LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Recent high-profile violent incidents on Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) buses within the last several weeks and months in the Las Vegas Valley are once again calling into question safety on public transportation.
WATCH | Are the bus safety initiatives making a difference?
The RTC has put a big emphasis on improving safety, though, and bus riders at the Bonneville Transit Center in Downtown Las Vegas who spoke with Channel 13 on Tuesday say they've noticed a difference — echoing a similar feelings we heard last summer when RTC rolled out new security deployments.
"Absolutely, I'm actually more safe on the bus than when I'm in the car with my friends," Melissa Jennings said with a chuckle. "Never had an accident, never had issues."
Jennings says she rides the bus every day and has seen more transit security officers along her routes.
"I have seen them–not so much on the buses, but at least at the stops more often," Jennings said. "I used to see them on the buses, but now I see them actually at the stops more, too."
RTC Senior Director of Safety and Security Tom Atteberry said that's his department's goal.
"We're doing everything we can to make the bus safe, enjoyable and secure for the riders, and we've put our money where our mouth is," he told Channel 13.
Atteberry's been on the job for 18 months — coming from a long background in law enforcement — and has made substantial changes in that window.
"Really, we've hit reset on a lot of different things," Atteberry said. "The people in the community who are riding the buses, they expect to be safe and secure where they're going, and that's what we want to provide for them."
Namely, the RTC changed security contractors in July, which Atteberry calls "a game changer."
"We added another 50 officers to the routes," Atteberry said. "We went from 247 to 300 [officers in total], all fully armed out in the field. They went back through academy training, changed their uniforms so the public and the drivers can see them and are standing up on the buses now instead of sitting down."
Plus, Atteberry says they've added stronger barrier enclosures for bus drivers and given them a GPS tracker they can activate in an emergency.
"If they have a medical incident or if they were to get attacked, all they have to do is press the button and it sends a GPS signal out immediately to where they're at, and security and law enforcement will be there right away," Atteberry said.
Other initiatives include adding AI weapon detection technology to buses and tightening fare enforcement.
WATCH | RTC of Southern Nevada implementing new AI-based gun detection software
"A lot of the times what we saw was the people who weren't paying their fares were the ones causing problems, and causing the confrontations with the drivers," Atteberry said.
RTC data shows all of these initiatives have made a tangible impact: between the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, there's been a 40% drop in passenger on passenger assaults, and a 26% drop in passenger on driver assaults.
Channel 13 asked Atteberry for his takeaways from the data.
"Well, we're never satisfied," Atteberry responded. "I'd love to get it to zero, but that's unrealistic."
Atteberry says it's unrealistic because when you move more than 52 million passengers a year, as the RTC does, some incidents are bound to happen, but it's their job to keep those numbers as low as possible.
"One assault is too many," Atteberry said. "We take that very seriously, which is why we've made a lot of changes and invested a lot of money in our safety and security programs."
It's also why they're sponsoring Senate Bill 290 in the Nevada Legislature, which would give security officers more authority to remove disruptive and unruly passengers.
"We've doubled our removal numbers — off the buses, off the platforms from the bus stops of anyone causing problems," Atteberry said. "I think that's another reason why our numbers are going down."
And it's a reason why several riders tell Channel 13 that — for the most part — they feel safe on valley buses.
"You feel comfortable when you're safe, that's how I want to feel," a man who gave his name as "Fresh Cali" said. "I feel like the buses are reliable and effective."
For more information on the RTC's safety initiatives, visit their website by clicking here.
