Las Vegas Monorail

The Las Vegas Monorail Co., though formed as a not-for-profit company, filed Wednesday with federal bankruptcy court due to falling ridership, attributed to the economic recession. The company oversees the roughly 4-mile elevated service connecting hotels on the Las Vegas Strip withthe Convention Center. etc etc etc

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news ... uptcy.html

Consider for a moment that every casino in Las Vegas seems to have mammoth, and entirely free, parking facilities. Consider for a moment that it is very pleasant to walk down the Vegas Strip, although there is disturbing trend towards the rental of electric scooters by young, able bodied adults. It isn't too hard to see why the monorail company has fallen on hard times. Why pay a $5 fare to ride a monorail when you have the option of either driving or expending shoe leather? Actually, even for people who don't drive, it would make far more sense to stay at a hotel off the Vegas strip, taking a taxi to the strip itself, and enjoying the walk. Vegas is very pedestrian friendly - for people who are able to, or are ambitious enough, to walk.

My guess is that there's far more money to be made from renting scooters to lazy 20 and 30-something year old tourists than selling monorail tickets.

I've been to Vegas 6 or 7 times. Every time, I've stayed on or very near the strip. Not once have I ever taken the monorail or considered it. It can be useful if you need to go a far distance up or down. For example, getting from the MGM Grand to the Venetian. However, the stations are all behind the casinos on the east side. If you are on the west side of the strip, it's a long walk just to get to the nearest station. Once you arrive at your stop, it's another long walk to your final destination. If there are 2 or 3 of you, it's cheaper, and often times faster to grab a cab at the valet stand and pay for a 2 mile or so ride to where you want to go.

The two times I've been to vegas for a convention, I've always wondered why the monorail line was never extended to the Airport. In my opinion that would have made this line viable, useful, and a attractive alternative to cars/taxi. Right now its quite useless. Connection to the airport would be a excellent alternative to renting a car to drive 4 miles and park until you leave or standing in the cattleshutes for a Taxi.

Sidyin wrote:The two times I've been to vegas for a convention, I've always wondered why the monorail line was never extended to the Airport. In my opinion that would have made this line viable, useful, and a attractive alternative to cars/taxi. Right now its quite useless. Connection to the airport would be a excellent alternative to renting a car to drive 4 miles and park until you leave or standing in the cattleshutes for a Taxi.

You're absolutely right. An airport extension and an extension to downtown would make the Vegas Monorail an invaluable transportation option.

I cannot understand any modern city that has light rail, monorail, or commuter rail, and no airport connection. That should be the first part of construction of any system is downtown-airport. In this day, I hate driving to the airport, then paying $10-20/day to park, then transloading luggage to a bus to the terminal when the L gets me to the airport terminal.

Business is business everywhere.
In LV the airport is the only place where you have to pay for parking and also the ground transportation (cab and bus) is not very cheap (in comparison to other places in the town).

451 million for a 4 to 5 mile system? according to railway age,Am I reading this right?

it's alive..... although suspended: ProgressiveRailroading.com

The Las Vegas Monorail Co. has suspended construction of two monorail stops on the Las Vegas Strip due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a local news report.

All monorail activities related to the company’s Mandalay Bay extension and Sands Avenue Station project, which include construction of a monorail stop at the future MSG Sphere entertainment venue, have been put on hold, a monorail spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Construction of the MSG Sphere, located at The Venetian off of Sands Avenue, has also been suspended by its developers. Overall project completion — originally scheduled to open in 2021 — is expected to be delayed, developers said in a March press release.

Monorail operations have been suspended since March 18 due to the pandemic.
...

Doomed?

Casino.org

End of the Line for Las Vegas Monorail

When news broke in late 2020 that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) had purchased the Las Vegas Monorail Co. out of bankruptcy, fans of the once-futuristic tram system saw it as a lifeline.

It was really a death warrant.

What most people don’t realize is that the LVCVA’s plans included an $11 million fee for dismantling the monorail, perhaps as early as 2028, but definitely by 2030.

Last Stop Coming Up
The problem is that operating the monorail, for which the LVCVA pays a Los Gatos, Calif. company up to $500K annually, has become like driving a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spider. Sooner or later, it will break down and require a replacement part that can’t be obtained because it’s not manufactured anymore.
...

Buffalobill wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:10 pm 451 million for a 4 to 5 mile system? according to railway age,Am I reading this right?

Construction on the $2.05-billion Newark Liberty project is scheduled to begin in mid-2022, with new service set to start in 2026. Once completed, the new AirTrain Newark will be a 2.5-mile elevated guideway train system

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 1:01 pm Doomed?

Casino.org

There is an interesting tidbit at the end:

So why would the LVCVA purchase an old transportation system that they knew was doomed?

Because the monorail had a noncompete clause that prohibited any other company from building another off-street transportation system for the Strip.

And the LVCVA had already signed, in 2019, a $48 million contract with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build the Vegas Loop, which would probably have violated the monorail’s noncompete clause.

Denial: News3LV.com

LVCVA denies reports Las Vegas Monorail is winding down operations

The operator of the Las Vegas Monorail says there are no plans to wind down operations over the next four years.
...
"The report that the Las Vegas Monorail is winding down operations is 100% inaccurate," the post reads. "The Monorail is operating very successfully and the [Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority] has no plans to cease operations."
...

I used the monorail in 2019 when I went. It was useful for traveling long distances on the strip, but yes, the lack of a connection to the airport or to downtown are it's killers.

It's the only "touristy" thing I had time for while on a brief business trip to LV, other than company outings. I rode in the 5PM hour, if I recall correctly. It was not busy on the way north and quite a bit more crowded on the way back. It does go right past The Sphere which is a bit of an attraction.

I spent about as much on a ticket for it as I did at the slots at the casino hotel in which I stayed, which probably says more about how interested I am in gambling than anything else.