Congresswoman Dina Titus introduced legislation today to allow transit agencies to add extra buses to their fleets, preventing disruptions to service during extreme heat events that can be dangerous to transit passengers. 

“In Southern Nevada and elsewhere, extreme heat takes its toll not only on buses but on the passengers who ride them,” Congresswoman Titus said. “My legislation will allow the RTC and other transit agencies to increase the number of spare buses they can put into service during bus breakdowns, including those due to extreme heat. Eighty percent of our transit riders rely on buses to get to work and back. Reliable transportation service is critical to both their health and their livelihoods.”

The Bus Utilization for Fleet Flexibility and Emergency Resilience (BUFFER) Act would allow transit agencies to increase their spare bus ratio from 20 percent to 30 percent of their fleet if their region regularly experiences extreme weather events. 

Congresswoman Titus said the change also is important to Southern Nevada’s tourism economy. “Our tourism economy depends on reliable transit service to transport millions of visitors, especially during major events,” she said. “Some of our transit routes operate 24 hours a day. The RTC needs to be able to respond quickly to disruptions in service.” 

“The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada strongly supports revisiting the 20 percent spare ratio policy,” said MJ Maynard-Carey, RTC CEO. “In a region experiencing rapid growth, extreme weather, and large-scale events, added flexibility will help us keep our community moving. Updating this policy will ensure we can continue providing safe, reliable service for the thousands of riders who count on us each day. We are grateful to Congresswoman Dina Titus for bringing this important issue forward.” 

Congresswoman Titus is a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and has made increasing the number of spare buses a priority in surface transportation reauthorization. 

The BUFFER Act would require the Secretary of Transportation to allow transit agencies to have extra buses in regions experiencing extreme weather events that affect their operations. It would change the current federal rule that caps the number of spare buses a transit agency can maintain at 20 percent of their overall bus fleet, regardless of how many more buses a transit service needs to maintain reliable service. The legislation would move that cap to 30 percent. 

The RTC operates a fleet of over 400 buses and relies on Federal Transit Authority funding to purchase both active and spare buses.