lawlor Station College Street 9th Street 5th Street 4th Street SR 647 4th Street Station SP Depot Amtrak Truckee River Liberty Street Center Street Mt. Rose Street Plumb Lane Peppermill Peckham Lane SR 667 Kietzke Lane I-580 / US 395 SR 659 McCarran Boulevard Meadowood Mall

The RTC RAPID Virginia LINE operates along Virginia Street between Downtown Reno and Meadowood Mall.^[9] On March 8, 2020 the RTC extended the Virginia Line to the University of Nevada, Reno.

v t e Lincoln Line
Legend
4th Street SR 647 Sutro I-580 Galletti Reno Sparks I-80 El Rancho 15th Street Centennial Plaza

The RTC RAPID LINCOLN LINE operates along 4th Street and Prater Way between Downtown Reno and Victorian Square (RTC Centennial Plaza).^[10] RTC held a grand opening for the Lincoln line on 14 December 2018.^[11]

RTC REGIONAL CONNECTOR^[12] provides express bus service between Reno, Meadowood Mall, and Carson City.

RTC SIERRA SPIRIT^[13] was a popular circulator service operating every 20 minutes along Virginia Street in Downtown Reno between the University of Nevada, Reno and the Truckee River. This was replaced with the Temporary Route, "UNR-Midtown Direct" on 25 August 2019.

UNR-Midtown Direct^[14] is a temporary route introduced on 25 August 2019 to replace RTC Sierra Spirit and will be replaced with the RTC RAPID Virginia Line Service once the RTC RAPID Expansion is complete to UNR, basically replacing the route. This route operates every 30 minutes from Midtown Reno to the University of Nevada Reno along Virginia (Northbound) and Sierra (Southbound) Streets. This route was discontinued following the extension to UNR.

RTC ACCESS^[15] is the system's paratransit service

RTC FlexRide^[16] is the system's microtransit service serving Sparks/Spanish Springs, North Valleys and NW Reno/Sommersett.

In addition to public transportation, RTC RIDE, through their program RTC SMART TRIPS,^[17] provides services to assist those wishing to carpool for their commute.

RTC VANPOOL^[18] is a membership-based service which allows commuters to rent a van for their commute. The van is driven by one of the members, who picks up and drops off other riders at an agreed-upon location. Expenses are shared by all riders, and subsidized by RTC.

RTC TRIP MATCH^[19] is a free ride-matching program for the Truckee Meadows offered by RTC SMART TRIPS in partnership with Greenride.

RTC's Streets and Highways program is a joint effort involving the City of Reno, the City of Sparks, the Washoe County, and RTC. Their primary responsibility is road repair and construction within their jurisdiction, specifically, regional roadways, high-traffic (greater than 5,000 avg. daily trips) streets, and roads that cross geographic barriers or that connect jurisdictions. Low-traffic and neighborhood streets are left to local jurisdictions.^[20]

Perhaps RTC's most important duty is in the area of planning for the regions transportation needs. Planning is divided into long range and short range needs.^[21]

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is RTC's plan to create and maintain the long-term transportation requirements for the Truckee Meadows. It addresses travel by all modes including automobiles, transit, bicycles, pedestrians, aviation, rail and goods movement as well as transportation management strategies to make the system more efficient.^[22]

The Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) is RTC's short-range plan to meet the current needs of the Truckee Meadows. Spanning 5 years (FY 2018–2022), the current plan was published on 1 October 2017.^[23]

• Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
• Public transportation in Nevada

• Official website
• RTC Smart Tips website