Hey there,

According to a Director of Conference Sales at a Vegas hotel an organization of mine uses frequently for conventions, at this stage I wouldn't even hold my breath on the extention.

Right now, what you see operating is classified as "Phase 1" of the monorail project. "Phase 2" is set to place a station in downtown Las Vegas near Freemont Street. "Phase 3," not even locked in to occur, would feature a station at the airport. Problem is, "Phase 2" isn't realistically expected to be operational before 2007/2008. "Phase 3", if approved, wouldn't be online until sometime early next decade (I recall hearing the date 2011/2012).

On top of it all, McCarran itself appears to becoming something of interest for the land value.

The LV Monorail has been a white elephant. I haven't ridden it yet, but it's pretty much been a doomed project from the beginning. As noted above, it was proposed to be built in three phases: 1, along Paradise/Koval behind the Strip; 2, north extension to Downtown; and 3, south extension to LAS. Phase 1 has been plagued by several shut downs, two of which were very lengthy. Ridership has been well below break-even. Because of the low ridership, LV lost needed federal funds to do Phase 2, so now Phases 2 and 3 are definitely not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Phase 3 already had very stiff competition from the cab drivers and cab company owners.

The Strip resorts didn't want it to go along the Strip, which would have been most functional but would have created construction problems and view issues. A subway project under the Strip had its own issues. They basically built it a block east of the Strip, and the route has a few almost 90 degree turns causing mechanical issues. Additionally, the fare to ride it was priced higher than most other mass transit systems in the US. The current monorail isn't really feasible for residents, as it doesn't really go to any major residential areas. Additionally, it's not really part of any multi-modal system.

The one thing that potentially could save the monorail is the "Manhattanization" of Las Vegas which is underway. Several luxury high-rise condo developments are under construction and planned. Some are marketing that they are adjacent to a monorail station. This could be a shot in the arm for the monorail, but I'm not holding my breath.

I recently watched the Simpsons monorail episode and had a chuckle. Perhaps Las Vegas should be renamed "Springfield" - hey, we already have a house designed to look like Marge and Homer's place (for a FOX contest a few years ago).

Clark

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...1&postcount=77

"Solar power! Will we never learn?"

The second phase (to downtown) will not happen as scheduled, due to the denial of their application for federal transportation funds.