Clark County study says mobile billboards add to Strip traffic, proposes changes

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A Clark County-sponsored study says mobile billboards add to the traffic on the Las Vegas Strip and proposes rules to limit lights and relieve congestion, while at least one business calls for a crackdown only on bad actors.

The study was paid for by Clark County and presented to the Commission. Some of the reported findings, in an analysis of patterns from Tropicana Avenue to Elvis Presley Boulevard:

• Mobile billboards typically travel about 10 to 15 miles an hour slower than other traffic in the corridor
• The travel time was six minutes slower for a mobile billboard for the same distance
• Vehicles stopped about 30 to 60 feet from other cars
• Vehicles contributed to added traffic along the Strip
• Lighting levels were about five times higher than the ambient lighting on the Strip
• Excessive bright lights could hurt drivers’ eyes

Some proposed ordinance changes include:

• Limiting the number of maximum vehicles allowed to operate to 100
• Banning back-to-back travel
• Prohibiting sound
• Curbing light levels
• Mandating travel in the right lane
• Requiring annual reports of vehicle citations
• Dimming brightness further when vehicles travel outside the Strip in local neighborhoods

FOX5 reached out to numerous businesses for comment. Mike Foland of FLO Advertising said that he only owns one vehicle, and his drivers have never been cited; although his vehicle can reach peak brightness levels, he keeps the images at 40% of its maximum capability. He would like to obtain up to 10 vehicles, but a moratorium on new licenses has been in place since prior to the pandemic.

“As you can imagine, there’s a lot of bad operators doing bad things. There are little guys out here too, that still like to be involved and not get shut off completely,” Foland said.

Foland calls for flexibility for vehicle movement, as pedestrians can often step into roadways on the Strip.

“If there’s an accident on one side, if there are drunk tourists laying in the road, you have to be flexible. It’s not necessarily that we’re going 15 miles below the speed limit. We’re just not speeding around with them. We have to be careful. We have big pieces of machinery that could hurt somebody,” Foland said. He has been communicating with Clark County officials on business concerns.

County officials said that another study will be conducted to determine appropriate light levels for mobile billboards. Foland disagrees with the notion that many are too bright or too loud for the Las Vegas Strip but does agree that billboards should be dimmer in non-Strip areas.

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