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The $3 2 hour RESIDENTIAL pass

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by Dewey090, Apr 9, 2014.

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  1. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    One thing is currently unclear to me. It may be that the 2 hour pass issued on a residential bus is "all access" for us tourists as well. There is an asterisk on the website list of fares that in my reading suggests it is "all access" without the need for local ID.
    http://www.rtcsnv.com/transit/fare-information/
    I can't trust the website because it has been wrong in leaving an asterisk OFF for the 15 day all-access-to-anyone-pass.
    Calling RTC might get three different answers in three calls.
    If anyone is at the BTC and can ask Christine, (who knows what she is talking about) and has the energy to run down this information, I sure would appreciate it.
    And a half dozen of us getting the same answer reported here and in my bus blog, would be helpful. This is what I did for the 15 day all access questions.

    If the 2 hour pass is now intended to be all access that would free up tourists coming from the airport to pay just $3 for a ride to any strip hotel without worrying about not having a local ID or breaking a technical rule.

    But it needs to be carefully researched, rechecked and reported, and I'm more interested in what the RTC rule is than what might be allowed by an individual bus driver, sometimes, or how easy it might be for any of us to pretend to be local in these situations and get away with it.

    *********

    Many of you have expressed thanks personally and here. I appreciate the kudos, but there are dozens of people who gather this information and report it here on the board and to me personally in PM style. I know some of the buses from personal experience or BTC interviews, but much of it I collect and report from other's experiences with the intent on clearing up the confusing details of the rules.
    I try to check and recheck details, looking for answers to the confusion that is caused by the intent of the RTC to establish a two tier payment system for buses (one for locals and one for tourists) and the natural confusion caused by continually changing the routes, fares, and rules.
    So, the kudos go to all the folks who supply that information. All of you are experts. I simply have a good place to collect and keep the information, so when questions repeat themselves, I can often answer with boilerplate saved on my blog. (see link below)

    And if you are in Vegas here is yet another opportunity to research. And thanks for anything you can gather.

    Remember when asking to ask reference to "tourists" who do not have local ID. For locals with ID all the bus passes are all access.
     
  2. pebbles

    pebbles Micro Roller.

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    We will be using a 15 day senior and regular pass soon. If we are in the vicinity of the BTC at any time. ( Possibly often,) I will ask whoever is there and report back. Good to know that Christine is the one to try for. Thanks.
     
  3. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Thanks Pebbles. You're a peach.
     
  4. pebbles

    pebbles Micro Roller.

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    We called at the BTC yesterday to buy our passes. I asked about the $3 2 hour pass and was told it is valid for onward travel on the SDX and Deuce, but they are not encouraging it's use in that way. Not sure what was meant by this. She waffled on about not being able to buy that particular pass on the strip buses to start a journey, which was irrelevant in my opinion, but never mind.

    I posed a scenario of buying the $3 2 hour pass at the airport, using the WAX to NYNY, then transferring to a strip route. She confirmed that this was acceptable. The driver/inspector would accept this as a valid ticket.
     
  5. Jimbo338

    Jimbo338 VIP Whale

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    Thanks Pebbles:
    I asked if I could use the 2x4 hour pass I received when I boarded the WAX the first time, on all the buses and he said yes. I asked him again just to make sure I was clean and he understood what I was asking and he again answered that it was.

    Jimbo338
     
  6. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Okay, I'm going to go with this as recommendation from the downtown authority. Thanks so much Pebbles. Great scenario. Did you get a name?
    I see you did get the standard run around that wants to discourage tourists from going on the cheap.
    Most of us don't need to buy a pass to get back to the airport. We have one acquired along the way. And any pass lets us board the WAX to get back.

    Now, anyone else who happens to be in the BTC can ask this same question and report the answer. What is helpful is to get the same answer a half dozen times from the folks in authority, collect that, and have it ready. This will put at ease folks who write asking about the rules who do not want to bend them.

    Also, if you are going to do this from the airport, print out this information so if you get challenged by a strip driver, you can show it.
    And tell us how your experience went.
    ****************
    re: Jimbo's comment
    I know one driver one time a few years ago told you, Jimbo that you could use a residential 24 hour pass on the strip buses without a local ID. However, since that time I have emails that contradict that, RTC facebook site posts that contradict it, phone conversations that contradict it, and interviews at the BTC that draw a clear difference between a 24 hour residential pass and a 15 day all access pass issued by a vendor for which no local ID is required.
    Also, note there is no asterisk on the fare page of the RTC webpage that would indicated differently.
    If we tourists take a 24 hour residential pass and swipe it on the Deuce or board the SDX with it, we are pretending to be a local.
    And one driver allowing otherwise does not change official rules and policy.
    Drivers do not make policy. Sometimes they do not know what the policy is. Sometimes they don't care to enforce it.
    Also, policy changes. We want the current rules. What is the actual date of that conversation with the WAX bus driver?

    Do tourists use 24 hour residential passes on the Deuce and SDX and get away with it? Yes. Tourists jaywalk and get away with that as well. I see it every trip. However, jaywalking is against the law in Vegas and the fines are huge.
    But most of the tourists I know who have used a residential 24 hour pass on a strip bus do not make it a habit. They don't buy a string of 24 hour residential passes and use them during their trip on the Deuce and the SDX. They might do this once, once in a long while.
    That decreases the odds of being hassled.
    The rest of the time they buy a 15 day pass for all access.
    If we want to give newbies safe advice, we have to make that advice consistent with the actual RTC rules, even if the RTC does not always like telling us what can be done within the rules, and even if they don't want us to share that information or advertise because, "they are not encouraging it," as they told Pebbles.
    We don't really care if they encourage it; we want to know what is allowed by rules and policy.

    ***********************
    All of this confusion comes from the RTC need to separate tourists from locals and make tourists pay more with no allowance for any special reductions due to age or disability. But that is the way it is.
    I would love it if all 24 hour passes were good on all buses for all customers. But the RTC would lose money, especially from seniors. We seniors would start almost all our journeys on a residential bus with a 24 hour pass that cost us $2.50 rather than on a strip bus that costs us $8. And a trip from the airport to a hotel would be much cheaper and very simple, one pass for all buses.
    At least it seems we now have a cheap way for folks to go from the airport to their hotel. The WAX takes just a few minutes to get to the strip and so a $3 two hour pass would easily let anyone board any strip bus and go directly to their destination. For some people that would be plenty. They walk the rest of the time or take free shuttles.
    To get back from the airport is a bit more tricky. A $5 two hour pass would have to be timed so that one could board the WAX within those 2 hours. So if a tourist left the Stratosphere on a busy day and arrived at NYNY with almost an hour wait, the time could run out. But it is a good bet it would not and the loss of that bet is just $2.

    ***********************************
    Oh, just as a humorous aside, I wonder just what was meant by "going forward"
    If I ever can get to Vegas and have this conversation at the BTC (and have it more than once during my visit,) I'm certainly going to respond this way:
    "Well, what if I buy a $3 residential two hour residential pass and want to use it going backwards?"
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 14, 2014
  7. pebbles

    pebbles Micro Roller.

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    We think it was Barbara. Not 100% certain though.
     
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