About The Charleston Alternatives Analysis

Charleston Boulevard is a major 17-mile corridor running through the Las Vegas Valley, connecting neighborhoods from Summerlin in the west to East Las Vegas. Charleston Boulevard is one of the busiest streets in Las Vegas for people traveling within the region, with over 12,000 daily transit riders and significant traffic congestion. It is a vital connector for the community and a central hub for economic activity. The corridor connects key destinations like Downtown Summerlin, the Las Vegas Medical District, and Downtown Las Vegas, making it a critical route for both local and regional mobility. 

Despite the fact that many are relying on Charleston as a route to get where they need to go every day, people traveling on Charleston now face many challenges including safety concerns, traffic congestion, long and unreliable transit times because of frequent stops, a lack of dedicated and comfortable space for people walking and biking, and a high proportion of serious crashes. 

Charleston is a main street for the City of Las Vegas, and yet many sections of the corridor lack investment and have underrealized economic potential. For such a well-traveled corridor, there are few areas that function as bustling and vibrant neighborhood hubs. 

Despite these challenges, Charleston Boulevard remains a vital connector for the community and a central hub for economic activity. Addressing its transportation and safety needs offers the potential to improve mobility and enhance the quality of life for residents across the region. 

• Enhanced Safety: Safer and more comfortable spaces for people traveling along Charleston Boulevard, especially for those on foot or riding their bicycles.
• More Capacity: Move more people through the boulevard more efficiently, reducing congestion and travel times while improving reliability.
• Improved Transit: Deliver faster, safer, more frequent, and reliable service.
• Growth: Adapt the transportation system to keep up with rapid regional growth.
• Connected Corridors: Link to major corridors like Downtown Las Vegas, Maryland Parkway, Boulder Highway, and the Resort Corridor.
• Quality of Life: Improve access to jobs, education, healthcare, and recreation.
• Community Benefits: Provide opportunities for economic development, new jobs, housing, community beautification, and new neighborhood hubs.

Charleston Blvd is currently served by the frequent, 24-hour Route 206, and intersects with seven other 24-hour routes, including some with frequent service (i.e., every 10 minutes). The most frequent service is found on Charleston Boulevard itself and in Downtown Las Vegas.

The Let’s Go Charleston Study Area is served by 27 RTC bus routes, with the corridor intersecting most of the north-south bus routes in the RTC system as well as all routes that serve RTC’s central transit hub, the Bonneville Transit Center (BTC), located just south of Downtown Las Vegas and north of the Arts District.

Eight routes in the network are considered frequent service, defined as operating with headways of 15 minutes or better during the daytime period, from 6 AM to 7 PM. Only one frequent route in the system, Deuce on the Strip, operates more frequently than every 15 minutes, with peak headways of 10 minutes. Most other routes operate with 20-to-30-minute headways, and seven routes operate hourly.

Southern Nevada is experiencing rapid growth, with new event venues and professional sports in the resort corridor driving an influx of people, jobs, and activity to our region. For people who live here, growth can present new opportunities and be leveraged to make our region more livable, vibrant, and healthier. To achieve this, we will need to accommodate new growth through enhancing our transportation system, so we can keep people moving safely and reliably throughout our communities. 

Charleston Boulevard is a key East-West corridor for our region, and connects people with other important corridors, like Maryland Parkway, Boulder Highway, and the Resort Corridor. It gets people to important destinations like Downtown Las Vegas, the University of Southern Nevada, the Medical District, the Bonneville Transit Center, and all of the places that people live, work, and visit in between.

Use the Interactive Map here to tell us more about your Charleston Blvd.