RSS 2.0 FeedVol. 4, No.10, October 2008, Tumbling Dice
Monorail Looks to Service Airport
Operators of the Las Vegas Monorail recently made a presentation suggesting something that should have been in place from the start—a rail extending to McCarran International Airport—needs to be
Curtis Myles, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., told the Southern Nevada tourism booster board that an extension connecting MGM Grand to the airport could increase ridership by 8,000 people per hour, eliminating more than 2,500 cab rides.
The monorail, he said, generates more fare revenue than rail systems in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston, and an extension could only improve that figure.
“This is one of the few places where you can fly in and see what you want to do,” he said. “What people don’t realize is it is going to take an hour, an hour and a half to get there. That is not great service.”
The biggest problem to the airport extension is that the monorail is so heavily in debt that debt analysts say default is probable. That makes it harder to find financing to build the extension, which again, should have been in place from the beginning.
It can’t be a surprise that a transit system designed to move people through the resort corridor but that doesn’t connect to the airport would be in trouble.
While cash may be limited, there is plenty of support for the project.
“I certainly look forward to moving tourists around quicker so we can get their money out quicker,” said Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins.
Myles said the company is working to develop a financing plan, and hopes to complete the airport expansion by 2012, when a third terminal is scheduled to open at McCarran.
Curtis Myles, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., told the Southern Nevada tourism booster board that an extension connecting MGM Grand to the airport could increase ridership by 8,000 people per hour, eliminating more than 2,500 cab rides.
The monorail, he said, generates more fare revenue than rail systems in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston, and an extension could only improve that figure.
“This is one of the few places where you can fly in and see what you want to do,” he said. “What people don’t realize is it is going to take an hour, an hour and a half to get there. That is not great service.”
The biggest problem to the airport extension is that the monorail is so heavily in debt that debt analysts say default is probable. That makes it harder to find financing to build the extension, which again, should have been in place from the beginning.
It can’t be a surprise that a transit system designed to move people through the resort corridor but that doesn’t connect to the airport would be in trouble.
While cash may be limited, there is plenty of support for the project.
“I certainly look forward to moving tourists around quicker so we can get their money out quicker,” said Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins.
Myles said the company is working to develop a financing plan, and hopes to complete the airport expansion by 2012, when a third terminal is scheduled to open at McCarran.
Please login to post your comments.