LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The tourism organization that owns the Las Vegas Monorail is considering spending up to $12 million to keep the 3.9-mile, seven-station transit system running for at least another decade.
The monorail, which dates to 2004, was purchased by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in 2020. Now the authority is looking at upgrades including replacement of the train control system, at a cost of $6 million to $8 million, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Other projects would include replacing current ticketing with a ticketless, cashless system.
The monorail line runs east of the Las Vegas Strip parallel to Korval Lane and Paradise Road, offering service between a number of major hotels and the Las Vegas Convention Center. It plays a significant transit role during major conventions and the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. Eventually, it could be replaced by the Boring Co.’s proposed 104-station, 68-mile underground transit system. But authority CEO Steve Hill told the Review-Journal that until then, the monorail is needed.
“It’s carrying around 6 million passengers a year,” Hill said. “If you put them in cars, it would really add to the congestion we have. That’s not really an expensive investment in the monorail to make sure that we have the option to continue to run it another 10 years.”
Ticket prices for the monorail range from $6 for a single ride to $62 for a seven-day pass, although discounts are available for e-tickets. More information is available at the monorail website.
The Monorail must have much higher capacity than the Vegas Loop, might even be faster with lower operating costs than human driven Tesla sedans in an underground tube. Should extent it north to downtown and south to the airport of Brightline West station.
To put it in persecpetive, that is $1.2 million per year, probably the amout of money made by LV in an hour of gambling(a conservative estimate).
I can’t remember where, (???), but I recently read here(?) of a city that was not only operating modern light rail on the streets, but also mixed together with (replica) colorful vintage-heritage trolleys as well, such as those made by Gomaco in Iowa, or perhaps restored vintage-heritage trolleys from Brookville, (PA).
Anyway, it would behoove a mega-tourist gambling destination like Las Vegas, NV to do the same, so as to blend in with all those exotic Disneyland-like structures in that gambling town, and scrap monorail.
And similar could apply to now trolley-less Atlantic City, NJ, to resurrect their 1955 abandoned ACT, adding more charm and convenience to the Gambling mecca, and where many gambling industry employee residents in the Margate, Ventnor, & Longport peninsula towns reside and commute to casino work.
Both of these gambling tourist cities should have thought of that long ago. http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/odds/nj/nj.htm#acs
http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/odds/nj/nj.htm#acs
I rode the monorail last April, mostly for the fun of it (though it did get me pretty close to a particular casino I wanted to visit). It’s pretty nice, but it’s limited to running along the back of the Strip for the most part. IMHO an extension to the airport, and/or to the future Brightline terminal, would really help increase the system’s utility and usefulness. I know an airport extension has been proposed before, can’t remember why it wasn’t built (besides cost).
A lot of money to replace the train control system. Is replacement really needed? What is the problem? Is the train control system causing problems or is it just anticipation of future problems? Is it software? Is the software protected or open source?
IMO the transportation is getting hit with replacement part items becoming obsolete before wearing out.
ALAN — Many of these systems are dependent on difficult to source maintenance parts, along with other difficulties in keeping the system running. A few years ago Detroit’s Downtown People Mover was entirely shut down for a total retrofit, although I can’t say how many months or years the shutdown lasted or how much it cost.
By gum Lyle Lanley really put Las Vegas on the map!
You Bet!