Dani Simons

In 2010, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood mounted a table at the National Bike Summit and proclaimed, "I’ve been all over America, and…people want alternatives. They want out of their cars, they want out of congestion, they want to live in… livable communities." He added, to thunderous applause, "You've got a partner in Ray LaHood."

The leaders of the nation’s big city transportation agencies have formed a tight-knit circle, brought together by the National Association of City Transportation Officials to share best practices, and yes, battle scars.

Last month the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy released its report, “Recapturing Global Leadership in Bus Rapid Transit” [PDF], which proposed a LEED-like rating system for bus rapid transit projects and laid out a strategy for American cities to build systems as good as the world’s best BRT. While more than 20 American bus projects have claimed the BRT mantle at various times, the ITDP report named just five American cities with bus corridors that made the grade and earned the title “True BRT.” Streetsblog is pleased to publish a series of case studies from ITDP examining these innovative transit projects. We started with Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and today, we look at Sin City -- Las Vegas.