"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Monorails are more expensive to build than freeways. Freeways are more expensive to build than railroads.
If you want to save money build railroads. Freeways are not free either.
Well, not quite true, the Seattle Monorail is indeed profitable, in fact it does have the distinction of being the only fully self-sufficient public transit system in the United States.
The reason is that it is only 1 mile long and connects 2 tourist destinations, but it is profitable.
I wouldn’t cite that as an example that you could put in an urbanwide system and be profitable, but it is profitable.