By Bill Holloway
A new integrated transportation system of car and bike share, shuttle buses, and on-demand cars with drivers—all linked together with a smartphone app known as Project 100—will give residents of Las Vegas a convenient way to avoid owning their own cars. Project 100 is expected to launch fully this fall and will be undergoing beta testing this summer to develop a sustainable rate structure and iron out any potential kinks in the system. They plan to start big and have already ordered 100 Tesla Model S electric cars to avoid capacity problems when they launch.
The goal of Project 100 is to make living car-free in Las Vegas—a notoriously sprawling, car-dependent place—both possible and convenient. Memberships will provide users with access to 100+ shared cars, 100+ shared bikes, 100+ shared shuttle bus stops, and 100+ on-demand drivers. Users will open an app on their phone to identify their destination and current location and then will be presented with a list of travel options that might include the following choices (as suggested on the Project 100 website):
- Be picked up by a driver in a Tesla in 3 minutes;
- Drive yourself in a low range electric vehicle that’s 0.2 miles away;
- Grab a bike that’s 0.1 miles away; or
- Hop on the party bus that will be near you in 4 minutes.
The benefit of linking all of these transportation options via a single application is that it can replace a personal car for all trips. Project 100 developers believe that two of the critical barriers to greater interaction between people in cities are the lack of convenient transportation options and a lack of understanding about the options that are available.
Although the pricing structure is still being worked out, members will not be charged hourly or on a per-mile basis. The plan is to keep prices in the range of personal automobile ownership costs. However, they may also offer a more limited entry-level membership option, as well.
Project 100 is being launched by Downtown Project, an effort to revitalize downtown Las Vegas and turn it into “the most community-focused and connected city in the world.”
Bill Holloway is a Transportation Policy Analyst at SSTI.