LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The city’s first light rail line is one of the options under consideration today when the Las Vegas area’s transit agency meets to consider its preferred option for an 8.7-mile transit corridor.
The Maryland Parkway corridor would begin near the Las Vegas airport and run through downtown to the Las Vegas Medical District, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Along with light rail, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada will consider bus rapid transit or enhancing the existing bus service, which is currently estimated to carry 9,000 riders daily. Some 35,000 vehicles also travel the corridor.
Cost differences between the three options are significant. A light rail line could cost as much as $750 million; bus rapid transit, with dedicated lanes, could cost $335 million, and an upgrade of the existing bus route 109 could cost $29 million. Funding for the project has not yet been determined.
Uh, we not extend the monorail from the edge of the airport (MGM Garage) to the airport terminal — and from its northern end at Sahara Ave to downtown Las Vegas?
Jan, the taxi industry in Vegas is a very powerful lobby, and they’ve blocked every attempt by the monorail to expand to McCarran. The taxis have been hurt rather badly by the ride-sharing companies so maybe their influence is lower, but the monorail is essentially bankrupt. It’s too bad, really, because I do think it could be a viable alternative to other modes of transportation.
Roger, indeed the Henderson branch is truncated just west of Railroad Pass, which also cuts off the Nevada State RailRoad Museum in Boulder City from the national rail network. All of the rail is still in place, it would just take rebuilding a couple of grade crossings for the branch to reach Boulder City. That would enable a Boulder City-Henderson-McCarran Airport-Las Vegas Strip (probably somewhere around the Fashion Show Mall)-Downtown-North Las Vegas passenger rail service, which might have some merit.
What is wrong with the bumpy monorail system already in place? Why can’t that be built out to the airport and other destinations?
A railroad already exist that goes by the south side of McCarran International Airport and on to Henderson. This line was built in 1930-31 to facilitate construction of Hoover Dam. South of Henderson,the line is severed at Railroad Pass,I believe. It would seem like a logical choice to use this line for commuter service to Henderson and to serve McCarran Airport and downtown Las Vegas with the possibility of some intermediate stops between the airport and downtown.
Penelope – I’ve never been to Las Vegas, so I won’t comment on Las Vegas. That being said I will comment on your comment. In my home area (Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, Wisconsin) such ideas as you post below are frequent. Each time I read such comments, here’s my reaction. To the transit advocates, were they to sit in the room with me, I’d give them a map of the area and a sharpie, and I would say: show me what you have in mind. Tell me where the fixed transit line would go, who would ride it, what would be the cost and the farebox recovery, who would pay the difference, and what would be the impact on traffic congestion.
The most frequent proposal in my area is a transit line paralleling IH-94 from Waukesha to Milwaukee. Though no one has the slightest idea what the route or ROW would look like. I do know that during rush hour the commuter bus takes only about 25 minutes on IH-94 from the Waukesha park-ride (actually in Brookfield Township, close to TRAINS MAGAZINE offices) to downtown. The buses get a fairly good ridership but nowhere close to what would fill a transit line. (Let alone the vast difference in cost.)
So, Penelope, I don’t know how familiar you are with Las Vegas. If you are familiar with that city, download a map, scrounge around for a sharpie, and have at it. Maybe you’ll come up with something good. Maybe not. In either case, I want a line on the map, not some vague ideas about what’s good, clean and economically healthy.
Las Vegas should break from its 1950’s mould as a city of only buses and automobiles for local transportation. It should adopt light rail which is cleaner, more efficient and more popular than buses.
Light rail with dedicated right-of-way is not prone to traffic gridlock. In the long term, it brings more economic benefits to the community.
they had some kind of light rail that ran from near the Stratosphere down behind the casinos and hotels on the Strip. Friend and I rode it in 2005 when we rented a car to drive up to Vegas from GCR Hotel, stayed a few days and drove back to GCR to catch Southwest Chief home. Not sure if it still runs or this will be in addition to that.