We are aware that the monorail in Las Vegas is losing money. I see that the reasons might be as follows:
1) If goes behind the hotels requiring a walk to access.
2) It doesn't go downtown.
3) I t doesn't go to Thomas and Mack or the airport.
4) No arrangements have been made for transferring to and from CAT
5) Doesn't reach the airport.
6) Hotels, Businesses, and landlords nearby for the most part provide free parking with no equivalent benefit for monorail and other transit users.
One of the problems and expenses of a monorail is that construction not interfere with the status quo or the area through which it travels.
There is a feasible route extension. First of all the originally planned downtown extension would help considerably as this was it could augment the transit system (CAT) with rapid downtown strip-service.The route suggested for this is a good one with intermediate stops. The current last stop in the plan is near the California Hotel but it should really go to the DTC (Downtown Transit Center) and Cashman Field. High usage athletic events are where transit can deliver the most people the fastest. My ideas are for the other end of the route (South End) and involve building in areas that would cause little interference. Extend E along Tropicana dropping to at close to ground level as possible when passing by the airport runways to avoid changing the runway approach, rising up again across Paradise and Swenson across the Thomas and Mack Parking lot to a stop at the S End of UNLV/Thomas and Mack running elevated through UNLV bypassing all buildings with a second stop near the N
End of the Campus Near the Music Center (open space just north of it) that would serve that part of UNLV then proceed along Maryland Parkway crossing over in to the west end of the Boulevard Mall Parking Lot with a stop by the Mall (hopefully the tenants and landlord of the mall will recognize this benefit and help pay for the station there) with the monorail proceeding N through the Mall Parking Lot crossing over Desert Inn Road and the parking lots for Sunrise Hospital with a stop for Desert Inn Road/Sunrise Hospital, continuing N along Maryland Parkway mainly over parking lots with the next stops at Sahara, Charleston, and Fremont. Here it would have to go elevated along Fremont Street with a stop just S of the El Cortez where it would turn N just b4 the El Cortes and link up with the other end of the Monorail by Cashman Field. If you know anyone who can assist with this idea pass it along (you have my permission -of course credit to the source would be appreciated) and
as for funding, a tax on businesses benefiting from same with 500m of the stations, as well as sunday parking meter usage (there is presently no excuse for not having meters enforced on the first day of the week, sunday, anyway), a parking tax of 10% for all parking lots that charge, as well as a charge levied on Thomas and Mack Tickets and assessments on any other beneficiaries.
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