LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A brand new Nevada regulation efficient Wednesday will permit safety on RTC buses to take away unruly and disruptive passengers.
RTC management, elected officers, and bus drivers celebrated the regulation’s passage Tuesday because the transportation company launched a brand new marketing campaign it known as “Everyday Safer.”
Final spring, the Nevada Legislature unanimously handed Senate Invoice 290, which permits safety on RTC buses to take away passengers who commit a criminal offense, intrude with different passengers or fail to pay their fare. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo signed the invoice into regulation in Could.
“This legislation seeks to enhance RTC’s ability to maintain a safe and efficient public transit system by explicitly empowering RTC’s security officers to address unlawful conduct by removing offenders from transit vehicles,” Democratic State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen mentioned throughout a listening to on the proposal. Nguyen chairs the Nevada Senate Development and Infrastructure Committee, which sponsored the invoice.
Within the wake of violent crimes in 2023, together with a homicide, the RTC added extra safety guards. The company later switched safety contractors, including greater than 300 armed guards to the system, in line with Tom Atteberry, RTC’s senior director for security and safety operations advised the 8 Information Now Investigators earlier this 12 months.
Along with the flexibility to take a look at reside cameras inside buses, final 12 months, it launched a system that enables surveillance cameras on buildings to detect weapons. If the system detects a weapon, an individual at an operations middle can alert regulation enforcement.
“I think it sounds like this cliche, safety is our No. 1 priority, but it really is,” RTC CEO MJ Maynard-Carey mentioned Tuesday. “They have another tool in their toolbelt, but also the passengers, they feel seen, they feel heard, and they feel valued.”
“It will be a game-changer for all the drivers,” bus operator Hadia Ali mentioned concerning the regulation. “A game-changer for the community and a game-changer for the passengers as well.”
The cab of an RTC bus with the plastic driver’s protect. Bus operators advised 8 Information Now in 2023 that passengers have ripped it off and thrown it at them. (KLAS)
From fiscal 12 months 2023 to 2024, passenger-on-passenger incidents dropped greater than 40 p.c, Atteberry mentioned earlier this 12 months. RTC mentioned it continues to see a big discount in crime and disturbances with the added safety.
An analogous invoice, Meeting Invoice 361 from Democratic Assem. Linda Hunt, additionally handed unanimously final legislative session. It requires RTC to put in driver obstacles and panic buttons, which most buses have already got.
8 Information Now Investigator David Charns may be reached at [email protected].
