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Would you ask a bus question for me?

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by Dewey090, Sep 13, 2012.

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  1. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    This is a link to a contact form that allows us to ask the RTC a bus question.

    http://www.rtcsnv.com/contact-us/submit-online-comment/

    I keep asking this question of what passes are all access, and keep getting ignored. Perhaps a dozen requests for this information might evoke an answer. If you will take the time to ask this question, and you get an answer, please quote and post what they say.

    Here is the way I write it up:

    "I am a Las Vegas tourist from New York state. If in October I buy a 15 or 30 day pass at a vendor like Walgreen's or Albertson's or at the BTC or the SSTT machine, is that pass all-access, or to ride the Deuce and the SDX am I expected to be able to show a local ID?"


    In addition, it would be just great if someone visiting the BTC in October would ask this question in person and report the answer, including the name of the clerk giving it. I got great information from Christine on my last visit and firmed up the rules on the 5 day passes and on luggage questions.
    I am not able to visit Vegas anytime soon.
    I answer a half dozen private messages a week and respond to as many bus posts here as I find. I know that I'll be swamped with requests for information on all-access opportunities (expecially from seniors) once the new fares go into effect on October 1. Your help in gathering this information and documenting the answers (at times in the past three of the same questions have received three different answers) would be invaluable. I'll pass on to others whatever you find. Thanks.
     
  2. Someone

    Someone High-Roller

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    I ask with Texas instead of NY and I put it to the "transit passes" pull down menu and I did not include a phone number, but did of course leave an email address and I only used a fake first name

    but really the phone # was not required and the name was a regular name just not mine and do they really need a last name

    I guess we will see and if they do not respond in a day or two I will repeat it just to annoy them for bad customer service :thumbsup:
     
  3. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Thanks!!!!!
     
  4. weas

    weas Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Vegas Deals

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    I used my real name and real phone #. I will also be there Oct 13th and plan to go to the BTC to get my senior ID. I will ask your question and post when I get back after Oct. 19th.
     
  5. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Why do you think it wouldnt be all access Dewey?
     
  6. weas

    weas Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Vegas Deals

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    I just called the RTC (1-800-228-3911). I spoke with Nicole, according to her there are no reduced fare passes that include the strip. You have to have a local ID to qualify for the reduced fare multi day pass that include the strip and express routes. My only options for my Oct 13-19 trip will be a $20.00 pass good for three days or a $65.00 pass for 30 days.

    I am staying downtown and I think I will pay as I go. $1.00 airport to downtown, $1.00 to strip via Wax and $1.00 for the return. $1.00 to Suncoast for my one night stay and then $1.00 for the trip to airport from Suncoast.. That is only $5.00 so I guess I will save money. Of course if I had the 5 day pass I would probably have ventured out a few more times.

    I will ask your question in person at the RTC, maybe I will get a different answer.
     
  7. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Perfect!! Thank you. That will be my 66 birthday, Oct 13th, so you will give me quite a present by nailing down the details of the rules. Can you give me a heads up via private message here when you post what you find so I don't miss it?

    *****************************

    Merlin:
    Whatever I might think has very little to do with what the rules of the RTC might or might not be.
    Speculation is futile and at times it can give folks a false idea of truth so lets not even start to do any and lets hope the sources in the RTC are full of knowledge and not just speculating off the cuff.
    If it were left to my thoughts, there would be no distinction between a bus fare paid by a local and one paid for by a tourist, 15 or 30 day passes would be available in every machine along the strip, tourist seniors would not be treated as second class by being denied senior rates on strip buses, and 24 hour passes would be one price system wide.
    But my thoughts are irrelevant.

    All I am looking for here is clarification of what the RTC rules are, so I can get that out to the folks who ride buses, and so I know how to plan where I stay on my next trip. It seems like an easy job, but past experience assures me that it isn't.

    The question needs to be nailed down and then asked again to see if the second and third answers are consistent with the firs answer. The source of the information needs to be listed, so this time the RTC gets its facts straight and those in the RTC who like to speculate are "reeducated."
     
  8. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Weas:

    Here is one more little question that has been raised on the boards lately. If we are paying when boarding a bus and dropping coins in a coin collecting machine, can we pay with the Sacagawea Dollar Coin? Can we use the Kennedy half dollar coin?

    Thanks.
     
  9. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    But dewey, haven't you received different answers from different people in the past? While there might be a right answer, there might not be, possibly because no one really cares, by that I mean if only 1 out of a 100 drivers would check for a local ID, does it matter?

    If you get the same answer 3 times but the driver doesn't check who cares? Just as if they said "fine no problem" but the driver wouldnt let you do it, their assurances would be equally meaningless.

    If you call them so often that they are sick of you(and wont respond), that might indicate something.
     
  10. weas

    weas Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Vegas Deals

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    The rules should be the same for everyone.

    I had an encounter with the bus ****, last Oct. I bought a 5 day pass from Walgreens. I did not know the first time you used it you need to stick it in the vendor machine and validate it. The bus **** hopped on the SDX at Sahara and was checking everyones pass. He got to me and said you are not validate you have to get off at the next stop, it was night time and the next stop was the convention center. Being a senior citizen, I was not happy as I thought I would be left alone at night waiting for the next bus. So happens I was able to jump off bus, validate pass and hop back on, luckily there were other people wanting to get on there.

    That being said, I want to have the right pass for the right busses with no problems.

    Dewey, I added the question to my list.
     
  11. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Thanks again Weas. I would like to advise people correctly of the rules so they avoid these sorts of issues or worse, a fine.

    .

    Yes, that was then and this is now. As of October 1 all rules and rates change. Note the new chart does not mention if 15 or 30 day passes are all access for tourists while it reassures locals that they can use them with ID. The old chart said only 30 day passes were all access, but 5 day passes were actually also all access. No one corrected that in at least two updates of the chart last year, but plenty on this board rode all access using 5 day passes based on what I finally hammered out with Christine at the BTC.


    There is a right answer. This is not metaphysics.
    Mere speculation. Possibly anything.
    If I am the 1 in 100 and put off the bus somewhere North of the Stratosphere at 2 AM, it matters to me. See the experience of Weas. It matters to Weas.

    I play VP. One in 46,000 hands on the 10/7 DB VP at Four Queens will be a royal. I had one dealt to me last trip, an event even more against the odds. it mattered to me.

    More importantly, if I am going to advise other riders and newbies of the rules, I want to give them the right answers. I feel accountable for my advice whatever personal risks you or I might want to take. If one of the 100 I advise gets checked and evicted or fined, am I doing responsible work?"

    Christine at the BTC told me that if the driver did not follow the rules she was telling, I should call her and report that driver so the driver could be reeducated. Shall we learn or follow no laws because at times they are incorrectly enforced? Should I go and advise folks to do that?

    Well, shall we all now spend a couple hours of typing, speculating what it might indicate? Are they annoyed I want them to do their job? Are they dysfunctional? Are they trying to hide the truth from tourists so tourists always pay more? Are they mad at me for continually protesting that they take my tax dollars to upgrade their bus system and then change me more when I want to use it. Do I care, pragmatically?

    If a group of us ask the same questions, we can find the right answers and Weas and others won't get put off the bus.


    I got a private message this week asking me how to get from luggage to the WAX bus. I answered it with two threads of details and a video. There was a right answer.

    I had 15 private messages from one fellow this year asking pretty much the same bus question, and I answered all 15.
    There was a right answer.

    I did not get paid to answer.

    RTC workers get paid to answer our questions correctly with the right answers. Let them do their job. If they won't do it for me, let them do it for someone. And in a few weeks I'm going to get a deluge of questions about what the new rates and rules are. With Weas' answers I can address them intelligently.

    In fact, with Weas' explanation of what happened when her ticket was not validated and she was put off the bus, I can warn folks, especially newbies, that not validating is an easy mistake to make. I did it myself on my first ride from the SSTT last trip with my new 30 day pass last trip. I just did not get caught.
    Suppose I had then written that up and suggested that it makes no difference to validate because no one ever checks and then Weas had been put off the bus based on my advice to take risks and violate the rules? Would that be a good thing?

    Write the bus company and ask, why don't you? Is this an outrageous favor for me to ask? In the amount of time you have spent making me explain why I might need help with this one, you could have sent them an email and called them.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 13, 2012
  12. Jimbo338

    Jimbo338 VIP Whale

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    Dewey,
    I asked about the passes as well with my name and in different words stating that I hope I get a reply ......I didn't the last time.

    jimbo338
     
  13. john meriman

    john meriman merri by name merry by nature

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    i asked using valid contact details.:peace::wink2::beer::poke:
     
  14. weas

    weas Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Vegas Deals

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    Weas is a woman so it made if even more scary
    getting put off the bus at night. LOL
     
  15. keno60

    keno60 VIP Whale

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    I will be attempting to buy reduced bus passes on October 1. I plan on buying a few single day passes at once if possible. I have a complicated commute situation this trip as my sister and some friends are going to hook up with me. Rather than one of my sons.
    I will inform you of all that I find out. When I wrote the RTC this spring about the changes I mentioned to them the unintended consequences of the elimination of the 5 day pass. That this may produce less income for RTC!
    Take notice of my actions and another board member who says "he will pay as he goes, and save money". I compliment you for all the help and your diligence in acquiring accurate information on the RTC passes which is truly
    a full time job! :nworthy:
     
  16. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    I apologize. I thought about that as I used my pronouns. Thanks for the correction and your help.

    Thanks Jimbo, hope life is good to you of late. We can always count on you for bus help and El Cortez updates.

    Thanks John.

    Thanks, Keno. I'm assuming those are not valid for strip travel. 24 hour passes have been invalid except with local ID for a long while. But who knows.
     
  17. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    We did get told there was no reduced fare on the strip during the last rate time by at least one person downtown. I hope you get a better answer at the BTC. Otherwise, this is really terrible news. ONe other choice if you are there so time is not a large factor is to limit rides to residential routes. But late at night that is not a good plan generally. Let's see what they say when asked by others.
     
  18. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Wow, If you pick apart the RTC's answers the same way you did my comments, I wouldn't answer your questions either.

    As a kid I recall finding old playboy magazines and fantasizing as I flipped through them...with you it must have been bus schedules,:poke:.

    Anyway, good luck on your quest for total clarity.
     
  19. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    An email today from Jesse Diaz seems to indicate the same bad news. However, no details.

    These pass are able to be used on the Deuce and the SDX. The local ID is necessary to take advantage of the residential fares.

    I'm still very unsure we have the definitive answer, but so far no good news.
    This poorly written and incomplete answer is one reason that getting a face to face with a bus person at BTC, hopefully Christine, and being able to ask a few scenarios, would be helpful.

    Are they going to stop tourists from even buying a 15 day pass with senior discount?
    I'll sketch out some residential routes and travels that might be appealing if we seniors are able at least to get residential discounts. It seems we can get them one 24 hour pass at a time by boarding a residential bus.
    Well, more information is needed.
     
  20. Jimbo338

    Jimbo338 VIP Whale

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    Dewey,
    On my last trip in March, I purchased an extra 5 day all access pass to use on the WAX for next year. Last time when they changed the passes and I called they said that unvalidated passes purchased prior to changes would be honored and they were.

    This got me thinking a bit. When I bought my 5 Day Passes at Walgrens, they came out of a pile in a loose leaf notebook where they recorded the date sold and price. The tickets were not coded or anything and I validated it on the first bus that I used. How does anyone know whether I paid $10 or $20, and whether it was a reduced fare or regular priced pass? I did show my reduced fare card as I slid it in the ticket swipe, but what if I didn't? The card came from a group that were for sale at $10 or $20, the driver basically listens for the beep.

    The WAX bus driver when I asked and showed her said the local Reduced Fair cards were identical to the type I had.

    Jimbo338
     
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