There are few things in this life that upset me more than having problems with my SUV. It’s the only vehicle I own, and I hate bumming rides from other people or paying to be taken anywhere when it’s not working. But when I started having car problems in July, there was a silver lining: I discovered the city’s Roadrunner Transit.
I knew Las Cruces had an extensive bus system, but until I started riding it, I had no idea just how extensive and amazing it is.
Here are some RT figures for July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026 that I got from RT Director Richard Hanway:
• RT’s 13 fixed-route buses traveled 652,983 miles, covering 49,722 vehicle revenue hours and 812,314 unlinked passenger trips. (Many of the buses are all electric.)
• RT’s 15 Vamonos buses the city uses for paratransit and senior-citizen (age 60 and over) trips covered 297,063 miles, 22,074 vehicle revenue hours and 51,106 unlinked passenger trips.
• That’s a yearly total of 950,046 (just shy of one million) miles traveled, almost 72,000 vehicle revenue hours and more than 850,000 passenger trips. Total funds expended on bus-system operations was a little more than $8.4 million, and more than $5.7 million was spent on capital, including vehicles, other equipment and construction, like finishing up RT’s new maintenance facility on Westway Avenue, Hanway said.
• Fixed-route buses run 6:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Vamonos buses (“Dial-a-Ride public transportation for qualified individuals with disabilities, and senior citizens”), run the same days and hours, by appointment. There is no bus service on Sundays.
• RT has eight fixed routes in the city and two routes on the New Mexico State University campus that reach almost 300 destinations in Las Cruces and Mesilla – grocery stores and other shopping, hospitals and doctors’ offices, the Las Cruces Convention Center, New Mexico State University and Doña Ana Community College, Mesilla Valley Mall, places of worship, restaurants, schools, parks, government offices, the Gospel Rescue Mission and Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, gyms and neighborhoods across the city. (Once I started paying attention, I realized there are two bus stops within a three- or four-minute walk of my house, and the same for my gym.)
• RT service, including Vamonos, is completely free – there is no charge to travel on a city bus. A zero-fare pilot program was started by the city in 2022 and continues today, making public transit service more accessible to people who had found a bus fare difficult to pay. I could certainly afford $1 or so for a bus ride, but the many times I have traveled with RT in the past three months or so would add up.
• There is a code of conduct for all RT passengers regarding etiquette while riding the bus, safety, persons with disabilities, carry-on items, bicycles and scooters, pets and service animals and consequences of misconduct. (I have been at many different bus stops and ridden buses during the day and at night, and I have never felt unsafe.)
• Visit LasCruces.gov/RoadrunnerTransit to plan your trip, track your bus and find the code of conduct, plus a lot more information about RT and Roadrunner Vamonos. Passio Go App “shows the fixed route bus locations in real time,” Hanway said. I picked up the printed Las Cruces Area Transit Guide, which lists all the routes and stops, contact information, hours of service, NMSU Aggie Transit routes, bus-rider tips and more.
I got the guide while I was changing buses at Mesilla Valley Intermodal Transit Terminal, 300 W. Lohman Ave. That’s also where you can link up with other bus services, including South Central Regional Transit District, Greyhound and New Mexico Department of Transportation Park and Ride. On the website, scroll down to the orange boxes and click on “Additional Transit Services” for more information about all the transportation services that link up at MVITT.
“Roadrunner Transit has been providing public transit services in Las Cruces since 1986,” Hanway said. “We celebrated our 40th anniversary in April 2026. Public transit is an essential service and should be looked at as critical infrastructure, similar to roads or sidewalks. You may not drive on every road in the city, or walk on every sidewalk, but they are there if you need them. Same with public transit, you may not ride the bus all the time, but they are here when you need it.”
“Safe, affordable, and convenient ways to travel to and from home, work, school, and other places is a critical part of life,” said Las Cruces City Councilor Michael Harris. “The City can help everyone with robust transit infrastructure. I’m proud of the City’s investments in the system, and looking forward to continuing to improve the fleet and routes so that as many people as possible can take advantage of it,” said Harris, a former member of the city Transit Advisory Board.
I have found the buses run on time. In fact, in all the times I’ve ridden the bus, I missed one connection because my bus got to MVITT a little late. I remember one bus driver asking passengers the numbers of the bus routes they needed to connect to when the driver knew we would be a few minutes late getting to MVITT. The connections were waiting for us when we got there.
The buses are clean, and the air conditioning was so great during the summer and early fall. Even during rush hours, I was never on a bus that didn’t have enough seats for everyone. I have enjoyed the view and had some lovely conversations with other bus riders and drivers, and with security guards at MVITT.
Roadrunner Transit is one more thing that makes me so proud and so grateful to live in this amazing city.
