Roger Hanson, senior planner for the Regional Transportation Commission, said there was a 17 percent increase in ridership Sunday when RTC Rapid and RTC Rapid Connect started. He hopes the trend continues.

"If that type of number holds true, we're obviously taking more cars off the road," Hanson said.

Alexis Selover, a regular bus rider, gave the service high marks Monday, when officials gathered outside Meadowood Mall to officially launch the system.

"It was awesome," Selover told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It was so fast and really, really smooth. It's going to make my commute a lot easier."

Selover said the speed and convenience could lure more people to mass transportation and benefit the environment.

"I hope that more people will use it," she said. "I think they will."

The new service is using existing buses for now. Next year, the RTC will start using new 60-foot articulated buses powered by hybrid diesel-electric power.

Lee Gibson, the RTC's new executive director, said the rapid bus service will be important in shaping future mass transit in the Truckee Meadows. As an official with the

The two new "milestone" bus services, Gibson said, are "going to help us really achieve that high level of service that will really encourage people to use mass transit."