Posted on 12/25/2006 11:21:07 AM PST by rellimpank
The Las Vegas Monorail passes by the three towers of the MGM Signature Towers condominium construction project as it arrives at the MGM Grand station in this photo from Oct. 17. Ridership levels have been low, resulting in heavy losses for the Las Vegas Monorail Co. Photo by John Gurzinski.
A big convention helped fuel a slight ridership gain on the Las Vegas Monorail in November, but the system still lagged far behind ridership volumes from the same time last year.
Last month, 19,218 people a day rode the monorail, an increase of 2.7 percent from October but a drop of almost 26 percent from November 2005, according to data released recently.
Last month's ridership was boosted in part by attendees of the Specialty Equipment Market Association auto accessory show Oct. 30-Nov. 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the four-mile monorail line has its central train station.
(Excerpt) Read more at reviewjournal.com ...
I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map!
Taxpayers are not obligated to bail out the monorail should it go bankrupt. Instead, bondholders and an insurance company are on the hook to cover any losses.Should have installed a Loop from McCarran down the back side, swung up toward I-15 and back along to McCarran from the get-go. I'd bet that close to 80% of their out-of-town Strip visitors come through McCarran and would be a ready source for riders.
Monorail officials are hoping a planned expansion to McCarran International Airport that was conceptually approved earlier this month by the Clark County Commission will help increase ridership to profitable levels.
But the $500 million project still lacks funding to start construction, and the monorail's poor credit rating could make financing a tough sell.
Hope Willie didn't buy into this one! Merry Christmas. :^)
The monorail is fun! Offers excellent views of the Strip by day and night. No driving or parking headaches. Get a $15.00 unlimited pass, good for 24 hours, and zip around from casino to casino.
NOw that's funny.
Good job.
Maybe if this went along the whole strip like out to the pyramid etc.
--Harry Reid (looking out for Nevada) already has the earlygroundwork laid for an extension and huge taxpayer bailout--
Run it through bankruptcy, wipe out most of the debt and the stockholders, leaving the bondholders as owners. Then bring in new equity to fund the expansion and cash out the bondholders, wait a few years, and repeat.
--Yep--
It's cheaper and faster to take a cab when hopping between hotels on the strip.
I don't believe you can use the word "faster" to describe any trip on the strip. "Parking lot" works and so does "eternal wait".
I was there a few weeks ago, and didn't find it to be bad at all. The good cabbies know how to navigate through the back parking access streets to get around.
Many like to walk along the strip and see the sights.
So does "plague."
As in, "avoid it like the plague."
Tampa, FL had a monorail paid which serviced a very expensive private development. Financially speaking, it went Tango Uniform from day one.
Eventually, it was cut apart at great expense and removed.
I suspect that planners, and other such trash, spent too much time in the Big Sh*tty and think even Podunk needs monorails, buses, ad nauseam.
But that would have required common sense.
An Airport link should have been included from the get-go, as soon as it became a public project...
We are being soaked for a light rail in Phoenix, costing billions of dollars. Oh joy, a trolley that cuts across streets, goes an average of 12mph, and stops every 3 minutes to open its doors and let 115 degree heat in! Gonna cost the city about 9 bucks per passenger, but they are only charging $1 buck.
Funny how no one here has quite grasped what a huge money pit its going to be. It would be cheaper to just buy everyone in the city a car.
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