Posted on 01/12/2005 2:58:01 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
The Las Vegas monorail passed a tough test during the Consumer Electronics Show last week.
The oft-troubled monorail carried nearly 150,000 passengers and generated $450,000 in revenues from ticket sales during CES. That's according to monorail officials.
The chairman of the company that manages the monorail says the system performed extremely well.
Jim Gibson says he's pleased the monorail turned out to be a reliable and safe transit option during one of the busiest conventions in Las Vegas.
Regional Fixed Guideway Moves Forward
Tom Hawley
KVBC-TV3, Las Vegas
January 11, 2005
The Las Vegas Monorail seems to be up and running these days. But for mass transit, it only serves a very small portion of the valley.
That's why the Regional Transportation Commission is working on a much larger system. And they're asking for public input on just what type of vehicle they'll use for a new "Fixed Guideway". That's industry jargon for a route that is physically predetermined, such as a railroad track or monorail. For a new cross valley fixed guideway (see above map), the RTC is studying four options.
First, light rail...which is becoming increasingly common in large american cities. The picture at left, for example, is in use by the city of Sacramento.
Second a Diesel Multiple Unit, or DMU, such as the Colorado Railcar at left. It's essentially a passenger car and locomotive all rolled into one.
The third and fourth options are Bus Rapid Transit or BRT. The RTC is already running one BRT route...the Metropolitan Area eX press--or "MAX" along Las Vegas Boulevard. BRT uses a bus-like vehicle, but with an optical guidence system which follows markings painted into the street. One BRT option would be self-propelled with a combustion engine. The other could use overhead electrical power.
You can give your thoughts on the project, at a series of meetings being held in mid-January. Information on dates, times and locations is below.
Actual construction of the fixed guideway is still several years away.
Progress being made in Las Vegas mass-transit.
The monorail only serves a very few hotels on the strip, is poorly arranged, and did nothing to alleviate traffic problems connected with CES.
Classic!
Well it's been up and running ever since Christmas Eve: Monorail Gets Back On Track
But the operating hours are from 8 AM to 2 AM, so maybe you tried during the off hours.
And what do you think the traffic would've been like had those 150K passengers been riding in cabs or driving rental cars?
--yep--rode it out of curiosity . I suspect it will be looking for federal money within a year--not including that thirty million sneaked into the end-of-year budget bill by good old Harry Reid---that's for "expansion"---
"Progress being made in Las Vegas mass-transit."
Willie, that puppy's going to break down again.
Hey! Don't talk bad about our monorail!!!!
At least nothing fell off this time!
Always with the negative waves...sheese...
LVM
Sorry willie, I don't want to live in a city like the Las Vegas Strip. It's good for a laugh, but my house on the quiet hilltop is far more to my taste.
Build all those damn things you want for the fools that like them, JUST DONT TAKE MY TAX MONEY TO DO IT!
No problemo, Shermy.
We'll just fix it again.
(It beats the alternative)
After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was deadYou see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...
Not significantly worse. The Strip was just plain FUBAR'd. Hell, I got around faster on foot than anyone did on the monorail or in their cars.
Good news. We're getting there.
I think it's worth the effort.
Well the monorail is just one small step.
And that's why the "fixed guideway" is being proposed.
More cars will simply FUBAR the Strip worse than it already is.
Slowly... but we're headed in the right direction!!!
Good luck to the people who invested in this infrastructure project. They have courage to invest money into a new venture like this.
Interestingly enough, the new AirTrain system at San Francisco International Airport is a better technology example - the ride is good and the cars are roomy. It took them a long time to work all the bugs out, though.
That event would be the AVN Awards.
For those that don't know, use google.
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