A taxicab picks up arriving passengers at McCarran International Airport last month. Cabbies in Southern Nevada are supposed to accept discount ride coupons issued by the Las Vegas Division for Aging Services, though one reader said he was twice rebuffed when trying to redeem such coupons last year. Photo by John Gurzinski.

This week, readers want to know why their discount taxicab passes don't always get them a deal and what will happen to Blue Diamond Road where steel tracks cross asphalt byways.

And the Road Warrior finds out that Las Vegas' traffic woes are now known worldwide.

Charles R. Evans asks: I hope you are familiar with the subject offered to senior citizens through the state of Nevada. This is where a senior can buy $1 coupons to pay cabdrivers, but you buy the coupons for half-price. The problem is some cabdrivers refuse to accept them. In June of last year I tried to pay with coupons that expired June 30. The driver would not accept them because he was afraid they weren't any good. In July I took the cab from McCarran Airport and the cabdriver said he didn't want to hassle with the coupons, and to just give him cash. My question is if the cab companies or their drivers won't accept these coupons, why does the state sell them?

Because drivers are supposed to accept valid coupons, without exception. You got stiffed, Charlie.

"They are required, by statute, to accept the coupons," said Joe Dahlia, interim chief investigator for the Nevada Taxicab Authority. "The only time a driver will not accept them (legally) is if they are expired."

The coupons are sold to Clark County residents 60 years of age or older and others with permanent disabilities by the Las Vegas Division for Aging Services as part of its Senior Ride program, and entitle bearers a discount on cab rides. Coupons are sold in books of 10 or 20 coupons, with each coupon worth $1 in cab fare. But buyers pay only 50 cents for each coupon, according to the division's Web site.

Cabbies can then turn in the coupons to their companies, who in turn assess the Taxicab Authority for a cash reimbursement. The authority annually spends around $400,000 on coupon reimbursements, with that money coming from cab fees and driver fines, according to Dahlia.

"The TA funds the coupons," he said.

Eligible participants can buy as many as six coupon books each month, and coupons now on sale are good through Dec. 31. Participants must first be certified for eligibility through Aging Services by providing proof of age or disability.

Cabdrivers are also taught in driver training to recognize and accept valid coupons. Most of the time, that's not a problem.

"We very rarely have complaints of drivers not accepting them," Dahlia said. "They're treated just like money."

But there are instances -- as Charles learned -- when drivers refuse the ducats, either through ignorance or insolence. There is something passengers can do.

"When we have drivers that don't accept them, you can give us the cab number, the date and time and file a complaint," Dahlia said. "They don't have to come out here. We can send out an investigator" to the passenger's location.

Based on that information, investigators can find out who was driving the cab in question and issue a citation. TA investigators are on duty 24 hours a day, Dahlia said.

The TA police can be reached by calling 668-4000. Complaints can also be filed online at www.taxi.state.nv.us by clicking on the "complaints" link.

For coupons or more details on eligibility, call Aging Services at 486-3581 or go to the division's Web site at www.nvaging.net/senior_ride.htm.

Mark asks: I'm just wondering what they are doing with the Blue Diamond Road widening when they get by Jones Boulevard. Are they going to do an overpass? Underpass? Nothing?

Good news for you, Mark. The Nevada Department of Transportation plans to take Blue Diamond -- also known as state Route 160 -- up and over Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Blue Diamond's intersection with Jones, as well as realigning Jones there.

An exact construction start date is pending, as the Transportation Department works on some right-of-way issues.

In a best-case scenario, "the soonest it might start will be this fall," said Bob McKenzie, a Transportation Department spokesman. After that, "it will be a year to a year-and-a-half project" to complete.

The new highway flyover above the train tracks is just one component of a Route 160 widening project that started in 2005 and is expected to cost at least $130 million by the time it winds up later this decade.

When finished, two-lane Route 160 will look decidedly fatter from Las Vegas Boulevard and Interstate 15 west to the state Route 159 cutoff.

Between the Strip and Jones, the road will be widened to eight lanes. West of there, the road will be four lanes in some stretches and five lanes with a center turn lane in others.

It's a much-needed change for Route 160, which has seen traffic volume as much as triple in some areas, as residential development bloomed in the southwestern Las Vegas Valley, and nearby Pahrump -- connected to the valley via Route 160 -- became a popular bedroom community.

That growth had a dark side. In 2005, Route 160 became one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in Southern Nevada, as the narrow road was overwhelmed with traffic, and about two dozen fatal car wrecks occurred.

The widening work, new speed rules and increased enforcement helped make the road somewhat safer last year, though the widening has long been seen as the best solution to the problem.

Hit 'n Run: At the opening of the NBA All-Star Weekend's Saturday telecast on the TNT cable network, announcers warned that the Skills Competition would get off to a late start because of late-arriving players stuck in Las Vegas' infamous traffic. And Aaron McKie of the Los Angeles Lakers told this to Time magazine, which reported it on its Web site: "It's just too much traffic (in Las Vegas)." And he's from L.A.!

You can't buy that kind of publicity!

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or OSofradzija@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.