"It's likely to take us several years," said RTC spokeswoman Tracy Bower.

The first phase will see new bus shelters installed along the Strip. That's expected to be complete by early next year.

RTC general manager Jacob Snow showed the Las Vegas City Council designs for new bus shelters on Wednesday.

"Our goal is to have a shelter at every stop in the valley," he said, but reaching that goal is going to require a fair amount of negotiation and paperwork.

That's because the RTC has had authority over bus stops only since 2005. Previously, bus stops were the responsibility of the jurisdictions in which they were located, and the RTC inherited existing contracts for bus stop construction and maintenance.

A new Clark County contract took effect Jan. 1. It increases the number of shelters that have to be built over the next 15 years, Bower said, although she couldn't provide the exact number.

The cost is also being determined -- the contractor, Outdoor Promotions, will bear much of the cost and recoup expenses by selling advertising, but the RTC might have to contribute as well, she said.

Contracts in other jurisdictions, such as Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, haven't expired yet.

"We want our passengers to have a comfortable place to wait," Bower said. "The sun is obviously a huge issue.

"We think the new shelters will provide a more comfortable waiting area -- the goal was to try and maximize the shade."

The renegotiations will include a push for the contractor to clean bus stops more often. Existing contracts require stops to be cleaned once a month, which isn't often enough, Snow said.

The RTC also could find another contractor to perform the cleanings, or hire additional staff for the task.

Either way, it needs to be done, said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, because dirty bus stops will keep people from using mass transit.

"With all these beautiful buses, and all these beautiful routes, if those bus stops are dirty ... we're not going to accomplish what we want to accomplish," Goodman said.