RTC Heat Summit in Symphony Park Highlights 122-Degree Bus Stop Dangers

The Regional Transportation Commission launched a federally funded study Wednesday as Clark County recorded 527 heat-related deaths in 2024.

Public health officials and community leaders gathered Wednesday at Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas for an Extreme Heat Summit, where the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada demonstrated a bus stop simulator reaching temperatures of 122 degrees. The event marked the kickoff of the RTC's Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan, a federally funded study aimed at addressing the growing dangers of extreme heat for transit riders, pedestrians, and infrastructure across the Las Vegas Valley.

Bus Stop Simulator Demonstrates Extreme Heat Dangers

The RTC brought a heat simulator to the summit to replicate conditions transit riders may endure daily while sitting or waiting at a bus stop. The device recorded temperatures soaring up to 122 degrees, illustrating the severity of conditions faced by riders across the valley.

Andrew Kjellman, RTC's Deputy CEO, underscored the urgency of the situation. "We're getting hotter earlier. We have more 100 days over 100 degrees in Southern Nevada. That's the scale of the crisis we are dealing with, keeping public and transit riders safe," he said. In 2024, amid record-setting triple-digit temperatures, the Clark County Coroner reported 527 people died from heat-related causes.

RTC's Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan

The summit marked the official kickoff of the RTC's Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan, a federally funded study received through the Federal Highway Administration. The study is designed to bring regional partners together to understand the scale of the heat challenge and develop a coordinated response to extreme heat and changing weather patterns.

"So this is a federally funded study that the RTC received through the Federal Highway Administration, and it's really allowing the RTC to come together with our regional partners so we can all understand the scale of the challenge in front of us and then we can have a coordinated approach to addressing extreme heat and changing weather patterns moving forward," Kjellman told local media.

The funding will also help officials assess how extreme heat affects infrastructure. Kjellman explained that researchers are examining how heat impacts pavement composition and ensuring that bridges are designed to withstand higher heat tolerances.

Shade Structures and Street Design Among Proposed Solutions

Currently, around half of RTC's 3,700 transit stops have shade. The agency invests $10 million annually to install more shade structures, including installations at high-traffic areas that cover both sides of the street.

"We have a type of shelter to fit every context of the roadway. We have slim lines, we have a regular general market shelter, and we're also deploying new dual directional shelters that provide shade in the front of our customers and behind them, depending on what time of day it is," Kjellman said.

Kjellman also pointed to street design as a contributing factor to the valley's heat problem. "We will be coordinating with the Public Works Department, who builds and maintains the roadways. We will be working with them to ensure that our roadway designs are not overly wide to accommodate the traffic that they're on, because a wide roadway, if it's not carrying traffic, that's just really a heat sink. It's getting our valley hotter," he said.

A 2022 study from RTC identified stretches of the East Valley as especially vulnerable to the "heat island" effect, which is worsened in areas with more concrete, fewer trees, and lower elevation. Kjellman noted that shade — through new transit shelters and street trees — remains the most important tool for cooling the street network.

Phoenix Offers a Model With Cool Pavements

The City of Phoenix presented one potential solution at the summit: cool pavements. More than 100 miles across Phoenix have been treated with a special reflective coating designed to reduce surface temperatures.

David Hondula, an ASU professor and director of Heat Response and Mitigation for the City of Phoenix, described the coating as a lighter-colored, more reflective surface applied to roads. "One of the most encouraging results from that work is that we anticipate it's going to increase the lifespan of the asphalt itself. Just as your skin does better when we have sunscreen in place, the asphalt does better with this coating in that it doesn't get quite as hot during the day. It doesn't experience that thermal wear and tear," Hondula said.

Surface temperatures can be reduced by up to 12 degrees with the coating, according to officials. Hondula also noted a safety benefit for pedestrians and pets: "The road is cooler, so if you happen to be on the road in bare feet or maybe your furry friend is on the road in bare feet, it's a safer experience there as well."

Local Officials Sound the Alarm

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom reflected on the unprecedented conditions seen earlier this year. "I've never seen a March like that," Segerblom said, referencing 12 straight days of record-breaking heat in March. "If you live here, you know that things are really getting worse. Mosquitoes, heat, um, people dying, which didn't happen when I was growing up, so it's a problem."

Public health experts at the summit noted that extreme heat is already the deadliest weather event in the country, and that the risk in Las Vegas continues to grow. Las Vegas ranks among the fastest-warming cities in America, according to local reporting from the summit.

What we know

• The Extreme Heat Summit was held Wednesday at Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas.
• The RTC's bus stop simulator recorded temperatures up to 122 degrees at the summit.
• In 2024, the Clark County Coroner reported 527 people died from heat-related causes.
• The summit marked the kickoff of the RTC's Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan, a federally funded study through the Federal Highway Administration.
• Around half of RTC's 3,700 transit stops currently have shade, and the agency invests $10 million annually to install more shade structures.
• A 2022 RTC study found stretches of the East Valley are especially vulnerable to the heat island effect.
• More than 100 miles across Phoenix have been treated with a cool pavement coating that can reduce surface temperatures by up to 12 degrees.
• Las Vegas experienced 12 straight days of record-breaking heat in March, prompting concern from local officials.

Why it matters

Las Vegas ranks among the fastest-warming cities in America, and the human cost is already severe — 527 heat-related deaths were recorded in Clark County in 2024 alone. With transit riders, pedestrians, and vulnerable residents facing bus stop temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees, the push for shade infrastructure, cool pavements, and smarter road design carries direct public health consequences. The federally funded Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan represents a coordinated regional effort to address a crisis that local officials say is worsening each year.

What’s next

The federally funded Transportation Resiliency Improvement Plan study, which kicked off Wednesday, will guide regional partners in exploring heat mitigation solutions from peer cities including Phoenix. The RTC continues its annual $10 million investment in shade structures across its network of 3,700 transit stops, with dual directional shelters among the new designs being deployed.

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