Editorial: Monorail musings should be redirected

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 3:45 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury says the valley should seriously consider a monorail project that would extend into neighborhoods. Woodbury says such a system could link into a privately run monorail along the Strip that is expected to be ready in 2004. Woodbury has been a progressive voice on transportation issues, but this idea should be viewed skeptically.

One of the biggest obstacles is money. As the Sun's Adrienne Packer reported last week, it's estimated that each mile of a monorail typically costs about $100 million. If a monorail snaked its way through the suburbs, where the people are moving in vast numbers, the costs would be stratospheric. Supporters of a monorail extension envision a funding partnership that would include the federal government, private donations (mainly from Strip hotel-casinos) and fare box collections. But federal money for mass transit has been drying up, and casinos in recent years rarely chip in for worthwhile public projects unless they think it will somehow help their own bottom line. We also don't know yet if the Strip monorail project will even succeed.

A better approach now would be exploring an expansion of our bus system, which has many routes that are overcrowded as it is. Gridlock certainly is worsening on valley roads and highways, but a valley monorail would be a risky -- and expensive -- gamble.