Wednesday, July 21, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.
North Las Vegas Police are cracking down on drivers who illegally use a specially designated bus lane to save a few minutes on their commutes, a spokesman for the department said Tuesday.
The maneuvers, which are frequent during morning and evening rush hours, are responsible for a number of serious accidents along the heavily traveled Cheyenne Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard North routes, Officer Tim Bedwell, a North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said.
The far right lane was set aside in June for the Regional Transportation Commission's $14.5 million MAX bus system, which uses an optical guidance system to lead the buses down the lane.
Drivers caught illegally traveling in the lane face a fine of up to $190, Bedwell said.
"We're pretty aggressive on those bus lane violations because it (driving in the lane) can cause accidents," he said.
Bedwell estimates North Las Vegas officers nab at least one such violator a day and that the department's efforts have reduced by half the number of accidents stemming from drivers in the bus lanes.
Crashes are most often caused when drivers, many of whom weave in and out of the lane, either are not aware of the frequent stops by the bus or accidentally cut off other drivers during the already busy peak traveling hours, Bedwell said.
The intersection of Losee Road and Cheyenne Avenue near Interstate 15 remains among the most dangerous, as drivers in the bus lane routinely dart into the intersection after the bus stops.
Valerie Michael, a spokeswoman for ATC, the company contracted to operate the new bus system, said problems with the specialized lanes are few and far between and that the European-designed buses have not been involved in any fender-benders.
The most common problem, she said, is litter covering painted lines used to guide the buses. If the optical system is blocked, drivers then manually drive the vehicle like a traditional bus, Michael said.
"It's just regular road debris," she said. "It (the MAX system) is a very sensitive system but it is a very accurate system when the driver is there to take over."
In the first few days the system operated, the lanes were left strewn with items ranging from everyday litter to parked or broken-down cars, Sue Christiansen, a spokeswoman for the RTC, said.
The agency worked with North Las Vegas Police to keep drivers from traveling or parking in the lanes, she said. The department even staffed a special overtime detail -- paid for by the RTC -- with traffic officers from June 28 to July 3 to patrol for items blocking the lane.
Citations were not issued during that period, as officers mainly warned drivers about the rules of the new lane, Bedwell said.
"It was more of a community policing kind of thing," he said.
The valley's MAX system, utilizing 61-foot buses that carry up to 120 passengers, is the only system of its kind operating in the United States. The buses run on a hybrid diesel-electric engine designed to reduce emissions.
They run in North Las Vegas, with 22 stops between Stewart Avenue and Nellis Air Force Base.
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