LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Normally, the act of throwing shade might not be so welcomed, but that's exactly what some want from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.
They want the RTC to throw more shaded coverings at Las Vegas Valley bus stops, and RTC officals say that's exactly what they plan to do.
Right now, the RTC has nearly 3,700 bus stops across the valley. About 1,800 have coverings that protect riders from the hot desert sun.
"We're aggressively moving forward to add more shelters in the near future," said David Swallow, deputy CEO of the RTC, the organization responsible for public bus service in the valley.
Swallow said the commission has added close to 800 coverings at bus stops in the area in the past decade, but that still leaves thousands of bus stops where there is little or no shelter from the sun.
Watch the full interview with Swallow here:
And when temps in Southern Nevada soar past the triple digits — like what's happened in recent days when the temperature reached a record of 120 degrees in Las Vegas — it can leave riders in an uncomfortable spot.
By the end of next summer, Swallow said the RTC will install about 300 more coverings at various bus stops. That will cost, he said, about $16 million.
Close to 80% of those funds will come from federal sources, Swallow said.
Sunday, the day when Las Vegas witnessed its previous record temperature fall, Bernard Duque was riding the bus home from an event at UNLV.
He was at a bus near the intersection of Valley View Boulevard and Flamingo Road. Wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, he said he was holding up that afternoon, but acknowledged that the heat was intense.
"This heat is crazy," Duque said. "It feels like you're burning, literally."
Over the course of the past 12 years, Swallow said the RTC has put about $20 million into the addition of shaded bus shelters in the area.
