Government tried to compete with Uber. It got crushed.

Government should avoid competing with private industry. Some people have to learn the hard way.

In June, the Regional Transportation Committee of Southern Nevada announced with much fanfare that it was taking on ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft. The RTC unveiled its Trip to Strip program, which used 12- and 11-passenger vans to move people from the airport to the Strip, the Las Vegas Convention Center and outlying resorts. Just like private-sector ride-hailing services, customers called the vans using a smartphone app.

Investors likely would have questioned the wisdom of launching a competing service in a crowded marketplace. That’s especially true because Uber and Lyft have lost billions of dollars. But if private equity investors wants to subsidize rides from the airport, more power to them. That shouldn’t be the RTC’s job.

Which is why it’s not surprising that Trip to Strip was bleeding cash. The Review-Journal’s Mick Akers reported that the program cost almost $3 million to run. It had brought in just $300,000 in revenue.

At least RTC officials had enough common sense to pull the plug. It’s easy to imagine other government bureaucrats letting the program flounder — like what’s happening with the underutilized HOV lanes.

Some good could come out of this failed experiment. RTC officials said they liked the lower cost and flexibility offered by the vans.

“A new fixed-route transit line costs between $105 and $110 per hour to operate, while Trip to Strip cost the agency approximately $60 per hour to operate and can be adjusted to demand,” agency spokeswoman Angela Castro said. “The RTC has determined that microtransit technology is here and it works.”

This is where RTC officials should focus its innovation efforts. While the agency must control costs, of course, the bus system isn’t supposed to be a moneymaker. It’s meant to help those who can’t afford a car. People going from the airport to a resort don’t fit that criteria. The RTC should evaluate existing bus lines and see if vans would be able to better service routes with consistently low ridership. Extra vans could be dispatched when demand is unusually high.

These conclusions should also be a warning about the RTC’s efforts to pursue light rail, which can’t be adjusted to meet demand. RTC officials did the right thing last April by not moving forward with an expensive proposal to put light rail along Maryland Parkway, opting for additional bus lanes instead. Light rail proponents tend to be persistent, however, with their pie-in-the-sky ridership projections. The RTC should remember these findings when they re-emerge.

Trip to Strip was a costly and predictable failure, but applying these lessons learned could improve the RTC going forward.