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The Las Vegas Monorail is shown Monday, June 22, 2009. The Las Vegas Monorail Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 but will continue to operate, company officials said.
By Kyle B. Hansen (contact) 
Published Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 | 3:07 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 | 7:17 p.m.
Related Document
Beyond the Sun
The Las Vegas Monorail Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, but will continue to operate, company officials said.
In a statement, President and Chief Executive Curtis Myles said the system has suffered as fewer people have visited Las Vegas.
“The current economic downturn, including a 30 percent decline in convention traffic to Las Vegas, has increased the financial strain on the Monorail, like it has with every other tourism-dependent Las Vegas company,” Myles said. “Despite these challenges, the Las Vegas Monorail generates sufficient revenue to pay its operating expenses as well as a portion of its finance costs, and that will make it possible to restructure the company’s debt through the Chapter 11 process.”
Myles said the company won’t reduce services or hours of operation while going through the restructuring.
The 3.9-mile system runs on an elevated track linking casinos and the Las Vegas Convention Center east of the Strip and is the only privately owned public transportation system in the United States.
“No federal, state or local subsidy was used for the system,” Myles said. “As such, the filing will not affect the state’s bond rating or finances. We are confident that this reorganization is the most effective strategy to ensure our continued operation, fulfilling the purpose of providing cost-effective, efficient, green transportation for visitors and locals within the Las Vegas Resort Corridor.”
In documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, the monorail listed its debts as being between $500 million and $1 billion owed to between 200 and 999 creditors. The documents indicate the company has assets estimated to be worth between $10 million and $50 million.
The monorail’s largest creditor is Bombardier Transit Corporation, according to the court filing. The monorail owes $293,450 to Bombardier, which operates and maintains the trains.
Other creditors listed in court documents include NV Energy, Allegiance Direct Bank and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which each are owed less than $60,000.
Sun columnist Jon Ralston was the first to report the bankruptcy on Wednesday.
The monorail carried 6,005,024 passengers in 2009, with revenues of $26,974,513 for the year. That is down from a peak passenger count of 7,917,613 in 2007, when the system had revenue of $30,252,305.
Since opening, the line has carried more than 40 million riders, Myles said, and during the recent Consumer Electronics Show, the line carried nearly 135,000 people in four days.
The monorail has suffered from a poor local image and frequent calls to expand its service to McCarran International Airport.
Myles said the company still plans to expand the system to the airport, but has to finish the bankruptcy process first.
“We have long expressed the importance of expanding our system to the airport and other points within the resort corridor,” Myles said. “It is necessary that the company first get through this process to address its current capital structure before moving forward with those plans.”
The company was formed in 2000 and acquired the original one-mile monorail that connected MGM Grand and Bally’s. An expanded rail line going north to the Sahara then opened in July 2004.
Monorail board member Bruce Woodbury said in December that filing for bankruptcy to reorganize the company’s debt would be necessary.
The company hasn't raised enough money from fares to pay off the $650 million in construction and startup loans floated to build and start operating the expanded system, Woodbury said.
That debt kept the company from getting financing for the $500 million extension to the airport and other Strip resorts, Woodbury said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Every time I see the Las Vegas Monorail I think of that Simpsons's episode where Springfield gets the monorail system after Mr. Burns has to pay a fine of 3 million dollars for dumping toxic waste in the town. Remember when Marge opened up that closet on the monorail only to find a family of opossums living in there, and Homer says I call the big one Bitey? "..Man that was funny.
rejco100, can you please tell me exactly which "12 step religious cult shelters" you are talking about. I am also curious to know what you are doing about the problem. Or maybe what suggestions or ideas you have to solve it, besides spouting off on this forumn.
Told you it should have been built down the middle of the strip...but "wiser" heads prevailed.
This is what will happen with high speed rail - except instead of bankruptcy you'll get higher taxes.
It's not that the monorail is bad........the ROUTE they ran it is bad.
This thing could have worked, but some idiot ran it along the back of one side of the strip, where it has limited potential.
Unfortunately, one way to fix it is to build more of it, so it goes to places people want to go and even maybe have locals use it.
Patrick is 100% correct regarding high speed rail.
Even if the monorail was extended to the airport, who would want to haul all their luggage with them just to be dropped at the rear of a hotel? If your hotel was on the west side of LVB you would still need to walk a mile with luggage! A taxi is much easier....and delivers you to the entry.
wiser heads would have never built the thing in the first place
Low tech street cars right down the middle of Las Vegas Blvd would have been much better. Better still, a bunch more Deuce buses.
The monorail could be a success, but who wants to invest another $500 million into it?
The route should have went to the airport from the beginning. If it had, they would not be filing chapter 11 today.
Y'all are crazy.
The demand for high speed rail from LV to Primm is enormous.
Stop interfering with Obama's modern day WPA and get on board the magnetic train to nowhere!
Every other state in the Union got payola for Harry's health care plan; why shouldn't Nevada get its fair share of the graft?
I'm incorrect... they need another $1.15 BILLION since they obviously can't repay the original $650,000,000 that they issued bonds for, PLUS they need another $500,000,000 to expand the route.
When I first rode the monorail, I was surprised how inconvenient it was. To board it on the south end, you have to walk to the back of the MGM hotel, and that's a long walk. Are they still thinking of building a high speed train to Calif? Especially with all of the people who get themselves killed in L.A. when they cross the tracks on foot and in their cars and apparently don't notice a train approaching.
This was doomed for failure because it ignored the local riding public. It was hoping tourists will pay for this project but they were wrong. It needs to be extended all the way to Downtown including some neighbourhood areas perhaps on Maryland Parkway. Continue the tracks from Tropicana to Maryland Parkway have a stop in the area near UNLV so students and people living in the area can ride it, have another stop on Flamingo road then a stop at Desert Inn in between the hospital and the mall then on to Sahara going to Charleston Blvd up on Charleston Blvd to Las Vegas Blvd then all the way to Downtown.
This city knows nothing about building roads or how to create USUABLE mass transit. They think by adding a lane to a highway is good enough and putting Duces on the roads is Mass Transit. The busses go nowhere like the stupid monorail. The powers that be don't have a clue. They might just want to take a look back East at the Mass Transit systems that real engineers built and work!
Why won't anyone listen to me. When the monorail opened, I said there was no way it was going to survive. The walks from the monorail stations to the casinos are too long, the fares are too high, and it did not connect to either the airport or downtown.
Since no one listens to me, they probably won't listen to this. What they need to do is to get the cars off Las Vegas Blvd, replace the cars with street level mass transit running along the strip, and build roads for cars with casino access that run behind the strip on both the east and west side.
Copied from the Las VegasNOW.com website.
Date unknown.
Reporter-Brian Allen
"Ever since the Las Vegas Monorail project was labeled a "charity" many state leaders have questioned it. On Friday, the Nevada Tax Commission reviewed the charity status of the monorail, as well as its brief financial history.
When the monorail was in it's design stage, former Clark County Commissioner Bob Broadbent and his son-in-law, Cam Walker, acted as consultants to the project and then formed TSM --a transportation management company. They received millions to act as project managers for the Las Vegas Monorail.
Monorail attorney Jim Waddams deflected suggestions that either man personally benefited off many huge sums of money as a result of their involvement. Tax Commissioner George Kalasis isn't convinced. He believes the project is all about nepotism. He has been questioning the monorail's charity status for years, suggesting it was a money-maker for those involved. But a Department of Taxation investigation found the salaries for those at the top of the PYRAMID were reasonable given the size, scope and dollar amount of the project."
Good for you, Mr. Kalasis, for seeing through this "charity" smokescreen. Will you be running for any political office? Because you are exactly what Las Vegas and Nevada needs to stop the rampant corruption.
Shame on you Bob Broadbent. Shame on you Walker brothers. I love Las Vegas!
this has more to do with them not being able to get advertising revenue than ridership.
selling the "wraps" on it is where they thought they could make all their money and they haven't been able to do that at rates that are profitable.
the bus system isn't perfect ( not enough "bee-line" routes ), but you CAN get on a bus at the airport and get to a hotel.
can't do that with monorail.
LV Convention Center should buy out the monorail and then make it free to use. Then instead of shuttle buses, conventioneers will use the monorail.
Also, extend it to Thomas and Mac then have it turn with stops at sconomy lot, airport, rental car lot and remote lot which is accross the street. The remote lot should be then turned into a southern transportation center with bus lines extending from it. Phase 3 is to extend to Downtown transportation center thereby linking rest of Vegas.
If the 2nd airport or high speed rail, is ever built, the remote lot transportation center would be the starting point for these transportation options.
For all of the high speed rail/Mag Rail talk, I have never heard where exactly they are planning to originate in Las Vegas.
Channel 8 is reporting that the Monorail management are still saying, this afternoon, that they want to extend the line to the airport.
Who in the world do these people think will finance that expansion, when they have stiffed their existing creditors.
It seems to me that Monorail was created as a boondoggle/b.s. agency where "useful" Republican politicians can retire, with a comfortable salary, when they are shoved out of office.
After the stories on the "Clean Water Coalition" earlier this week, it would be interesting to see The Sun do a story on all of the ex-politicians who are profitably parked in agencies like Monorail and the Clean Water Coalition
It was set up for failure. It is no different than building a bridge half way across a valley. You get a nice observation deck, but not something you can actually use.
Going from the airport to at least the Wynn should have been the main priority. Like a bridge, you can't just build part of a public transit infrastructure and just see how it does. You need to plug into other transit infrastructures (like the Airport) and link it to places people want to go.
It really is an all or nothing thing.
Suprised to see The Sun didn't publish some interesting bankruptcy documents online. In case anyone is interested in looking at the documents on the Nevada Bankruptcy Court's PACER system go to:
Case 10-10464-lbr
LAS VEGAS MONORAIL COMPANY
Chapter: 11 Asset: Yes
Judge: LINDA B. RIEGLE
Date filed: 01/13/2010
Date of last filing: 01/13/2010
Bad luck of the draw. Judge Linda may kick these bad boys ashes. Go Judge Linda!
If memory serves me right the taxpayers guranteed the bonds that financed the monorail. So we are on the hook for the entire amount. Thanks for nothing.
I will tell you what they were thinking when they built it. That everyone could make money on it!
One guy gets the study contract, one guy gets the environmental study, one gets to move turtles, one gets to build it wrong, one gets to fix it, one gets to finance it, one gets the financing fee, one gets to design it badly, one gets to say they fixed it and then one gets to take it into bankruptcy.
for a fee of coarse!
The elevated Rail was a good idea which was applied incorrectly. Certainly it should have started at McCarran, and gone all the way to the Plaza Downtown. It could be salvaged with the necessary connections if more of us applied a CAN DO attitude. It should also come back down to the ground level south of McCarran and operate as light rail to Stateline, which someday could be linked up with the high speed rail to LA.
Fun facts from the bankruptcy petition:
Debtor's Assets by Value: $10 Million to $50 Million
Debtor's Debts: $500 Million to $1 Billion
Number of Creditors: 200-999
Corporation's President/CEO in Charge of Managing Entity:
Curtis L. Miles III
Corporation's Board of Directors Who Signed Corporate Resolution to File Bankruptcy:
Bruce Woodbury
Bob Beers
Tony Santo
Donald L. Shalmy
Mike Sloan
Bankruptcy Lawyers for Las Vegas Monorail Company:
Gerald Gordon (Gordon & Silver) General Bankruptcy Counsel
Jones Vargas - Special Corporate Counsel
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth (LA Area) - Special Bond Counsel
Bankruptcy Financial Advisor - Alvarez & Marsal North America LLC (Also the bankruptcy manager of Lehman Brothers)
Most of the creditors are secured creditors, because the 20 Largest Unsecured Creditors, by dollar amount owed, include only 2 creditors owed more than $50,000:
Bombardier Transit Corp. $293,000 for operations agreement, management agreement, maintenance agreement maintenance work [Practical question for creditors: If Bombardier is operating and managing the monorail, what are all the high paid "political alumni" doing to earn their keep?]
NV Energy $57,000
Municipal Bond Insurer: Ambac Assurance Corp.
The "Creditors Matrix" with the names and addresses of known creditors and their lawyers contain a lot of well known Las Vegas and Los Angeles law firms.
NO EMERGENCY FIRST DAY MOTIONS, SUCH AS MOTIONS TO PAY THE PAYROLL AND THE UTILITIY COMPANIES, HAVE BEEN FILED, UNLIKE ALL OTHER MAJOR RECENT NEVADA BANKRUPTCIES.
Prediction: A fun time will be had by all (lawyers that is).
vc: rejco takes every opportunity to bash 12-step programs on the basis of faulty information. He/she has been too cowardly to bring actual evidence into play to back up the words they write. Sounds like someone who was court-ordered into 12 step and now has some further issues to work out. But they seem stuck in their ideology, so I doubt that will ever happen.
Everyone commenting is missing one thing. As a public transit system this would of hailed as a great success as it covers its operating expenses and some.
RTC runs at a loss and every project to expand it is paid by tax dollars. If the monorail was paid by tax dollars we would hear how it is making money to help pay back to the RTC or other entity that it is running.
This line on a per mile basis carries more people then the San Diego light rail.
The only reason why people see this as a failure because we forced someone to do it privately instead of getting our Federal dollars to do it publically like many other cities have.
people asking why they didn't build it down the middle of the strip; do you guys not remember the old free rail system between ballys and mgm?? they just extended that line to sahara because that was a much cheaper option than starting from scratch down the middle of the strip
I like it but too expensive. I ride downtown LA to North Hollywood for $1.25. This thing is too expensive and too short a ride.
I agree the sad part is it does not help locals get around town.
everybody wants trains. Build more. Especially to LA!
CynicalObserver -
We checked Pacer a couple times earlier this afternoon, but the documents were not available yet, now they are. We attached a pdf copy of the court filing to this page so anyone can download and read it. The link is at the top of the story, or you can click here:
http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/...
Cab companies in this town killed the prospect of a monorail linking the airport and the Strip. The monorail need the locals for it to be able to survive. Goodluck, getting financing on the wishful thinking extension of the monorail. I don't need to ride the monorail but for those in the area I've mentioned above, from Tropicana to Charleston there are many prospective riders living in the area. The area of Maryland Parkway is a magnet for people because of the University, Hospital and Shopping Mall. At least with the University and the shopping mall it can encourage visitors from out of town to ride the monorail and check these 2 areas on Maryland Parkway. Another possible extension is from the soon to open Terminal 3 then link up with a station around Maryland Parkway/Tropicana. Terminal 3 will be linked with the rest of terminals at McCarran. This sounds more logical if they can get the financing.
Real Simple!!
Sorry mom and dad but i have to use you in this analogy.
My parents were here Christmas,and mom and dad commented again,why is a such a long walk from the casino to the platform
i can confirm if playing some blackjack,then trying to get back to venetian,it will take an hour with walking atleast.
Also like somebody commented above,unless your in the casinos parking ramps watching the pool areas,you really dont see the advertising much. Atleast not as much as some of the companies that advertise had wanted,,too little exposure to the masses
peace out
Are the incompetents who run this piece of junk still getting their outrageous salaries. What they were getting paid would make Wall Street bankers look like pikers. As a condition of bankruptcy they should all be fired.
What a shock. NOT
move it to the center of the strip. lots of it can be salvaged. make the convention center and all strip casinos pay their way via a frontage tax. and then give free rides to all.
"The monorail listed its debts as being between $500 million and $1 billion owed to between 200 and 999 creditors."
"The monorail's largest creditor is Bombardier Transit Corporation, according to the court filing. The monorail owes $293,450 to Bombardier."
What am I missing? How can Bombardier be the biggest creditor at $293,450? If we assume the smallest possible debt ($500 mil) and the largest number of creditors, every creditor would have to be owed $500,501. Assuming the largest debt ($1 bil) and the least number of creditors, every creditor would have to be owed $5 million.
Vegas is doomed....just don't tell Harrah's or MGM!
LOL!!LOL!! I can hardly wait for Gried's toy train to Dizzyland.
Or does Las Bugsy already have it?!?
LOL!!LOL!!
The failure of the Monorail is simply that it too tried to be a Vegas attraction. Besides its location in the "back of the house" - it would cost around $6.00 per ride. The price was insane!
When is the Strip going to realize that some things have to be cheap. The monorail should have been cheap - even if for the first several years it didn't make a profit. For the price they were charging for one, tourists should expect free steak and eggs during their ride.
No wonder people didn't ride the attraction!
Hitch hike, it's safer!
when this first came on - we ended up at mgm parking garage and could not find our way to the casino - it was a nightmare - i never took it again
The monorail is only a few miles long and they have generated between $500,000,000 and 1 billion dollars worth of debt??? Rory Reid should be questioned about this and his involvement. What a huge waste of our time and money. I think it is criminally wrong and someone should be held accountable. It will never happen, associates of Rory and Harry have made off with millions, tens of millions all generated from taxpayer funded monorail.
Stupid People!!!
THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST BUILT IT TO GO FROM THE AIRPORT
TO THE FOUNTAINBLUE, 1 STOP. WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT!!!
Why not extend the monorail to the grid-locked areas of the valley where you can't find a taxi?
Maybe they ought to install gambling machines for each passenger; reduce the cost to ride to $2/per person, or let them buy an all day pass for $30; serve cocktails, and make it a 'traveling casino'............
Surely, it wasn't meant to be an effective and worthwhile form of transit.
acrosby~ That was a classic Simpsons episode..one of the best! "Doughnuts...is there anything they can't do?"
Everybody knew the idea was good and the route was bad from the beginning. Unless you essentially go from one end to the other it is a waste. I can walk from the casino at MGM to the casino at Flamingo faster than I can take the monorail. It takes a long time to go to the back, wait a few minutes, travel a few minutes, end up at the back and have to walk to the front again. It truly would be a success if it went from the airport on an elevated track down the strip to elevated platforms at the casinos and all the way to downtown. Imagine being able to walk out the front door of a place lake TI or Venetian stand on the walkover bridge and catch a quick ride to another stop. Conveniant and quick. That's what would work.
Bitey. Classic.
I can't believe how idiotic the commenters here sound with all the after the fact negativity regarding the Monorail system. OK so it probably had a bad route up and down Paradise, however who would want an elevated track running down Las Vegas Blvd? it would be ugly and destroy the frontage of each property. If I were to Monday morning quarterback this issue, the only thing I have to say is that perhaps a subway alternative under the strip could have been the wiser choice. Now HOLD ON ! I am fully aware of the aquifer that runs beneath Ceasers and the Flamingo, and know that a subway probably wouldn't work, but perhaps something can be devised to make the existing system viable for cheap fast and efficient public transportation. Something has to be done..
This is ludicrous. Up to 1 Billion dollars in debt for something worth as little as 10 Million dollars. Talk about being upside down! An investigation is clearly in order to determine what happened with all that money. It would be equivalent of someone buying a cup of coffee for one million dollars then drinking the coffee and selling the cup and saucer for 1 dollar.
If memory serves me,the casino owners at the time of construction didnt want the line on the strip,becasue it would block the veiw of the front and their MEGA RESORTS.It can still work,but will cost billions.
Las Vegas needs a real light rail system geared first towards the needs of the locals. The tourists will still ride if it's convenient. Use the existing railroad corridor alongside the 15.
I agree that there is alot of walking between the strip and the platforms, and also it is very invconvenient for visitors on the west side of the strip. But I also noticed that waiting for much fun either.
I like paying 2.50 to take the bus to the strip. That beats 6.00 for the shuttle. Monorail to the airport may not work if a couple has to go to the west side of the strip. or if the cost for two is anywhere near the cost of taking a taxi (15.00-20) which will drop them off right at the hotel door.
bob12345, it was financed via bonds. They are secured by the City of vegas, I believe. The UNSECURED creditors aren't owed much. So, in a case like Station's Casinos where unsecured creditors are going to be screwed, there won't be many people getting shafted when the monorail is allowed to go through bankruptcy. Oh, um, the governments that backed the program will be screwed, but that's it...
I come to Vegas every year from the UK.The first time i came i used the monorail quite a lot but the novelty soon wore off. Its not in the right location for a start. Its not convenient for all of the hotels and the one's that it doe's stop at, the distance from the monorail to the actual hotel is too far.Why it never got built from the airport in the first place is a mystery. I think the only way it may sucseed it by perhaps creating a loop so you could access ti, city centre etc, and perhaps gone right down to mandalay bay and across to the airport.Even extending right down to the freemont street area so local residents could make more use of it aswell as tourists. At the moment unless prices are lowered the duece is a much better option.Cheaper and get to see all the sights of the strip. Either that or make it free. I'm sure if all the hotels chipped in to the running costs and made it free to ride more people would use it. I'm sorry to say i won't be riding it again on my nxt visit. Its going to be cheaper for our party to rent a van for a week. Look forward to visiting what i class my second home in June.
Las Vegas has become a model of why Libertarians always fail. Any great city has transit. It is not economically feasible for a private investment. It takes too long to get profitable. Even with tax costs, I save a small fortune taking the train to work everyday. A city must invest in the future. Companies locate near transportation. It is a boost to the economy and a great asset to the area.
Libertarians are short sided. We can see the results here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEZjzsnPh...
If the original construction had included the airport, there would be no bankruptcy.
However, politics as usual prevailed and the Comissioners had no guts to take on the taxi lobby and scare away contributors. By the way, many of the comissioners involved in the original plans just got out of jail.
And on top of everything - it would have provided a true GREEN effect buy reducing cab emissions.
Someone call Obama for either a bailout or some funding for this "shovel ready" job.
"Monorail files for bankruptcy as step toward airport extension"
Funny thing. There's nothing in the bankruptcy file about that. It's the LVRJ's headline for their story.
Even funnier, the LVRJ refused to post my comment with the Bankruptcy Court case number and the names of the 5 members of the monorail's Board of Directors, who signed the resolution to file bankruptcy, which is in the bankruptcy court's files.
Good for The Sun for not being afraid to post the actual bankruptcy court documents.
I guess the LVRJ is trying to protect those directors, expecially the Republican "names".
If a 4 mile railroad traveling through a resort area densely populated with tourists (even during the "slow" times) cannot pay it's bills, Imagine the chance of a 300 mile high speed rail ever turning a profit, even with billions in government subsidies.
If the high speed rail ever gets built, the cost will be much more than the original estimates, since it will not utilize existing rail facilities.
I can still get to L.V. in my 2008 Pontiac for about $60 in gas, round trip, including drive around gas while in L.V. And, I have wheels to get around while there.
As a 'tourist' I took the rail once--and considered it a ripoff. Compared to NYC, Chicago, Madrid... forget about it! It doesn't serve us locals either. Let it go belly up. This country was founded on supply and demand. No demand, get rid of it!
I believe this story will be repeated if the high speed train is built between Victorville and Las Vegas.
A great idea - bad placement. For the few times I rode it the only casino that had a stop in front of the action was The Hilton. For everyplace else you had to walk towards the back. I think if they were able to re-build parts of the track so that it went towards the front and then veered back it would keep the strip looking the same but allow more use for the monorail. Sure, it would take more time to ride from A to B and the cost would be a lot - but weigh that on how much it will cost to dismantle the thing.
The only monorail in Vegas I ever rode on was the Mandalay to Excalibur free shuttle (upon perfect timing when it arrived for boarding....Looking at the Las Vegas Monorail itself after it's final completion, the routes and access locations just doesn't seem appealing at all (more like location stops without a purpose).
I did not have any desire to ride the thing at all, let alone seeing the track all laid out along Paradise Rd. away from direct access to all the establishments other than the Hilton is just mindboggling.
Pretty sad when you compare the Jerry Lewis Telethon generating roughly 200 percent or more revenue within a thirty hour span -vs- what revenue the monorail typically generates in a whole year.
With all the taxi, limo service, car rental, and shuttle transportation that comes in and out of the airport already, I cannot see a big demand for monorail passengers...I am pretty sure the government and other transportation businesses don't want to see any monorail competition, even if it totally fails.
Since the new car rental center existed, the taxes linked to car rentals in Clark County and Las Vegas is outrageous, you will pay tax on the car rental somewhere up to the 31 percent range when it is all said and done - it starts with imposing a 10 percent airport tax (unsure if some car rental companies will wave it by means of online advanced reservations, etc.).
What's fishy is a $650 million price tag for a 4 mile track, privately funded project with poorly planned configuration and if you're lucky this project will generate an annual GROSS revenue of $30 million .... Thats 22 years of GROSS revenue before exceeding the total cost of the project, and god knows how many more years of revenue it will take to pay for itself.....and those figures are without any expansion to the 4 mile track.
The only way for the LV Monorail to ever work and profit, have two sets of tracks (one side for west establishments and one for east establishments) and lay them ON Las Vegas Blvd. Strip Corridor and completely phase out motor vehicle traffic....which will not happen.
Riding the Disneyland monorail was kewl and appealing, riding the Primm monorail over the freeway was kewl and appealing, ride the Las Vegas Monorail and get dropped off at some remote ghetto location without direct access is not kewl.
My family and I visit Las Vegas 2-3 times per year for business and fun. I have enjoyed the monorail and it was easier to get around with a 5 year old. Yes, it's off the strip and for some of us, that's a blessing but I know I may be the only one who actually enjoys getting away from crowds and noise. As a frequent visitor, why wouldn't some of the casinos invest in moving sidewalks to hasten the trek from the monorail to their back door? Yes, expense but wouldn't it be the extra incentive it takes someone to get off the monorail and land at your front door and not the competitor's casino? When we took my geriatric parents, it was difficult for my mom to make the trek. A moving sidewalk or "sit-walk" would have been very enticing and no burden on the taxpayers and you could post your own advertising or sell advertising to others along the moving sidewalk. Also, it would be really great if the monorail ran from the airport into the city at a price that beats a cab. Best Regards, Your friend from Texas.
Recycle Harry Reid! Buy this sticker -- I did!
http://www.keep2theright.com/images/recy...
"Sun columnist Jon Ralston was the first to report the bankruptcy on Wednesday" Too bad we can't get the infamous Ralston to report on the Double Standard going on in Washington.
I see the monrail all the time empty.
Lizzie...You are just another person online that posts something without actually having ANY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT. Half of the "great engineering projects back east" are BROKE AND HAVE NEVER MADE ANY $$$. So take a look at the ACELA train b4 running your mouth
AWWWW whats the matter? all the kings Mormons and all the kings Mormon appointees to head the rotten egg couldn't put it back together again? So ok lets try another cult to run the show seems the Mormons have milked it pretty good. To back up my statement look at most of the people that were in charge of the fiasco and you'll see for yourself. And then look at the Airport top bracket of staff members and you'll see it again.
Vegassucks
You are on the right track, but it's a lil deeper than nepotism , it's religous nepotism. and if the people of Las Vegas ever wake up they will see whats really going on. Just look at most of the Countys' top people they all have something in common.
Part of the natural appeal for a LV Monorail would be to be able to ride along (the Strip), and view all the sights, the people, etc. The fact that they (the powers that be) decided to build this thing on the backside, overlooking parking lots and such... that's what they got paid for?
It would be like a professional sports GM, drafting colossal bust after colossal bust... when the average Joe could've told them they were terrible choices.
Now onto solutions. I really can't offer any... but they do have people ON THE GROUND who would have a good idea. Workers in/around the monorail, the casino, patrons--GET THEIR DIRECT INPUT, on how this thing could be made to work. And get it done.
Take the decision-making out of the hands of these bureaucratic, hair-parted to the side, white, entitled leeches.