Question of the Day - 22 August 2017

Originally, the Monorail laid out plans for a connection to McCarran. From MGM Grand, the tram would double back north along Koval Lane, then turn eastward along Harmon Avenue. The latter was, at the time, expected to become the next resort corridor. After a stop at the Thomas & Mack Arena, the Monorail would head southward to McCarran. Between the ambitiousness of the scheme and the Great Recession, the grand plan quietly disappeared. And as of slightly more than a year ago, Monorail Chief Marketing Officer Ingrid Reisman said extension of the line to McCarran International Airport “wasn’t an immediate focus.” 

For the present, the focus is on getting the Monorail down to Mandalay Bay. The idea is to connect all three convention centers -- Las Vegas, Sands, and MBay -- and get riders to within striking distance of the Raiders' new stadium. 

To this end, the Monorail authority proposes drawing on the interest from a $6 million account, money set aside to dismantle the line should its status ever become, pardon the pun, terminal. The interest money would mostly go toward designing the extension, with the actual construction cost being sought from the bond market.

Trouble is, Monorail usage is in decline. In 2015, it carried 5,100,158 passengers for a gross of $22,065,164. Last year, those numbers were down to 4,940,323 and $21,475,856. This year, the Monorail is on pace to carry 4,532,404 passengers at a gross of slightly over $20.15 million. So the numbers aren't trending in the Monorail’s favor and the imposition of parking fees has obviously not driven tourists or locals to seek it out as an alternative.

“With regards to correlation between ridership numbers and paid parking at casinos, we don’t have any definitive data regarding the impact of paid parking on Monorail ridership," Reisman says.

Still, it's not a financially appealing prospect for visitors or locals to pay to park at a Monorail-serviced casino, then pay more ($5 for a single ride and $12 for a day pass) to ride the train to their destination. 

In lieu of rental cars or the Monorail, the coming thing is ride-sharing. This caused a recent dustup at MGM Resorts International-owned properties, where the doormen took issue with the casino company advertising Uber, not only on its website, but also on casino signage itself. Uber not only cuts the doormen out of the tipocracy, but it also plays havoc with the time-honored choreography of cabs and limousines. However, given its cost efficiencies, expect ride sharing to play an increasingly large role in Strip transit.