Westcliff Airport Express gains popularity among new bus riders

With the opening of Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has said it plans to keep an eye on how many people utilize the airport bus from the Westcliff Transit Center, 25 S. Durango Drive. Residents who use the bus said the Westcliff Airport Express is a stress-free and economical way to get to and from the airport.

Bill Oglesvy lives about a mile from the transit center. He travels to Pittsburgh almost every two months to visit family. He began taking the bus to the airport nearly a year ago.

Where he used to pay $60 per trip to park at the airport, he now pays $2 each way to ride the bus. Another plus he cited is that the buses are reliably punctual.

"It's the greatest," he said. "But I leave an hour before I should ... I'm afraid (a traffic jam will) make me miss my flight."

Oglesvy did say he was concerned about his car being parked in the intense sun that long and that the heat could wreck his dashboard.

Melissa Kuhn was visiting from Denver. Her grandmother lives in Sun City Summerlin.

"We're having coffee with some friends of hers, and they said, 'Have you guys thought about taking the bus'? Because my sister and I were here a few months ago, and our flight was right at rush hour," she said. "And my grandmother was like, 'I don't really want to drive in rush hour.' So we looked into shuttle options … This way she only has to drive 10 minutes to come get us. It's nice and easy."

She said her grandmother is planning a trip of her own and wants to use the shuttle to get to McCarran.

There are 140 parking spaces at the transit center, and parking is free. If someone is on a trip for longer than a week, they need only alert security that they will be gone that long.

The airport shuttle originates at the Suncoast, 9090 Alta Drive, which has covered parking.

The route was intentionally designed with two objectives, said Amy Maier, spokeswoman for the transportation commission - one, for people to get downtown, where they could then catch another bus; and two, getting to the airport. The bus used for the McCarran shuttle seats 32 to 34 passengers, depending on the configuration.

The dark blue fabric seats are mostly facing forward, but some face the center aisle with enough room for pull-along baggage. This day, no one had more than carry-on baggage. Windows are tinted heavily, so although the sun was shining, the air conditioning was sufficient. Except for a heavy fan at the back of the bus, the only other sounds were random conversations.

Maier said the Suncoast and the Westcliff Transit Center have 130 combined boardings per day heading toward downtown and the airport. The transportation commission does not keep counts on how many go just to downtown and how many continue to McCarran.

The Westcliff Airport Express started in December 2010, and its routes see approximately 800 boardings per weekday, up 66 percent compared to the first month of operation.

Overall, ridership on the entire transportation commission transit system is up 8.5 percent from this time last year, carrying approximately 182,000 people per weekday.

Ron Bizzell has been a transportation commission bus driver for about 11 years. Four days a week, he drives the Westcliff airport shuttle loop, which has been his route since the transit center opened.

He said he sees at least 15 riders with luggage on each of his eight daily trips.

Bizzell estimated he's seen an increase of 10 percent in ridership to and from McCarran since the new terminal opened.

The route runs as often as every 20 minutes during peak travel times and hourly during off-peak hours, which the transportation commission said accommodates current demand on the route. On average, it takes 40 to 50 minutes to take the Westcliff Airport Express from the Westcliff Transit Center to McCarran International Airport.

To get to downtown usually takes 15 to 20 minutes, depending on traffic.

Bizzell said he is in constant radio contact with headquarters, which keeps an eye out for traffic jams.

"We have a heads up, so we can jump off the freeway and take surface streets to where we're going," he said. "There's (heavy) traffic daily, but we have an advantage."

After downtown, the bus gets on Interstate 15 at Charleston Boulevard and heads south, then exits the freeway at Tropicana Avenue. After a brief stop at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, it travels to Terminal 1, where it drops off passengers and picks up new ones on the zero level.

Once at the airport, the Westcliff Airport Express bus was unloaded and loaded in less than five minutes.

Since they bring the luggage on the vehicles, there is no delay to put luggage under the bus, as with a road motor coach, Maier said.

"There are limitations on how long vehicles can sit at McCarran, and as we also have two other routes that serve the airport, we have to keep the buses moving through there fairly quickly to prevent a backup," she said.

Alex Canales got on the bus at McCarran. He lives near Summerlin. He said he has been using the transit bus for about a year and a half.

Besides using it to get to the airport, he rides the bus three or four days to his job on the Strip, where he is an executive in resort management. He said he uses the time to get work done on his iPad.

Ecology-minded people may applaud him for not contributing to pollution (the buses run on compressed natural gas), but he has an ulterior motive.

"For me, it's not so much the (fuel) saving, it's because it's more productive," Canales said. "I do all my emails when I'm in transit."

He said he flies out of town about every three weeks for four- or five-day trips. Other times, he can be gone for three weeks at a time. His wife drops him off at the Westcliff Transit Center and picks him up when he returns to town.

Canales had nothing but praise for the drivers and the efficiency of getting to and from the Summerlin area. He did, however, suggest that the transportation commission erect a shade cover to protect parked cars from the sun.

Another idea? Offer passes with longer expiration dates.

"I was born in Chile," he said. "There, our transportation system is very sophisticated. The more you use it, the (more economical) it is. In other words, if you want to use the service four days a week, the rate's cheaper than if you (buy for one day)."

Maier said the transportation commission evaluates all of its routes and schedules on an ongoing basis and makes adjustments when necessary. Currently the Westcliff Airport Express service is operating efficiently and effectively, its research shows, with room to accommodate additional passengers comfortably.

In the event that passenger counts increase, the transportation commission will evaluate and may make adjustments as needed.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.