Commuters who want to take a bus around the Las Vegas Valley might first want to take a trip to the nearest computer.

An online trip planner that can help users plot directions, travel times and connections for Citizens Area Transit routes was unveiled this week by the Regional Transportation Commission. It is available at www.rtcsnv.com via the "Transit Trip Planner" link.

Online trip planners have become increasingly common in recent years in other transit-dependent communities, such as Chicago and St. Louis. It is the first such system in the valley.

The hope is that the system will encourage people unfamiliar with public transit to give buses a try.

"This system will generate trip itineraries for them," David Swallow, a commission engineer, told the commission's board during its meeting Thursday. "It makes transit more accessible to people who may have not tried it before."

The planner produces as many as five different trip itineraries at a time, after a commuter enters information on the point of origin and destination and the trip's date and time.

Each itinerary includes route and travel times, transfer points, walking directions, distances and fares.

An index sorts departure points and destinations by street name, bus stop location and points of interest. The latter category includes hundreds of stores, schools, hotels, hospitals, government offices and other private and public facilities.

Users can customize the searches to find the fastest route or itineraries with the least transfers or the least walking involved.

"This gives them a chance to play with the system," Swallow said.

In other commission business Thursday, a study found that a southwestern Las Vegas Beltway express bus line, if created, could draw as many as 12,000 daily riders by 2030.

As many as 10,000 homes and condominium units, along with new shops, offices, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas research park and a hotel/casino are expected to be built in the coming years around the Beltway's crossing with Sunset Road.

"After this area is developed, traffic to, from and within this corridor will be significant," said the study, conducted by CH2M Hill, an engineering firm.

The study considered the most feasible route using bus-only lanes that could be built on Beltway frontage roads between Sunset and Decatur Boulevard.

A definitive route from there to the McCarran International Airport connector has yet to be chosen.

The plan, which could cost $34 million, also envisions as many as four park-and-ride stations along the route.

The board made no decision on whether to proceed, and there is no funding in hand, though commission officials indicated they would begin further studies to determine current ridership in the area.

The commission then could decide to start regular fixed route service and set benchmarks for future express service.