The RTC touches nearly every corner of Southern Nevada's transportation network. As the region's transit provider that oversees bus operations, the bike share system in Downtown, road planning and funding, and traffic management. With all operations under one roof, the RTC is uniquely equipped to manage and respond quickly to unexpected critical incidents, ensuring public safety and smooth traffic flow across our region’s roadways.
Whether it’s a crash, debris on the road, a fire, severe weather, power outages, or other emergency incidents, the RTC’s Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation (FAST) team jumps into action to keep the public informed and help minimize impacts and keep the community safe.
When an incident happens, the FAST Traffic Management Center gets to work using traffic cameras to quickly assess the situation. They immediately coordinate with police, fire, and other agencies that need to be involved or could be affected. The team's main goal is to understand how the incident will impact traffic and estimate how long the disruptions might last.
Once they have this information, FAST shares real-time updates with the public through social media, email, and text alerts. Digital freeway message signs are also updated to warn drivers about lane closures, debris, or travel delays. The FAST team keeps the media informed so news stations can spread the word, and they share details with navigation apps like Waze, which can suggest detours to help drivers avoid the area.
If the incident affects any bus routes, the transit team is notified to communicate detours to drivers and passengers. Meanwhile, the signal team adjusts traffic signal timing as needed to direct traffic around the incident.
This coordinated approach ensures that emergency responses not only address the incident itself but also keep traffic flowing safely. By reducing the chance of secondary crashes and improving communication with the public, RTC’s FAST team helps everyone get where they need to go.
The RTC strives to be prepared and remain connected with law enforcement, emergency responders, and local agencies to tackle whatever transportation challenges that may arise, ensuring that the community stays informed and can travel where they need, even in the face of emergencies.
To sign up for real-time traffic or transit alerts via email or SMS/text messages, click HERE.
You can also follow us on X for #FASTALERTS
Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes with our FAST team.
