Regional Transportation Commission
A rendering of a proposed light rail system along Maryland Parkway.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | 2:29 p.m.
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With Las Vegas rapidly growing, mapping out a plan to meet the valley’s transportation needs is vital, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said.
Speaking today at symposium on transportation and development hosted by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Foxx, who served from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, was joined by local leaders to discuss the best way to address those needs.
“Our region is on the rise...and the opportunities we have moving forward are endless,” said Jonas Peterson, president and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
One of the biggest dilemmas facing community leaders is how to help lower-income individuals join the middle class, Foxx said. Housing is a major factor, with transportation close behind, he said.
That’s why mass transit projects like a possible light rail system along Maryland Parkway should be considered economic and social drivers, not just another mode of transportation, Foxx said. The system would link McCarran International Airport and downtown Las Vegas.
Some 90,000 people live along the Maryland Parkway corridor, and more than 25 percent of them don’t have a car, according to RTC data. “The connectivity that transit can provide is critical to those families,” Foxx said.
Officials are considering two transportation options for the Maryland Parkway corridor — light rail and a rapid-transit bus.
Foxx said light rail is more attractive to developers.
“The permanence of rail in the ground tells the real estate community that that traffic is going to be there forever,” Foxx said. “That signal by itself, coupled with smart zoning and land use decisions and advocacy, is a recipe for revitalizing an area.”
