BIKE: Re: Monorail opens in Vegas

[Fred Meredith]

At 5:24 PM -0500 7/19/04, Mike Dahmus wrote:
>The first obviously difficult thing about the LV monorail is its 
>cost - $3, initially for a one-way ride ($5.50 initially for a 
>round-trip, $5.75 eventually). Cheapest option for locals appears to 
>be the 10-ride pass ($20), which brings you down to $4/round-trip.
>
>http://www.lvmonorail.com/ride_01_gettickets.php
>
>As I stated a long time ago, you can charge these kinds of rates 
>when a lot of your traffic is tourists whose alternative is cabs. 
>You can't charge this kind of rate and expect to attract very many 
>automobile drivers, though. (If this route was longer, it'd have a 
>better shot - $2/trip is high for the distance this system covers).
>
>So the claim that LV is going to be the new model for urban transit 
>because it will generate a profit is not true - even if it does 
>generate a profit, it's doing so at a rate schedule which is not 
>feasible for other cities.

While I am not endorsing or criticizing monorail or light rail, I 
think there is a bit more to understanding the Las Vegas monorail. 
Besides its obvious attraction as another "whiz bang" thing to do 
while on the strip, it can also be considered cost effective to build 
if you consider the wealth along the strip (which directly or 
indirectly probably helped fund it and will obviously profit from it)

I think that anyone who has tried to drive in that area more than 
once will agree that $2/direction (or even $3) is not too much to 
pay. Consider that parking is not available uniformly along the strip 
and that the monorail offers the convenience of parking where there 
is room and traveling to where there is not, whether you are a 
tourist or a hotel employee or whatever. Sure, this installation 
would not work just anywhere, but I'm betting it works where it is. 
I've walked, cycled, bused, taxied and even been tempted to ride a 
pedicab on my many, many visits to Las Vegas (the bicycle trade show 
is there each year). The only modes that seem to be relatively 
independent of the congestion are walking and riding with a pedicab 
driver who skirts and breaks the law. And, those too seem to have 
long waits at the intersections when they are so choked with cars 
that even the outlaw pedicabs can't get through. The monorail may be 
the only unencumbered mode.

Fred (procrastinating from working on Cycling News on a rainy day in 
Ireland) Meredith
-- 
When in doubt ... ride your bike (or at least write about it).

Fred Meredith
P.O. Box 100 (12702 Lowden Ln for UPS/FedEx)
Manchaca, TX 78652
512/282-1987 (office/home)
512/282-7413 (fax)
512/636-7480 (wireless)
More than you want to know at: http://2merediths.com