Bus Rapid transit to begin on March 28, 2010

ACE Bus Rapid Transit will connect Fremont Street to Fashion Show Mall in only 15-16 minutes. It looks like a cross between a bus and light rail. You must purchase tickets before boarding.

The ACE will only make four stops on the strip. Fashion Show Mall, Bellagio, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay headed south. Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Paris, and Wynn headed North. The hope is that this new transportation service will re-invigorate downtown.


The Deuce will only service the Strip from Mandalay Bay to Sahara Casino and Palace Station (new) after that date.

By providing rapid transit to the convention center from streetside, it may kill the Monorail unless the monorail gets the extension to the airport.

Wow. That sounds great.

I'm coning for a convention at the convention center in September, and was limiting my choices to a hotel on the monorail route.

THIS opens up my options. Love it.

It's great that tickets have to be purchased ahead of time. That's one of the biggest problems with the busses - people wasting everyone's time by not bothering to purchase tickets before boarding.

By the way, is this a separate fare, or included with the standard ticket?


Of course, I want to hear some reviews before I reconsider my hotel choice.

Ticket price will be the same as the Deuce: $7 for 24 Hour All-Access Pass which includes Deuce, MAX & residential routes; 24-hour period begins with purchase.

Pay at ticket vending machine

3-Day All Access Pass $15
3-day period begins on the date of first use.

More than likely the only residential bus you will use is to get from the strip to the Palms and Rio. It's only an 8 minute bus ride, but it only comes every 15 minutes so it might help to print out a schedule so you are not standing around for a long time.

There is a business traveler who likes to take the company money, and stay in a $40 room and eat cheap, and gamble and drink on the company nickel. You can do that downtown if you like, but now with being able to get to the Convention Center in 12 minutes you don't have to spend all day on slow buses or pay for a pricey taxi. Federal government per diem is $105 per day (or $126 in the spring) plus $64/day for expenses. If you persuade a downtown casino to give you a room and feed you for $105/$126, then you have $64 to begin to finance your gaming. You can expense $5 per day for bus fare, but $50 per day for taxi fare may raise eyebrows.

For big conventions I've found the monorail to be worthless anyway. The lines after CES lets out, for instance, are insane.

Will the Deuce or Ace serve the rental car place? I plan on picking it up there after arriving into the airport. I figure I can wait half an hour to get to the strip to save $20.

The ACE will serve the rental car place and the strip. The Deuce will stop at Mandalay Bay.

You will still have to take the shuttle bus from the terminal to the rental car place. They could extend the ACE all the way to the airport, but the taxi union would vote someone out of office. At least now the ride from the rental car place to the strip hotels will be much faster.

Quote: pacomartin

The ACE will serve the rental car place and the strip. The Deuce will stop at Mandalay Bay.

You will still have to take the shuttle bus from the terminal to the rental car place. They could extend the ACE all the way to the airport, but the taxi union would vote someone out of office. At least now the ride from the rental car place to the strip hotels will be much faster.

That's fine. I figure a dollar tip for the shuttle guy, and two bucks to ride the Ace. Thanks for helping a guy who's trying to do Vegas on the cheap!

Bus route #108 which comes directly to the airport and serves the Hilton and the backside of Sahara will be improved on March 28.

Route #108 will now serve Riviera, Circus Circus, Sahara, Stratosphere and go to Fremont Street on Las Vegas Blvd (the route that the Deuce used to take). It will no longer go directly in front of the Hilton. If you are going to one of those hotels it is easier to ride the #108 then to go to the Car Rental Place.

Bus route #109 South will go to the car rental place where you can catch the ACE to the strip (limited number of stops). ACE also goes to Fremont street, but up a local street that has been custom designed for the bus route.

The 108 sounds good for me if it still goes to the convention centre. Staying at the mardi gras opposite it when I go in june. Although not sure about trying to get on a bus with suitcases in tow.

Which route would be best for the airport to downtown: 108, 109N or 109S transferring to the ACE? I arrive on the 30th and the new 108 looks like it would actually take longer to the DTC than before. I'm staying at Main Street Station which appears to be right by the DTC when I look at the map.

Croupier, I took one piece of luggage and a backpack on the bus from the airport with no issues on my last trip out. You might get some weird looks when locals start getting on, but for $15 for a three day bus pass vs $15 for one taxi ride I'll gladly take the looks.

Quote: pacomartin

Route #108 will now serve Riviera, Circus Circus, Sahara, Stratosphere and go to Fremont Street on Las Vegas Blvd (the route that the Deuce used to take). It will no longer go directly in front of the Hilton. If you are going to one of those hotels it is easier to ride the #108 then to go to the Car Rental Place.

I wish I knew that before my trip last September.

I was undecided on taking the #108 to the Sahara, or renting.

I made the mistake of going to the rental agent building, being shocked at the lines, then going back to the airport to get on the #108.

On the plus side, that was one hour less of losing money in the casino! :)

Quote: Croupier

...Although not sure about trying to get on a bus with suitcases in tow.

Not a problem. At least it wasn't for me. Then again, my airport bus rides were midday during the week. Just don't expect to get any help getting your stuff on and off the bus.

Quote: Croupier

The 108 sounds good for me if it still goes to the convention centre. Staying at the mardi gras opposite it when I go in june. Although not sure about trying to get on a bus with suitcases in tow.

The #108 will go north on Swensen and west on Desert Inn and north on Paradise. It will intersect Paradise about 1/3 mile north of Mardi Gras so you will have a little walk. Don't fall asleep on the bus. Get off on PARADISE/DESERT INN (19 minute transit, bus leaves every 20 minutes). Although the 1/3 mile walk is not ideal, it is the best you can do on the bus. You won't get any closer on the ACE. If your bag has wheels that is not really that long of a walk.

The closest bus stop (PARADISE/DESERT INN) is at ( 36.129973°, -115.154585° ) so you can look at on graphing software. It is about 600 yards north of the front door of Mardi Gras Inn.

On return trip to the airport the bus comes south on PARADISE so it will go by your hotel.

The luggage is not a serious problem. These are not ancient buses and they have room to move around on. People take this bus to from the airport to Downtown, so it has some room for luggage.

By a three day all acess pass so you can ride the ACE and the DEUCE.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

It's great that tickets have to be purchased ahead of time. That's one of the biggest problems with the busses - people wasting everyone's time by not bothering to purchase tickets before boarding.

That's true, but buying tickets ahead of time won't eliminate delay. The tickets I bought, both a day pass on the Deuce and later 3-day passes, failed to be recognized by the scanner on the bus, oh, about 70% of the time. I wound up either being waved in by the driver, or showing the ticket to the driver to be waved in. I never was refused passage, though.

The ACE will not allow people to purchase a ticket onboard. In fact it uses a system like light rail where there are random checks. Three entrance doors will speed up boarding. There actually is a bus rapid transit system that has been working in Las Vegas for a number of years, but most tourists don't use it since it goes from downtown to Nellis air force base.

The plan is to put five BRT lines in. It is an ambitious project for the city.

Additional features that speed up the line are limited stops, computer controlled entrances and exits from the stations so that the bus will line up evenly every time, level entrances and exits (no stops), limited use by disabled passengers (who have their own buses), computer controlled traffic lights (like ambulances and police cars), and in some areas downtown dedicated bus lanes so no competition with cars. The final result is not quite as fast as light rail, but the flexibility is considerably better.

Fremont Street will become much more accessible. Since it will only be 16 minutes from Fashion Show Mall it won't feel as isolated. In addition there will only be one highly visible station so people won't get lost. The line will continue the opposite direction to the off price shopping mall and the furniture exhibition. The line will be decorated with old neon signs so it is a little more fun. Hopefully it will spawn a bunch of new condominiums and galleries.

The city of Las Vegas has only had three major new casinos built inside the city limits in the last 20 years, and the Golden Nugget underwent an extensive renovation. But the city is home for 600K of the 2 million people who live in the county. Fremont street probably would have vanished except for the city efforts. Although it is dwarfed by the major strip casinos, it is still work for over 10K people and 10K hotel rooms and represents a $1 billion per year. The city has very little choice but to try to keep it going, since the new casinos are built outside of the city limits.

I don't think the ACE will have ambulance-style signal preemption, nor will it have its own lane on Las Vegas Boulevard. So it will still get stuck in nighttime gawker traffic. I haven't been out there recently to determine if they have built the MAX style stations (that is what the current BRT on North Las Vegas Boulevard is called) with level boarding platforms. On MAX the driver actually announces over the speaker that the ramp between the bus and platform are retracting. Level boarding helps but the disabled still have to be able to ride because of ADA. Even low floor buses would help, but Deuce is already low floor boarding.

Quote: calwatch

I don't think the ACE will have ambulance-style signal preemption, nor will it have its own lane on Las Vegas Boulevard.

It should have its own lane in the Strip, it would reduce traffic.

I know it sounds absurd to remove one lane to general circulation in roder to reduce traffic, but it works. In Mexico city there's a system known as Metrobus (Metro being taken from the name of the city's subway) which works just like that in two major avenues. Of course the public transit situation in mexico was more chaotic, but confining the traffic that is slow and makes frequent stops to one lane still helps. Another modification made in the mexican system is that left turns across the avenue are forbidden.

The system has worked so well here, two more lines are being set up.

But the best public transit system has and always will be a subway (maybe an elevated train, too). It removes all operations underground and doesn't have to take traffic into consideration. On the downside, it's expensive to build and can only serve a few routes. It's also rigid. But for such routes as it serves, it's near-perfect.

The monorail, as it was set up in Vegas, is of limited use. It's good to travel the Strip, but the stations are rahter far from the casinos and the streets. One year I used the monorail almost exclusively, the next I shunned it entirely. The latter year I did notice I spent more time traveling, but less time wakling; I was also less tired after a full day.

Quote: calwatch

I don't think the ACE will have ambulance-style signal preemption, nor will it have its own lane on Las Vegas Boulevard. So it will still get stuck in nighttime gawker traffic. I haven't been out there recently to determine if they have built the MAX style stations (that is what the current BRT on North Las Vegas Boulevard is called) with level boarding platforms. On MAX the driver actually announces over the speaker that the ramp between the bus and platform are retracting. Level boarding helps but the disabled still have to be able to ride because of ADA. Even low floor buses would help, but Deuce is already low floor boarding.

It won't have it's own lane on Las Vegas Strip for right now. possibly one in the future. Most of the downtown sections will be dedicated lanes,

The Route #108 from the airport to downtown will be reduced in time from 42 minutes to 25 minutes since it will follow a more direct route.

The Deuce on the strip from Palace Station to Mandalay Bay will only be 25 minutes.

The ACE Gold Line will be 47-49 minutes from the Car Rental place past Fremont Street to Symphony Park where the outlet mall is located. But it will only be 25 minutes from Fremont Street to Excalibur. It will be as fast as the monorail possibly faster if you consider walking time to the monorail stations.

Quote: progrocker

Which route would be best for the airport to downtown: 108, 109N or 109S transferring to the ACE? I arrive on the 30th and the new 108 looks like it would actually take longer to the DTC than before. I'm staying at Main Street Station which appears to be right by the DTC when I look at the map.

Croupier, I took one piece of luggage and a backpack on the bus from the airport with no issues on my last trip out. You might get some weird looks when locals start getting on, but for $15 for a three day bus pass vs $15 for one taxi ride I'll gladly take the looks.

I would just get on the route #108 bus from the airport (73 buses per day on weekdays).

MAIN street casino is one block away from the Downtown Transit Center or DTC. Starting 28 March 2010 Route #108 will go straight downtown. The bus ride will take between 28 minutes at night to 49 minutes in the afternoon and is a vast improvement over the previous meandering route. It takes roughly the same amount of minutes to ride the ACE portion of the trip from South Strip Transit terminal (car rental facility) to DTC. The only variable is the wait time, but the #108 comes every 18 minutes. The #109 to the car rental is every 15 minutes, and the ACE comes every 8 to 10 minutes.

DAY BUSES ROUTE #108

AIR	DTC	Time	AIR	DTC	Time
7:05 AM	7:44 AM	0:39	3:38 PM	4:27 PM	0:49
7:28 AM	8:07 AM	0:39	3:55 PM	4:44 PM	0:49
7:49 AM	8:28 AM	0:39	4:10 PM	4:59 PM	0:49
8:09 AM	8:48 AM	0:39	4:25 PM	5:14 PM	0:49
8:25 AM	9:04 AM	0:39	4:40 PM	5:29 PM	0:49
8:42 AM	9:21 AM	0:39	4:56 PM	5:44 PM	0:48
9:00 AM	9:39 AM	0:39	5:12 PM	5:58 PM	0:46
9:18 AM	9:59 AM	0:41	5:28 PM	6:14 PM	0:46
9:36 AM	10:17 AM	0:41	5:41 PM	6:27 PM	0:46
9:54 AM	10:35 AM	0:41	5:57 PM	6:41 PM	0:44
10:12 AM	10:53 AM	0:41	6:14 PM	6:58 PM	0:44
10:30 AM	11:11 AM	0:41	6:29 PM	7:13 PM	0:44
10:48 AM	11:29 AM	0:41	6:47 PM	7:27 PM	0:40
11:06 AM	11:47 AM	0:41	7:05 PM	7:45 PM	0:40
11:25 AM	12:09 PM	0:44	7:23 PM	8:03 PM	0:40
11:43 AM	12:27 PM	0:44	7:41 PM	8:21 PM	0:40
12:00 PM	12:44 PM	0:44	8:00 PM	8:40 PM	0:40
12:15 PM	12:59 PM	0:44	8:19 PM	8:58 PM	0:39
12:30 PM	1:14 PM	0:44	8:38 PM	9:17 PM	0:39
12:47 PM	1:31 PM	0:44	8:57 PM	9:36 PM	0:39
1:04 PM	1:48 PM	0:44	9:16 PM	9:55 PM	0:39
1:21 PM	2:05 PM	0:44	9:35 PM	10:14 PM	0:39
1:38 PM	2:22 PM	0:44	9:54 PM	10:33 PM	0:39
1:55 PM	2:39 PM	0:44	10:13 PM	10:52 PM	0:39
2:11 PM	2:58 PM	0:47	10:33 PM	11:10 PM	0:37
2:29 PM	3:18 PM	0:49	10:54 PM	11:31 PM	0:37
2:46 PM	3:35 PM	0:49	11:20 PM	11:52 PM	0:32
3:04 PM	3:53 PM	0:49	11:40 PM	12:12 AM	0:32
3:21 PM	4:10 PM	0:49

NIGHT BUSES ROUTE #108

AIR	DTC	Time
12:00 AM	12:32 AM	0:32
12:24 AM	12:56 AM	0:32
1:01 AM	1:33 AM	0:32
1:38 AM	2:10 AM	0:32
2:34 AM	3:02 AM	0:28
3:34 AM	4:02 AM	0:28
4:34 AM	5:02 AM	0:28
5:10 AM	5:43 AM	0:33
5:40 AM	6:14 AM	0:34
6:03 AM	6:37 AM	0:34
6:26 AM	7:00 AM	0:34
6:46 AM	7:20 AM	0:34

The regional transport considers Route 108 is a general market fixed route service and does not promote it's use for tourists. So there are no signs saying which hotels are conveniently reached by the bus, and there is no special place for luggage or assistance provided. The route is convenient to Riviera, Circus Circus, Sahara, Stratosphere and all the downtown hotels with a bit of a walk. It is not convenient to Hard Rock or Terrible's casino. Some small hotels like the Best Western Mardi Gras are within 500 yards of the bus route (get off at convention center). It is a convenient choice for the able bodied budget guest who has a single bag with wheels.


I have had little luck in figuring out if there is a place to purchase the $15 ( 3 day ticket ) at the airport. I know you can purchase them online but you need a week to get the pass in the mail. You cannot purchase them on the bus. I am afraid they may not have a machine at the airport so that tourists can't take advantage of the fare. If you can't find a machine, buy a $2 one way cash ticket (have the exact fare) and then get your 3 day pass downtown or at any ticket vending machine. If you are returning within 3 days then you can have your fare paid on your way back to the airport and it will only cost the extra $2.

Taxi's cost a lot more than $15.

If enough taxi drivers complain they may go back to the old routing for #108 so it only goes by the Hilton. Many Hilton customers are on expense account, and are less inclined to take the bus than the Circus Circus or Riviera customers (who are presumably all budget customers). Either way it will still be the cheapest way to get downtown.

Downtown will now become a much more convenient budget option since the ACE transit service will make trips to the strip considerably easier. Downtown may provide a nice alternative to the north strip budget casinos (Palace Station, Stratosphere, Sahara, Riviera, and Circus Circus. Even the four diamond Golden Nugget has low priced rooms in the Carson Tower.

I'm staying at the Mandalay bay in May, and flying in on a Firday night. So I expect the cab line to be out of control. I was considering taking the car rental shuttle from the airport to the rental car center, and then taking the Ace to Mandalay Bay.
A few questions:
1.) I dont see the rental car place on the Ace route map http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/transit/route/acegold/ACEGold%283-28-10%29.pdf

2.) Do all stops have ticket machines? Meaning will I be able to buy a ticket at the rental car place

3.) Is the Mandalay at the same and of the Ace route as the rental car place. I would assume it is.

4.) What do you think of my plan will it save time? Time is actually more important to me in this case then money, but it may be a good money saver for others.

Quote: jburgess

I'm staying at the Mandalay bay in May, and flying in on a Firday night. So I expect the cab line to be out of control. I was considering taking the car rental shuttle from the airport to the rental car center, and then taking the Ace to Mandalay Bay.
A few questions:
1.) I dont see the rental car place on the Ace route map http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/transit/route/acegold/ACEGold%283-28-10%29.pdf

2.) Do all stops have ticket machines? Meaning will I be able to buy a ticket at the rental car place

3.) Is the Mandalay at the same and of the Ace route as the rental car place. I would assume it is.

4.) What do you think of my plan will it save time? Time is actually more important to me in this case then money, but it may be a good money saver for others.

1.) Nothing in the official literature or posted signs is designed to make it easy to use public transportation from the airport (except to the car rental place). The southern terminal on the ACE map is called the South Strip Transit Terminal which is within walking distance of the car rental terminal. You take the same bus (route #109) from the airport to get to the car rental or the southern terminal of the ACE. I think that the only reason that the route #108 bus goes to the airport is so that poor people can get to their jobs.

2.) All ACE and DEUCE stops have ticket machines. There are thousands of bus stops throughout the city which do not all have ticket machines. I don't believe there is one at the airport. You must pay $2 in cash (exact change required) to take your initial segment.

3.) I am not sure I understand this question, but there is an ACE stop (also a DEUCE stop) across the street from the Mandalay Bay. It is a lengthy walk across the street and the parking lot to the front door.

4.) If time is a priority then take a taxi. Print out a copy of NEVADA TAXI CAB AUTHORITY which shows the fare to the Luxor and show it to the taxi driver and ask him about the fare to Mandalay Bay (which is not on the list). That way you will know if he is ripping you off. Fare should not be very high as MB is next to the Luxor. Mandalay Bay is a tempting place to soak the patron. There are alternative ways to get there are much higher cost, and they know that many guests are on expense accounts and/or reasonably wealthy,

Shuttle buses are extremely slow even to nearby resorts as they snake in and out of one resort after another. Small savings in money but large time cost.

I only recommend public transportation to patrons of budget properties (like Circus Circus, Riviera, Sahara, Stratosphere or downtown). Otherwise with the 15 minute ride from the airport, the transfer to the ACE, and the lack of any consideration for baggage, it is too much trouble to be worth the cost savings.

The general preservation rights to high cost taxis to transport people from the airport is common in the third world cities. In Europe or Japan there is almost always a reasonable public transportation option to get to the airport.

ALERT ALERT ALERT

After only four days of operations the Deuce on The Strip has been rerouted so that it goes to Fremont Street (like it did before Sunday).

The DEUCE was supposed to be limited to just the casinos on the strip. The ACE was supposed to take people to Fremont Street and also the car rental place (and Town Square Mall).

They have restored service so that both the DEUCE and the ACE go to Fremont street. The MAX (which serves Nellis) briefly was extended to Fremont street, but this service has been discontinued.

They had either a major public relations problem or massive logistics problem to make this change after only four days of operation.