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Opinion
Feb. 03, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GEOFF SCHUMACHER: The Little Engine That Can't Break Even

GEOFF SCHUMACHER
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I hate to say it. I wish it weren't so. But there's no sense prolonging the agony.

It's time to tear down the Las Vegas Monorail.

I was among those who initially believed the $650 million monorail could be successful. Despite skepticism about the less-than-ideal route and the suspect financing scheme, I was optimistic the monorail would become a legitimate new transportation option within the resort corridor.

But it hasn't happened.

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    • In fact, the monorail has been a flop, failing after more than three years to attract even half the projected numbers of riders. As a result, the monorail is in financial trouble. Last week, Moody's Investor Service downgraded the monorail's bond rating again and predicted its cash reserves will run out in 2010.

    Let's not allow things to plummet to that point. Instead, I suggest that officials publicly admit the monorail is not viable in its current form, tap the fund set aside for its removal and get going on the dismantling. If Dr. Lonnie Hammargren wants one of the monorail cars for his back yard, let him have it.

    Business gurus have a common refrain: Some ventures are successful and some are not. That's just the way it is, and there's nothing to be ashamed of if an idea doesn't pan out. The wise move, they say, is to cut your losses on the unsuccessful venture and try something else instead.

    Unfortunately, monorail officials don't seem ready to do this. Blinded by ego or wishful thinking, or a little of both, they're determined to keep beating their heads against the wall.

    In fact, they are touting another risky option: expansion. They want to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in additional loans to extend the monorail to McCarran International Airport.

    In theory, linking to the airport has the potential to substantially increase the number of monorail riders. Certainly, lots of visitors would prefer to avoid the hassle of renting a car or taking a taxi to get to their hotel.

    But an airport expansion doesn't fix a fundamental problem with the monorail: For many, many visitors, the train doesn't go where they need to go. Consider this incomplete list of current and future Strip resorts not served by the monorail: Wynn/Encore, Venetian/Palazzo, Fontainebleau, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York-New York, Monte Carlo, CityCenter, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Plaza, Echelon, Circus Circus, Stratosphere.

    Noting the size and stature of those resorts, it's pretty easy to see that the monorail is woefully inadequate in its current incarnation.

    But the monorail is faced with an even tougher challenge: convincing Wall Street investors to take a chance on what, to date, has been a disastrous project. If these guys have the option of investing in a large Strip resort project or a fatally flawed monorail expansion, which do you think they are going to choose?

    Add in our teetering national economy, and you have a recipe for, well, for nothing at all.

    The only sensible move is to tear down the monorail and explore other options.

    It's clear to me the resort corridor needs another form of mass transit, and that the need will grow in the next few years as we add tens of thousands of rooms. There are just too many people congregating in one area not to have multiple ways to get around.

    We know the Citizens Area Transit double-decker buses that run up and down the Strip are the fullest in town. Continuing to expand and improve that service makes a lot of sense.

    But buses aren't enough. A properly routed and designed people-mover system has a place on the Strip, but it must be affordable, accessible and efficient. Riders have to be able to get anywhere they need to go without dreading a half-mile hike at the end of their journey.

    Las Vegas prides itself on being a can-do city, a place that takes chances, bucks the odds, finds solutions. This ethic is best exemplified by the resort industry, which has transformed back-room gambling into an international tourism phenomenon.

    Why, then, can't we develop a workable mass transit program for the Strip? I'd think the great minds that run the gaming goliaths -- the men and women who have built Las Vegas into the world's premier gambling and entertainment destination -- ought to be able to figure this one out.

    Getting these great minds to cooperate has been a problem in the past. That, in part, is why the current monorail doesn't go to the right places. But the resort ownership situation has changed since then. Two companies -- MGM Mirage and Harrah's -- now own vast stretches of the Strip, and just a few other prominent players -- Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Boyd Gaming -- own the bulk of the remainder.

    Here's a new bit of wishful thinking to ponder: Later this year, as the monorail dismantling gets under way, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid summons the big casino chieftains for a meeting. (As the "mayor of the Strip," Reid ought to be able to do that.) The agenda is simple: Let's talk about what comes after the monorail.

    My guess is most, if not all, of these CEOs recognize the need for a new and better Strip transit system and would be willing to work together to make it happen.

    Of course, I could be wrong. It could be that I'm giving these guys too much credit.

    Geoff Schumacher (gschumacher@reviewjournal.com) is Stephens Media's director of community publications. He is the author of "Sun, Sin & Suburbia: An Essential History of Modern Las Vegas" and "Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue." A book release party and panel discussion for "Howard Hughes" is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Nevada State Museum at Lorenzi Park. His column appears Sunday.

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    Keith wrote on February 07, 2008 03:57 PM: I cant understand why people like you cut the monorail down, It is the only 100% all green system in Vegas. Does -not get stuck in traffic!!!Monorail are The most safest form of Transportion in the world with a 100% safety Record,No other system has that.Monorails Have been around for over 50 years.Not only The Las Vegas monorail will Make it!!! Watch It expand!!!! The hotels Need it and people Love It!!! Im sorry to says to you,But You Will be Long gone way before The Monorail Will!!!!! Keith


    Alonso Perez wrote on February 07, 2008 04:20 AM: Strange logic, if you could call it that:

    1) You say it has failed because the route is bad. OK. I agree with this.

    2) But then you don't propose to fix the route, you propose to tear it down.

    3) And then you say you don't want those 20,000 people back in traffic, so you want to build a better "Strip transit system", but you don't say what.

    4) At no point do you say there is anything wrong with using monorail technology.

    Consider that the cars, servicing facilities, and storage yard make up about half the cost of the current system. Why throw that away? Why not build a new route? Furthermore, precast straight beam segments and many other components could be reused in a new route.

    It would be comparatively cheap to re-route the monorail, especially if the demolition reserve is used for that.

    Before you dismiss this, note that you don't actually present an alternative, while you accept that buses won't cut it. What do you expect strip owners will come up with, flying carpets? You certainly won't get a complete surface rail system for less money than a new monorail route leveraging existing assets.


    Recent Visitor wrote on February 05, 2008 11:11 PM: I travel to Vegas six times a year, and for me, the only thing that makes the experience bearable is the monorail. Before the monorail, I spent more on taxis than I spent at the tables gambling. I love the monorail despite its obvious flaws (long walks to and from stations) but it is certainly an improvement over the previous system of standing in line for 20 minutes waiting for cab and getting dirty looks from bellmen or valets for not tipping them $5 just for pointing at a cab driver and opening the door for me. At $300 a night for a room at the hotel where you work, maybe it's not too much to expect a valet or bellman to open the cab door for free. It was be a sad, sad event for the city to actually TEAR DOWN existing mass transit infrastructure. Idiotic, in fact. If Las Vegans support this, then they deserve to live in their traffic-choked, ugly, dusty desert "oasis." At same point, the city will reach critical mass and people will get sick of it.


    Nick wrote on February 04, 2008 07:08 PM: Tom - MAX in Portland takes about 100,000 people off the roads daily. That's the equivalent of a 6-lane freeway. I'll take it.


    Randolph Miller wrote on February 03, 2008 10:52 PM: I was really hoping the monorail would do well. Unfortunately, it's the stations that make it suck. They're in inconvenient locations and are hard to navigate. Extending it to downtown, the airport, or anywhere won't fix the fact that the existing stations are inconvenient.


    James Wilson wrote on February 03, 2008 08:29 PM: The real issue is the lack of support from the LVCVA.

    There are for example several million Japanese who come to Las Vegas who may have heard about the monorail, but don't know how to get there, or much about it.

    You would think with such a huge budget the LVCVA could spare a few paragraphs about the monorail in its promotions.

    Maybe the current monorail management isn't as connected as its predecessors.

    Robert Broadbent died to soon, and his successors just didn't have what it takes to pull off his dream. After all, Broadbent, was quite a miracle worker in Nevada and is probably stirring in his grave.




    Unknown Cabbie wrote on February 03, 2008 07:21 PM: You assume the Casinos, who have the final say in everything, actually are interested in moving people around. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

    The reason the Monorail has never worked, is because the Casinos never wanted it and made darn sure it would never be anything.

    The money is made keeping Tourists pinned down in Casinos, not moving them around.


    tom wrote on February 03, 2008 03:21 PM: here in portland,light rail that has extremely low ridership taking it away from the busses costs 215 million per mile..seattles is almost as bad,anybody think this is a great way to go?


    Warren Clark wrote on February 03, 2008 11:45 AM: The only thing wrong with the monorail is the route. Had it run un the strip(Elevated), it would have served the strip,taken much traffic off the strip and at this point been very sucessful but politics won and now all will eventaly pay not to ride but for another failure in Las Vegas following the route from downtown to the ball park.


    tim wrote on February 03, 2008 10:33 AM: heres an idea,hook it up to the airport. but the taxicab authority will have none of that, might as well tear it down.money talks that is why its not there and there is no light rail to and from ca.


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