Authority of commission and certain counties and cities to establish or operate public transit system; special procedures for procurement and requirements for development of fixed guideway system.
1. A regional transportation commission, a county whose population is less than 100,000 or an incorporated city within such a county may establish or operate a public transit system consisting of:
(a) Regular routes and fixed schedules to serve the public;
(b) Nonemergency medical transportation of persons to facilitate their use of a center as defined in NRS 435.170, if the transportation is available upon request and without regard to regular routes or fixed schedules;
(c) Nonmedical transportation of disabled persons without regard to regular routes or fixed schedules; or
(d) In a county whose population is less than 100,000 or an incorporated city within such a county, nonmedical transportation of persons if the transportation is available by reservation 1 day in advance of the transportation and without regard to regular routes or fixed schedules.
2. A regional transportation commission may lease vehicles to or from or enter into other contracts with a private operator for the provision of such a system.
3. In a county whose population is less than 400,000, such a system may also provide service which includes:
(a) Minor deviations from the regular routes and fixed schedules required by paragraph (a) of subsection 1 on a recurring basis to serve the public transportation needs of passengers. The deviations must not exceed one-half mile from the regular routes.
(b) The transporting of persons other than those specified in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of subsection 1 upon request without regard to regular routes or fixed schedules, if the service is provided by a common motor carrier which has a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the transportation services authority pursuant to NRS 706.386 to 706.411, inclusive, and the service is subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the transportation services authority for a fully regulated carrier.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 332 of NRS or NRS 625.530, a regional transportation commission may utilize a turnkey procurement process to select a person to design, build, operate and maintain, or any combination thereof, a fixed guideway system, including, without limitation, any minimum operable segment thereof. The commission shall determine whether to utilize turnkey procurement for a fixed guideway project before the completion of the preliminary engineering phase of the project. In making that determination, the commission shall evaluate whether turnkey procurement is the most cost effective method of constructing the project on schedule and in satisfaction of its transportation objectives.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 332 of NRS, a regional transportation commission may utilize a competitive negotiation procurement process to procure rolling stock for a fixed guideway project. The award of a contract under such a process must be made to the person whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the commission, based on price and other factors specified in the procurement documents.
6. If a commission develops a fixed guideway project, the Department of Transportation is hereby designated to serve as the oversight agency to ensure compliance with the federal safety regulations for rail fixed guideway systems set forth in 49 C.F.R. Part 659.
7. As used in this section:
(a) “Fully regulated carrier” means a common carrier or contract carrier of passengers or household goods who is required to obtain from the Transportation Services Authority a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a contract carrier’s permit and whose rates, routes and services are subject to regulation by the Transportation Services Authority.
(b) “Minimum operable segment” means the shortest portion of a fixed guideway system that is technically capable of providing viable public transportation between two end points.
(c) “Public transit system” means a system employing motor buses, rails or any other means of conveyance, by whatever type of power, operated for public use in the conveyance of persons.
(d) “Turnkey procurement” means a competitive procurement process by which a person is selected by a regional transportation commission, based on evaluation criteria established by the commission, to design, build, operate and maintain, or any combination thereof, a fixed guideway system, or a portion thereof, in accordance with performance criteria and technical specifications established by the commission.
Last modified: February 27, 2006