New UNLV bus stop links to Centennial Express Route

Sometimes, trying to find a parking space at UNLV can make you feel like the kid in the Willy Wonka movie who almost gives up his search for the golden ticket before he’s finally able to cash in.

Except the difference is this: There is no golden ticket, and the university isn’t a crazy gazillionaire.

The university has about 27,000 students and 12,400 parking spaces on campus. About 1,650 students live on campus; most of the rest commute. Do some math and voila: There’s nowhere to park.

Which was the cause of some head scratching when the Regional Transportation Commission and the university entered into a partnership last year that would remove 120 parking spots right behind the In-N-Out Burger, a primo lot, and put in a fancy bus stop that cost $3.45 million.

The grand opening Wednesday of the bus stop was complete with dancing girls, bicycle stunt guys and important government people. Eighty percent of the funding for the UNLV Transit Center came from a federal grant, while the rest was provided by the RTC.

Tina Quigley, the RTC’s general manager, said the bus stop is more than a bus stop. It will ferry passengers on an express route from the Centennial Plaza in northwest Las Vegas to the university and back. If students and faculty use it — and the Centennial Express Route already has 25,000 passengers a month — it could mean there will be more parking spaces available, not fewer.

The RTC has already unveiled UPASS, which allows local college students and faculty to buy passes at less than half price.

The transit center is part of a larger plan to build up the region’s transportation infrastructure, Quigley said. That will soon get a kick-start because of the new fuel tax passed by Clark County commissioners this week.

“We’re hearing more and more from our leaders in southern Nevada that transportation is somethng we need to be paying attention to because it’s part of the formula for building a strong community and economy,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Gov. Brian Sandoval, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus and a host of other local elected officials were on hand for the grand opening.

“This is part of the future of Las Vegas, of southern Nevada,” Sandoval said.

The Rebel Girls danced, backed by the UNLV Cheerleaders, in an over-the-top ceremony that was paid for by Samsung, the technology company, because it’s sponsoring a new technology on the Centennial Express buses.

The dancers were “much more tasteful and beautiful than Miley Cyrus, I must say,” Titus said.

Samsung is providing the RTC with TransitTap, a system that allows riders to tap a credit card or smartphone to a card reader and pay their fare electronically. If the three-month trial works out, the RTC could buy the technology for wider use.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.