The Highlights
Come on a walk with us and get a free slushie on 7-11 Day (Saturday, July 11).
Guest presentation from the RTC at next week’s (July 16) member meeting at 6 p.m.
The Boring Company's Vegas Loop is coming to UNLV.
The Urbanist Book Club is in the works, kicking off in August.
Congress may fund high-speed rail throughout the country.
RTC Presentation at Next Member Meeting
Hello everyone, I hope you had a happy 4th of July!
To start: the RTC of Southern Nevada will be giving a presentation on the state of transit in the Las Vegas Valley and what's ahead for the system as it faces a possible 40% cut in service. You should invite your friends to listen in:
When: Thursday, July 9 at 6 p.m.
Where: Online via Google Meet
We’ll also be discussing some other current and upcoming projects and how the fall will look like.
See the full meeting information on our website.
Walk Audit Project
A walk (or street) audit is an opportunity to see a street the way the people actually using it experience it, whether on foot, waiting at a crosswalk, or standing at a bus stop with nowhere to sit. For our Walk Audit Project series, we’ll start going on walks to document our streets and collect data on how to improve them throughout Las Vegas.
Join us for our first walk audit! We’re going to walk from 7-Eleven and finish by getting some free Slurpees:
When: Saturday, July 11 at 9 a.m.–10 a.m.
Where: Start at 7-Eleven at 4728 W Craig Rd, North Las Vegas, NV 89032.
Please RSVP here if you are coming.
Free parking is available right next to the 7-Eleven. (Yes, we understand the irony here.)
Boring Company at UNLV?
In case you missed it: the Boring Company (TBC) will be building a station at UNLV as a part of its Vegas Loop. This comes after a few months of TBC negotiating with the NSHE Board of Regents. The end result:
The Boring Company will build a station at the edge of UNLV's campus near the southwest side of the Thomas and Mack Center.
UNLV students and faculty/staff will receive 25% and 10% discounts on the fares, respectively.
UNLV gets to collect money from parking revenue derived from the station.
Once construction begins, TBC must finish it within a year.
LVBT's take: we personally believe that the government should be investing into transit systems that better serve the public and residents who live and work here, not primarily tourists. NSHE isn’t responsible for public transportation planning, but it’s disappointing that Clark County sees the Vegas Loop as a viable long-term solution to mass transit (which it isn’t). Public investment is the only way to help Las Vegans get around at scale.
Coming Up: Urbanist Book Club
LVBT is planning to host a weekly book club focused on transit and urbanism. We're starting with a classic: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.
First meeting time and location is TBD, but expect somewhere near Summerlin around the start of August.
If you'd like to join or help lead future book clubs, please reach out to Stella on our Discord server or send [email protected].
One Last Thing: American High Speed Rail Act
Finally, some (late-breaking) federal news worth watching: a bill that would fund more of exactly the kind of rail already under construction in our own backyard.
This isn’t just about improving convenience, it’s about creating smart, business-driven investment that will create millions of good-paying jobs, connect communities big and small, fight climate change, and ensure America leads the way in the infrastructure of the future.”
Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton re-introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act in May 2026, co-led with Washington Congresswoman Suzan DelBene. It provides:
$41 billion a year for five years for high-speed rail. $3 billion a year for corridor planning, $3 billion a year for tech upgrades, $35 billion a year for building the corridors themselves.
Financial incentives for true high-speed rail. At least 80% of the funding is reserved for projects with trains going over 186 mph.
Money for station-area planning. The bill funds a competitive pilot program for transit-oriented development planning around high-speed rail stations, the same kind that determines whether stops like the Las Vegas Strip station become useful or remain parking lots with platforms.
A bunch of other little things. This includes a new tax break for freight railroads that sell or lease right-of-way to high-speed rail projects, making it easier to build passenger rail service.
Brightline West's current phase, Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, is already funded and under construction, so this money wouldn't touch that segment. However, a future extension from Rancho Cucamonga into Union Station would be the kind of project that would benefit from this bill. This would create a one-stop ride from Las Vegas straight into Downtown LA.
Read about it from the press release here.
Moving forward, LVBT member meetings will be on the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. Email updates will come out every other week on Transit Tuesdays (or whenever there’s news to share).
Until next time!