Columnist Jeff German: Hopes are high for monorail to remain on track

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 16-17, 2005

When friends at the Regional Transportation Commission gave new Las Vegas Monorail boss Curtis Myles a hard hat and a spray can marked "Building Inspector Repellent" as departing gifts last week, it was done in jest.

Everyone, including Myles, who takes the reins on Monday, got a big laugh.

But the maiden year of the monorail -- a $650 million automated transportation system in the shadow of the Strip -- was nothing to laugh about.

The year was marred by parts falling off the train, computer glitches and unusual wear and tear along the 3.9-mile guideway, forcing county building inspectors to spend an inordinate number of hours examining the high-tech system.

Ridership also was lower than expected, and the monorail didn't do what many thought it would do -- reduce the flow of traffic along the well-traveled Strip corridor.

It essentially became just another Strip attraction.

My colleague, Stephen Curran, who has followed the first year of the monorail as closely as anyone, estimated the system ran trouble-free only 245 of the 365 days over the past year.

This isn't exactly a good track record, which might explain why monorail officials did very little celebrating Friday on the system's first birthday.

No one thought to bring a birthday cake and, unlike the star-studded grand opening a year ago, there were no politicians, VIPs and Strip entertainers on hand to wish the monorail luck in its second year. Even the Elvis impersonators stayed away from the tracks.

"It's another day of transporting passengers in the heavily trafficked tourism corridor," said monorail spokesman Todd Walker, shortly after he came to work Friday morning.

Walker acknowledged that the monorail "faced quite a few challenges" its first year in operation.

"We learned a lot of lessons," he said. "Maybe, if we had it to do all over again, we would do a few things differently."

One of those things, he explained, would have been to delay the opening beyond July 15, 2004.

"The system probably opened a little earlier than it should have," Walker said.

Less than two months after the trains were up and running, a 60-pound wheel assembly fell to the ground 20 feet below, forcing a six-day shutdown over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Then, shortly after service resumed, several large metal washers fell from a train, prompting a 14-week overhaul and closure until Christmas.

But since then, Walker said, the monorail has been operating at a 98 percent reliability rate.

Earlier this month, Antonio Garcia, a veteran mechanical engineer with the county building department, had no trouble pronouncing the monorail fit for another year's worth of running. After extensive testing and inspecting, Garcia gave the system its recertification papers on July 1.

"I was impressed," Garcia said. "They've come a long way and are getting to know the system quite well."

His boss, building chief Ron Lynn, shared that opinion.

"They've been very professional in their reaction to the problems," he said. "I'm convinced the monorail will only get better, but we're going to be watching it."

That's a wise move.

Walker said the monorail, like all fledgling mass transportation systems, probably will run into more problems in the future.

"I think you may see hiccups here and there, but I also think you're going to see an ever-improving system."

Those words will be more reassuring when the monorail finds a cure for its hiccups.