The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County plans to launch a double-decker bus pilot demonstration for three weeks, starting in early December.
There will be no farebox on the bus, so customers will ride free and not have to pay for service on this bus during the demonstration. Throughout the demonstration, the RTC plans to evaluate how the bus operates on services such as the RTC’s RAPID Lincoln Line, Routes 5, 7, 12, and the Regional Connector to Carson City.
Before the bus is available for service to the public, bus drivers will conduct test runs in our community to ensure safety and viability. The vehicle’s height and weight will also be taken into consideration as different routes will be used as part of the demonstration. The bus must be able to clear overpasses and not strain roadways not designed to handle the extra weight.
The RTC will measure customer feedback, input from its transit contractor Keolis about the ability to operate and maintain the bus, and ridership data.
By the end of the demonstration, the RTC hopes to gain insight into how the implementation of a doubledecker bus would work in the community
Kimberly Burkholder says
Wow! A double decker bus,
Your article was interesting, I have been riding the RTC since early 90s it costs me 35 cents to ride one way, honestly the last thing RTC needs to be worrying about is if a double decker bus will be right for the Reno Nevada area. As expected Over the years RTC has had many changes all of which didn’t really affect the bus riders in a negative way,
In July/August of this year the RTC changed owners/ transportation contractor companies to a company called Keolis which has had a truly negative effect to what the RTC was known for.. on time friendly drivers but instead almost every driver that ever drove me were gone! Some of them drove me for fifteen years.
I would like the new company Keolis, to grasp how the riders of the old RTC are feeling about the unexpected changes. We’re not feeling secure any more we never know when or if the bus they have taken for years is going to be on time or even show up at all!. Picture four freezing bus riders outside waiting for the bus for one bus’s schedule time then the second one didn’t show up so now we’ve been waiting for an hour and a half then almost another bus time passes and it shows up and the bus driver is angry and driving angry slamming the brakes jerking all of us over and over and over not waiting for elderly to be sat down from the back of sun valley to downtown it was pure fear and he was driving fast enough to drive right by two bus stops that had riders waiting. Mind you the bus didn’t run as scheduled for almost hour and a half.
it’s been long enough for your company to get it together if you can please give the public some insight into the RTC route changes plus the bus drivers could be a little more pleasant. I’m an old lady who has to get to work by 3pm so now I have to wait for the bus at 12:30 so maybe I won’t be late and lose my job.