KVIG Informative

Southern Nevada’s transit system needs $118.5 million a year just to keep running the service it already has. Riders are still finding out about it one transit center conversation at a time.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada faces a projected $118.5 million annual funding gap, a shortfall the agency says could force cuts to nearly 40% of bus service as early as 2028 if a new, sustainable funding source isn’t identified.

RTC CEO MJ Maynard-Carey said transit operating funding has not changed in more than 20 years, even as Southern Nevada’s population has grown substantially over the same period. She said the agency created a working group specifically to search for new revenue sources ahead of the 2027 legislative session.

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RTC financial advisor Guy Hobbs told the working group the agency’s revenue mix — 42% sales tax, 31% grants, 11% fares and 16% other sources — produces a narrower funding base and lower per-capita transit spending than peer transit agencies nationally. Hobbs said a quarter-percent sales tax increase could generate roughly $150 million, close to covering the identified shortfall, while a half-percent increase could generate about $300 million and support limited expansion toward higher-capacity transit.

RTC proposed its first fare increase in more than 15 years this spring as part of its response to the shortfall, alongside the service cuts under consideration. Transit fares currently make up only 5.6% of the agency’s total $1.3 billion in funding sources, while the RTC spends $419 million annually on transit operations alone.

Without a fix, the agency projects weekly ridership could fall nearly 30%, leaving more than half a million people without access to regular public transit, according to RTC’s own public funding materials.

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RTC’s roughly $246 million in annual fuel tax revenue and motor vehicle fuel indexing cannot legally be used to subsidize transit operations under current law — it can only fund road projects, leaving the agency unable to redirect existing revenue streams toward the transit shortfall even if it wanted to.

RTC carried more than 58 million rides last year on a system it says it can no longer afford to maintain at current levels. The agency has been warning about this exact shortfall since 2017. Riders at the Bonneville Transit Center told reporters earlier this year they had no idea the cuts were even on the table.