Commissioner Alexis Hill, the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County, and School Board Trustee Chair Beth Smith want our kids on the bus—public transit, that is. Through the RTC Student Transit Program, kids aged 7 to 18 enrolled in the Washoe County School District can now ride the city bus system for free.

Sounds generous. But let’s ask the obvious: Where exactly is a 7-year-old going alone on public transit? This isn’t a yellow school bus. It’s the general population riding—meaning our kids will be sitting next to who knows who on the way to who knows where.

Picon was curious why yesterday's Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting wrapped up so quickly. The reason became clear when Commission Chair Alexis Hill made an appearance at the school district meeting shortly afterward. It seems the brief commission meeting was timed so Chair Hill could make it to the school district meeting and seize her fifteen minutes of fame.

Commissioner Hill went onto discuss a ‘great success’ RTC program that was launched last year by the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County but gave us no data.

Our inbox was flooded with copies of Sparks City Councilmember Ward 5 Kristopher Dahir's campaign mailer, raising suspicions that the Regional Transportation Commission bankrolled this bad boy. While we're sure they kept their hands clean, the mailer reads more like a RTC infomercial than a council reelection campaign pitch.

Ageism, or arrogance? How the RTC plans to build a cookie cutter bridge absent any long-term vision…