Posted on 06/24/2009 6:15:50 AM PDT by FromLori
Nobody wants to ride it, and it has almost a half billion in debt.
The Las Vegas Monorail looking for a bailout because almost nobody's riding its rail.
There's enough riders to cover the day to day expenses of operating the thing, but not enough to pay off the massive debt payments which total $451 million. Fitch downgraded the company's bonds to C rating, which means "default of some kind appears imminent or inevitable."
So, like any good business in today's economic environment, the company is "looking into possible federal loans or other sources of public funding," according to KVBC.
But even as the company comes with its hand out for some cash, it's working on an extension out to the airport, which will rack up more debt.
Our question: Why on Earth didn't it start with an extension from the airport to the strip? We don't think most Las Vegas tourists would travel around the town on a monorail, but we think almost all would take it into town, if given the option.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Didn’t the idiots who approved and financed this project ever watch The Simpsons?
“What about us brain dead slobs?”
“You’ll all end up with cushy jobs!”
LOL - my first thought when I saw this thread. Easily the absolute best Simpsons’ episode - Phil Hartman was GREAT!
I have ridden the thing. Its good and provides good service—but its too expensive. Yes, link it to the airport or to the place where the high speed trains will come in—when they are built. This should have been done ten years ago! I say build it with convict labor or illegal aliens to keep the cost down!
so that monorail has a special place in my heart.
The placement of the monorail is a problem. It sets a half-mile from the front of the hotels and you have to wander back through a maze just to get there. Also, much of the strip is not served by the monorail. The monorail system that serves Excaliber, Treasure Island, etc is heavily used. The monorail on the other side is not. It would have been better to run it down the middle of the Strip, in the median, using the existing pedestrian bridges to connect to the hotels.
Who want’s to go to Shelbyville anyway?
Taxi lobby. I took the bus; inexpensive but it wasn't especially convenient.
I remember that!
Houston Metro Rail just got $150 million from “The Obama Administration” according to The Houston Chronicle to extend what locals used to call the Brown Streak, built during Mayor Lee P. Browns tenure. Never mind that no one rides the thing now. It was supposed to revitalize downtown Houston. Other than help people get to the stadiums for events it’s pretty much worthless. Ties up traffic at intersections it crosses too.
They obviously did not talk to the governments of Brockaway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, did they?
You’re absolutely right!! It is so d@mn hard to get to the stations. You have to walk all the way through the casinos and it only serves one side of the strip. They should extend it to the other side and make 1 big loop.
The other monrails are great and crowded.
Donuts, is there anything they can’t do?
It runs behind the hotels on the Strip, so the view sucks.
It runs behind the hotels on the Strip, so there is a very long walk through casinos to get on the thing.
It doesn't go to the airport.
It doesn't go Downtown (Fremont Street)
It's expensive
From time to time large heavy pieces have fallen off of it, crashing to the ground below.
Seriously
If you need to get around Vegas here's some alternatives.
Rent a car, cars start at $25/day plus fees, figure another 30%. (Now you know how Nevada gets by without a income tax). Every rental car is treated the same from a Rolls to Neon, you pull up in front of a casino and toss the keys to the valet. Pay a few bucks in tips when you get it back.
The Deuce, someone else has already posted a pic, it's great, it does get crowded.
The Free Shuttles - What a deal, a lot of hotel have free shuttles to get patrons from their offstrip properties to the Strip itself. For example, Harrah's has shuttles from the strip to Rio. Boyds has shuttles from Sam's Town to the strip and another to their downtown properties.
Cabs are not a deal, they go everywhere and charge through the nose. Do not let a cab take the 'bypass' from the airport to anywhere else in Vegas.
A great guide to Vegas is www.lasvegasadvisor.com
The cars are too small and couldn't really handle enough passengers with luggage to increase profitability. It's not a real train - it's a toy, like the Disneyland monorail. Would have worked as a people mover up and down the middle of the Strip, but not the way it was built. They are still talking about building an airport extension, but I predict it will not help their financial situation any. Either the casinos buy it and operate it at a loss as a convenience to their customers, or it will shut down and eventually be scrapped.
How does the Vegas Monorail suck? Let me count the ways.
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