page_title: Las Vegas Transit
section_title: 1960s–1970s
hierarchical_section_title: Las Vegas Transit / History / 1960s–1970s
context_page_description: Las Vegas Transit, also known as Las Vegas Transit System, was a former operator of a small private bus system in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
context_section_description: LVTS ran a frequent and efficient service for many years during the 1960s and 1970s when the city was small; their routes covered most of the city.  At the time, they were considered a vast improvement over its predecessor, Vegas Transit Lines. In 1972, approximately 8,000 passenger trips were operated per weekday. In an article written in Bus World Magazine in 1978, they were praised as a self-sufficient bus system. However, LVTS suspended service to West Las Vegas, a predominantly black neighborhood, in 1969 after a series of racial violence incidents; the NAACP sued LVTS in 1974 stating the service was racially discriminatory. At the time, government officials also began exploring the idea of starting a public transit system to take advantage of federal subsidies.
  In September 1974, LVTS experimented with a "grid" route system to expand coverage, replacing the former "hub and spoke" system at the insistence of the Regional Transit Commission. The new system expanded coverage to 75,000 additional riders, but the expected increase in ridership never materialized, and LVTS petitioned to return to the "hub and spoke" in January 1975. They then went back to the old hub and spoke route system and enjoyed an increase in ridership, as detailed in the 1978 magazine article.
  As in later decades, the #6 Strip route provided the money for the other money-losing residential routes and allowed the small private transit company to turn a profit. Being a successful private bus company is an exceptional feat, as by the 1960s, virtually all transit systems in the US had been taken over by municipal governments and heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars due to declining riderships. By 1975, LVTS was operating at breakeven or a deficit, and any expansion would have to come via public subsidy.
  In 1978, LVTS operated a fleet of 26 buses, with half of them less than 5 years old. During 1976–1977, ridership rose by 21.8%. However, by 1979, an external consultant concluded the system was one of the worst in the nation, and that at least 110 buses would be required to provide adequate service.
caption: Traffic in Las Vegas. Photographed by Charles O'Rear for Documerica, 1972.
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