Las Vegas’ Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) celebrated the groundbreaking of the RTC’s new Mobility Training Center (MTC). The MTC will help Southern Nevadans, especially senior residents and persons with disabilities move more independently throughout our community.

At the MTC, the RTC will provide its Transit Mobility services, a free one-on-one or group training program, to local residents especially persons with disabilities and senior citizens. The MTC will teach residents how to use the RTC fixed route transit services safely and will provide them with the confidence necessary to travel independently.

The MTC will be the headquarters for the RTC’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit certification program that is designed for individuals who experience physical, cognitive, or visual impairments and who are functionally unable to use the RTC’s fixed-route transit services independently. Upon receiving ADA paratransit certification, eligible individuals can then utilize the RTC’s Paratransit services, providing them with the freedom to travel to various destinations throughout Southern Nevada.

The RTC’s ADA certification team currently sees 450 clients per month. At the new MTC, the RTC anticipates it will be able to serve an additional 150 clients per month.

Funding from the Federal Transit Administration will account for $5.4 million — approximately 80% — of the project’s $6.7 million cost. The RTC will fund the remaining 20%, $1.3 million.

The new 14,700-plus sq. ft. facility will be located next to the RTC’s Sunset Maintenance Facility, near the 215-Beltway and Decatur Avenue. The MTC will be built over the next 12 months with an expected opening in fall 2015.