Las Vegas NowStruggling Las Vegas Monorail Calls For Expansion Plan
The Las Vegas Monorail has suffered from mechanical problems, low ridership, and questions about its financial health. But the operators are pushing forward with an ambitious expansion plan. The elevated rail line has received preliminary approval to extend to McCarran International Airport.
The next phase of the monorail was projected to go downtown. Instead, the company plans on going the other way toward the airport. The hope is that they will pick up riders that can keep the company afloat.
Eyewitness News talked to plenty of riders Wednesday, all of whom said it was very convenient and cheap compared to taking a cab. The problem is there just aren't enough riders like that and the company warned that if it cannot expand to the airport to get more, it's on shaky financial ground.
Taxicab operators say the monorail should get on track first. "Why would you be going bankrupt and want to expand, that is nonsense? Absolute nonsense, think of it," said Bill Shranko with Yellow-Checker-Star Transportation.
Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said as long as there are no public funds at risk and the monorail is a private venture, an expansion is their risk to take. "The plan from day one was to have an expanded phase that would go to the airport that would ultimately go to other resorts on the west side of the Strip," he said.
Woodbury also said passengers at the airport should not have to wait an hour for a taxi.
The monorail has struggled since it opened in 2004. Executives originally hoped to get more than 50,000 passengers a day. Currently, they have around 20,000 passengers daily.
The current monorail travels from the MGM Grand to the Sahara. An extension to the airport would stretch more than four additional miles, with six stations added along the way.
Monorail officials cited a Regional Transportation Commission report that said the monorail could handle 70-percent of the arrival and departure traffic at McCarran Airport.
The monorail's CEO says tax dollars wouldn't be used to foot the $500 million expansion bill.
The plan is to start construction on the new line around December 2008 and have it up and running by 2010.
Wednesday's meeting with the Clark County commission is just for zoning approval. If it's granted, they will still need to get design, building and planning approvals.
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