NV: RTC says new authority will make buses safer, service more reliable

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

A new Nevada law that went into effect this week allows Regional Transportation Commission safety officers to remove disruptive passengers from its buses, bus stops and transit centers.

The result, commission officials say, will be a safer experience for all riders and drivers, in addition to bolstering bus reliability.

"It's important to recognize that, by signing this bill into law, (Gov. Joe Lombardo) has helped make our transit systems safer for riders who depend on us to get where they're going every single day," said M.J. Maynard-Carey, CEO of the RTC, at an event Tuesday to celebrate the legislation. "Safety has always been and will always be our top priority of the RTC, with our goal protecting the traveling public and the transit operators."

Senate Bill 290, sponsored by state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D- Las Vegas, passed unanimously through the Assembly and state Senate earlier this year, and then received the final stamp of approval with Lombardo's signature May 28.

Prior to the bill's passage, RTC safety officers weren't allowed to physically remove riders from bus stops or one of the more than 400 vehicles in the RTC fleet, even with probable cause.

Instead, safety offcers would have to call police or local fire personnel to engage with any "disruptive" rider, which Nguyen said took emergency personnel "out of areas where they could be a better use."

The new law allows RTC safety officers to remove passengers but not arrest them.

Nguyen said student commuters from Clark High School mentioned the problem during a Transit Security Discussion Group with representatives from labor forces, law enforcement, the district attorney's office, civil rights organizations, community groups and transit riders. The meeting was part of the RTC's "Everyday Safer" campaign that aims to provide a more secure ride environment.

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who is on the RTC board, said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the RTC was seeing more incidents of assaults and "disruptive" passengers on its buses.

In fiscal year 2020, the RTC recorded 179 passenger-on-passenger assaults, peaking two years later at almost 200 , according to data provided by the commission. That number dropped to 99 assaults in 2024 but has jumped again to 190 so far in 2025.

RTC data also show that the number of passenger-on-bus-operator assaults in fiscal year 2020 was 42 — the highest in the six years of available data — but has decreased to 28 so far in 2025.

The RTC defines "assault" as the unlawful use of physical force or spitting upon another person.

Bus operators would tell board members that they were frustrated with not being able to remove "disruptive" passengers, and that they were worried for both the passengers' and their own lives, Segerblom said.

Without a way to de-escalate situations or intervene, security officers and bus operators would have to wait for emergency personnel to arrive, slowing bus arrival times. This affected bus reliability, and riders became fearful of using public transit, he added.

"Hopefully this is one piece of that puzzle where now people will feel like, 'I can get on the bus (and) I'm safe'; drivers know they're safe, which is also very critical (to) tourism," Segerblom said.

In July 2024, the RTC entered a seven-year contract with Inter-Con Security to staff the valley's transit system with nearly 300 armed and unarmed officers. They can often be seen in bright yellow tops near bus stops or at transit centers, such as the Bonneville Transit Center off East Bonneville Avenue in downtown Las Vegas.

The transit officers are responsible for protecting riders, performing security patrols, monitoring incidents and alarms, escorting, controlling traffic or crowds, enforcing fare payments and watching over the dispatch, CCTV and command centers.

Henderson City Councilman Jim Seebock, the newest RTC board member and a retired Metro officer, said passage of SB 290 has him optimistic for the future of safety on RTC buses.

He commended the RTC for its Inter-Con contract signing last summer, a move that he said "dramatically" strengthened the agency's security force from "a limited number of partially armed officers" to over 300.

The safety officers are equipped with tools such as body cameras, GPS location tracking, instant cellular communication devices and "high visibility uniforms" — all of which Seebock believes will give riders "greater peace of mind and assuring accountability at every step."

Last year, the RTC became the first transit agency in the nation to launch the GPS-enabled Nano Panic Buttons for drivers to use in and outside of their buses to instantly alert dispatchers, patrol teams and the RTC when an incident occurs.

The transportation commission also was the first in the United States to deploy firearm detection software powered by artificial intelligence from tech company ZeroEyes.

For daily commuters like Maleya Sabell, a student at the College of Southern Nevada, the new law along with other RTC safety initiatives are a relief.

Sabell has been riding RTC buses for the past four years. Since enrolling at CSN almost two years ago, Sabell has taken the bus nearly every day and even got her younger brother — a student at Clark High School — a reduced fare bus pass so he can ride as well.

Now, Sabell said, she has fewer worries when riding her usual route, enjoying her commute time reading her Bible and having a moment of peace before her classes.

"I love the transit; it helps me to connect with others, and I thank you guys for adding security officers because it really does help us in everyday life if you ever need somebody to evacuate certain people or just be there to protect and serve, as you should," Sabell said. "I thank God that now they're gonna have these security guards and stuff like that because we want our places to be safer."

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