I arrived in Reno on Amtrak’s California Zephyr from Salt Lake City. My plan was to store my baggage at the station then ride the Reno Ride transit system. However, when I arrived at the station the Amtrak employees said they cannot store baggage because they don’t have enough room. Interesting even smaller stations will store baggage for you but it is typical of Amtrak’s inconsistencies.

Instead I decided to walk to my hotel which was the Circus Circus in Downtown. As I was walking to my hotel I walked right through the downtown transit center so I knew I did not have a long walk once I found my hotel. It turned out the Circus Circus was only a block and a half from the transit center. However, the El Dorado, Silver Legacy, and Circus Circus are all connected via a skywalk and accessing them from street level is difficult.

I was able to check in early so I took my luggage to my room, grabbed my pad folio, stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then headed over to the transit center. Unlike the Utah Transit Authority that makes it so hard to buy Day Passes it is very easy to buy them in Reno since you can buy them at the transit centers or on board the buses themselves. Since I needed a timetable I went inside the transit center, bought my day pass from a machine, and grabbed a system timetable.

I had planned to ride the 6 bus down to the Meadowood Mall but there was a long line for that route and it turned out to be a 35 foot bus! I then saw a route 9 bus which also goes to Meadowood and also leaves at the same time so I jumped on that route instead.

Route 9            Bus 472           TMC RTS-II 40-foot bus  

There were 10 passengers on the bus as we departed the transit center. The first thing I noticed was that the stop requested signal was vocal instead of the normal bell. Also all the stop announcements were automated which became very annoying after a short period of time but at least they were being made. Also the brakes on the bus were making a very odd noise.

This route made frequent stops along its entire route. The bus head south to cross the TruckeeRiver then heads east before turning south for most of its route.

The bus heads east along 2^nd street, then heads south of Kietzke Lane. Most of the area along 2^nd street is pretty run down. In fact most of the trip seemed to be older suburban neighborhoods looked pretty rundown plus some mobile home parks. Meanwhile Kietzke Lane seemed to be auto row as there was car dealers spread all the way down the street.

The bus then jumps over to Nell Road before making it to the mall were I got off and transferred to the route 56.

The Meadowood Mall look older but was very typical auto centric mall with no pedestrian access despite the presence of lots of apartment buildings in the area.

Route 56          Bus 471           TMC RTS II 35-foot Bus

The route 6 I did not get on in downtown becomes the 56 as it arrives at the mall.

Once the bus leaves the mall area it passes the Sierra Town Center which includes a lifestyle center, offices, and companies such as Microsoft Licensing. The Town Center also includes the standard big and mid box retailers making it a pretty boring center overall.

The bus then travels through some 70 to 80’s suburban houses then breaks into new suburban sprawl. There were new suburban office complexes and apartments.

I got off the bus at South Meadows Parkway and Double R Blvd. My plan was to catch the 57 which goes farther south. I walked across South Meadows Parkway which although it includes crosswalks it is generally pedestrian unfriendly.

Route 57          Bus 471           TMC RTS II 35-foot bus

I first screwed up by looking at the Monday-Friday schedule but on Saturday’s the bus runs only a few minutes later than it does on weekdays. The bus and driver was the same one I had on the 56.

The route continues passing new suburban sprawl with little character. The bus reaches the far end of the Reno area then returns to the Meadowood Mall. We passed a Wal-Mart and was shocked that they actually included a walkway from the bus stop which is rare for Wal-Mart. It is clear than many people take the bus who shop that this Wal-Mart but usually Wal-Mart doesn’t seem to care.

There was a pumpkin patch located across the street from Wal-Mart. 

The area until the mall was primarily big and mid boxes including a big empty big box store that looks like it was once Target. We then passed a place called The Commons which looks like the poorly designed Sandy, Utah gravel pit development.  

Route 6            Bus 471           TMC RTS II 35-foot bus

The route was one very bus having a full seated load for most of the route. The route continues passing more suburban shopping centers before passing the Atlantis Casino then heading into older suburban communities. There was about a 4 block area were the homes looked nice but then we hit mostly run down areas.

After arriving back in downtown I headed back to my hotel. I was originally planning to ride more routes but I was feeling sick and since I had several busy days ahead of me I decided to head back to my hotel to relax before heading to a reception.

I did find the Reno Transit system easy to ride and the drivers I encountered seemed to be friendly. Sadly it seemed that most of Reno was mainly run down older areas and older suburban neighborhoods and then suburban sprawl. Reno seems to lack much character, it has some but not a lot.