BIKE: Las Vegas transit developments

[Nawdry]

The following news items may be useful to the discussion about transit mode 
choices.

LH


PTP Digest 2004/10/12-A = CONTENTS

* Las Vegas planners 'getting serious' about light rail system
    LAS VEGAS SUN October 08, 2004

* Las Vegas: Feasibility study touts benefits of light rail line
    REVIEW-JOURNAL - Las Vegas Sep-10-2004

* Las Vegas: Light rail line could cut transit travel times by two-thirds
    KRNV -TV - Reno, Nv September 10

* Las Vegas (background): Rail link to possible new airport studied
    LAS VEGAS SUN  August 13, 2004

* Las Vegas: Overview of current monorail shutdown and safety crisis
    Light Rail Now! NewsLog 8 October 2004

* Las Vegas: Despite shutdown, monorail still interests advertisers
    Las Vegas Business Press  Thursday, September 16, 2004

* Las Vegas (ed): Monorail 'under siege', but 'will get better'
    Las Vegas Mercury  Thursday, September 23, 2004



=PTP================================================

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2004/oct/08/517637390.html

LAS VEGAS SUN
October 08, 2004

RTC getting serious about light rail system

By Stephen Curran


If public transit in Las Vegas is an idea in its infancy, planners with the
Regional Transportation Commission expect the next decade to resemble
a sudden growth spurt.

Even with a proposed, publicly funded extension to the Las Vegas
Monorail on hold while builders investigate what caused a prolonged
shutdown of the trains, the RTC is standing by its ambitious plan to rely on
the now-embattled system and a possible light rail line to bring the city's
public transportation infrastructure up to speed with the area's rapid
growth.

The RTC's vision hinges mainly on introducing Southern Nevada to what
is known in urban planning circles as "regional fixed guideway service," a
network RTC planners say could eventually link bus, light rail and possible
monorail service.

The backbone of the plan is a little-used, 33-mile rail route last used by
the Union Pacific that carves its way from Henderson, through the west
side of the Strip, finally ending in North Las Vegas, Fred Ohene, assistant
general manager of the RTC, said.

The existing tracks seem a natural fit for a possible light rail to connect the
southern and northern ends of the growing valley, Ohene said, although
the agency is also examining an extension of its successful MAX bus
service along the corridor.

"We don't know what the technology will be at this point," he said. "It could
be a light rail; it could be a form of rapid transit system."

Both bus and light rail service qualify as fixed guideway routes, according
to the Federal Transit Administration, which has authority over public
transit projects that use federal money.

Whatever form it takes, the transit system would run parallel to the Las
Vegas Monorail, which now connects the MGM Grand to the Sahara
hotel, with five stops in between.

The RTC had entertained a possible, publicly financed extension to the
monorail that would connect the Strip to downtown Las Vegas, although
two prolonged closures within the system's first two months of public
operations have thrown the extension into question. The monorail now is
not expected to open until at least next month, its officials say.

Planners had initially hoped to begin construction on the Strip-to-
downtown phase within a year, a plan the RTC has said will be impossible
to reach given the shutdown.

Although there are no immediate plans to abandon the extension, the
RTC has temporarily shelved its plans while third-party consultants
investigate what caused a 60-pound wheel assembly and an 2-pound
industrial washer to fall from a moving monorail train within a week of
each other, Ohene said.

"I think we're looking at keeping it a monorail extension, but everything is
on hold at this point depending on what happens with Phase 1," he said.
"Assuming that all goes well, I don't see a problem with us moving
forward. But if they don't come through, our board will have to make a
decision."

If the monorail extension does not move forward, transportation
commissioners may have to weigh possible extension of existing bus
service to shuttle people from the northernmost monorail platform to
downtown or an extension of the MAX service along the resort corridor,
Ohene said.

The RTC has not yet begun looking at these possibilities, he said.

"We're at a holding pattern," Ohene said. "We'd rather see what happens.
I think it's too early to have a knee-jerk reaction."

Jim Gibson, the chairman and chief executive of Transit System
Management, which oversees operations of the 4-mile, privately funded
monorail, previously said discussions and agreements for the public
expansion will begin once the monorail has been running 20 hours a day
for six months, which will provide the RTC the ridership data they believe
will justify an expansion.

Before the shutdown, the monorail was operating 16 hours a day and was
bringing in about 30,000 riders a day. Monorail officials said the numbers -
- about 55 percent of initial ridership goals -- would increase as the
system became more popular.

Edward Neumann, a civil engineering professor at UNLV and an expert in
public transportation projects, said the monorail's uncertain future will
unlikely affect whether the RTC more aggressively pursues the possible
light rail.

Ohene also said the monorail's difficulties have not hurt the long-term
plans, which had counted on the two systems eventually running
simultaneously.

Even though the two systems would run parallel to each other, they would
be geared toward two different classes of rider. The light rail, which could
stop several times on the west side of the Strip, would likely cater to
casino employees and local residents traveling to the corridor. The
monorail, by comparison, is geared primarily toward the 35 million visitors
Las Vegas sees each year, he said.

"I don't see any competition (between the two systems) because of their
alignments and the people they would serve would be so different,"
Neumann said.

The relative ease of parking in the casino corridor is another hurdle for
Las Vegas, Neumann said, as commuters are more likely to turn to public
transportation in areas where parking is scarce.

"If it's very easy to park, that can be an advantage (to driving) that can be
difficult for transit to overcome," he said.

For the proposed light rail line to be successful, planners will have to
carefully consider the placement and user-friendliness of stations along
the route, Neumann said.

Publicly financed light rail systems have proven risky in other metropolitan
areas. Northern California's Bay Area Rapit Transit system, by
comparison, took decades to take shape and was repeatedly set back by
labor strikes and state budget shortfalls. That system is a multi-county
network of buses and rail systems.

The BART system, which officials began planning in the 1950s, opened to
the public in 1972. If approved, planners have said the Las Vegas light rail
could be completed by 2014.

The BART, at the time touted as the largest single public works project
undertaken in the United States, was projected in 1962 to cost the
counties footing the bill almost $1 billion. Early estimates pinpointed a
possible Las Vegas light rail at $700 million -- about $20 million a mile --
but it could be as much as $2.1 billion if commissioners approve a costlier
train.

If it is approved, early estimates have put the downtown monorail
extension at roughly $350 million.

The Las Vegas light rail would likely be funded through a combination of
federal funds and money earmarked from the $2.7 billion Question 10
transportation tax package, which could be used to bring in federal
matching funds.

The rail and monorail systems would ultimately meet at a proposed
transfer station downtown that would allow passengers to move from one
system to the other, Ohene said.

Such a facility would help the two systems work together, giving monorail
passengers the opportunity to continue north on the fixed guideway
system, he said.

Todd Walker, a spokesman for the monorail, said system planners
envisioned the monorail would eventually become part of the Las Vegas
Valley's long-term transportation plans.

"We're starting to set the groundwork for what transportation will look like
in the future," he said. "We're a four-mile portion of that much larger
system."




=PTP==================================================

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Sep-10-2004/news/24735394.html

REVIEW-JOURNAL - Las Vegas
Sep-10-2004

Feasibility study touts benefits of light rail line


A proposed light rail line linking downtown Las Vegas to Henderson and
North Las Vegas could cut mass transit travel times by up to two-thirds,
according to a feasibility study.

But the study, presented Thursday to the Regional Transportation
Commission, has yet to firm up three keys to making the rail line a reality:
funding, cost and projected ridership.

The study claimed that light rail trains could make the trip between
downtown and the south Strip in 20 to 23 minutes. Buses plying that route
do so in 58 minutes to 1 hour, 8 minutes.

"The system would provide significant time savings," said Charlie
DeWeese, a consultant on the project.

The rail line would run along a 33-mile route, the likely first segment
running along 14 miles of existing Union Pacific railroad tracks between
Henderson and downtown.

Work could begin by 2009, with completion around 2012.

Other future routes could run to the northwest and southern parts of the
valley.

Planners believe a growing population and an employment base that's
spreading out beyond the resort corridor makes a light rail line doable.

Planners also believe many valley roads are wide enough to
accommodate both light rail and existing traffic.

Planners will now work on firming up how much the system will cost, what
precise paths are preferred and how many people can be expected to ride
the system. Those various figures should be compiled throughout next
year.



=PTP=================================================

KRNV -TV - Reno, Nv
September 10

LAS VEGAS, NV, September 10

Study: Vegas light rail line could cut travel times by two-thirds

Associated Press


A new study shows a proposed light rail line linking downtown Las Vegas
to Henderson and North Las Vegas could cut mass transit travel times by
up to two-thirds.

But the study presented this week to the Regional Transportation
Commission has yet to firm up three keys to making the rail line a reality,
funding, cost and projected ridership.

The study claims light rail trains could make the trip between downtown
and the south Strip in 20 to 23 minutes. Buses plying that route do so in
58 minutes to an hour and eight minutes.

The rail line would run along a 33-mile route, with the first segment likely
running along 14 miles of existing Union Pacific railroad tracks between
Henderson and downtown.

Work could begin by 2009, with completion around 2012. Other future
routes could run to the northwest and southern parts of the valley.


=PTP==================================================

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2004/aug/13/517335583.html

LAS VEGAS SUN
August 13, 2004

RTC to study rail line to Ivanpah


The Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday approved a plan to
set aside more than $180,000 to study a proposed rail line between Las
Vegas to a possible airport in Ivanpah.

The plan, approved at the RTC's monthly meeting Thursday, would be
part of a proposed rail line connecting North Las Vegas, downtown Las
Vegas and Henderson. It would extend that line from the southern part of
the Las Vegas Valley and could possibly end up as far south as the new
airport near Jean, roughly 30 miles south of Las Vegas, according to the
RTC contract.

Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, an international transportation
consulting firm, will be hired to do the study.

Of the $180,878 the RTC approved for the study, roughly $144,000 will be
reimbursed through federal grants, according to the contract.

The second airport, which county planners say will be needed within the
next 10 years, is expected to be built in a dry lake bed in the now-rural
Ivanpah area.





=PTP====================================================

http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_newslog001.htm

Light Rail Now! NewsLog
8 October 2004

Las Vegas Monorail shut down...
Safety crisis investigated

Produced by the Light Rail Now! Publication Team


The Las Vegas monorail – launched on 1 July – has experienced a spate
of problems serious enough to shut down the entire operation twice within
a week. Ironically, while these problems have stemmed from relatively
simple vehicle malfunctions, weaknesses in the design of the Las Vegas
system appear to have raised critical safety concerns, prompting a more
prolonged system shutdown.

The first incident occurred on Wednesday, 1 September, when a trainset
dropped a 60-lb guidewheel onto a parking lot below – fortunately, without
hitting anyone or causing damage. However, managers closed down the
system to investigate the problem. This came at a time of surging market
demand from a mammoth trade convention, and extended through the
busy Labor Day holiday. After returning to operation briefly on Tuesday, 7
September, the monorail experienced yet another incidence of dropping a
piece of hardware, resulting in a more serious shutdown. A large
driveshaft washer apparently detached and struck the guideway's high-
voltage power conduit on its way down, causing arcing and taking a small
chunk out of the beamway.

This latest shutdown, following on the heels of an inspection after the first
incident (loss of a guidewheel), apparently is stirring a considerably
greater level of alarm, and may be more prolonged. Some of the main
consequences of this latest incident include:

• The current status is now being described as an "indefinite shutdown".

• The planned 2.3-mile extension is now considered "in jeopardy" and the
project has been put "on hold" as officials and planners evaluate whether
the technology is reliable enough for the extension project to proceed.

• A major bond rating company is now evaluating whether to downgrade
the status of the Las Vegas monorail bonds (now at a relatively low BBB-)
to an even lower level.

The incidents which have prompted these developments appear to
corroborate many of the weaknesses of automated monorail technology
which articles in Light Rail Now! have discussed – such as the absence of
a drip pan beneath the beamways which could prevent debris, lubricants,
air-conditioning condensate, etc. from falling to the surface below.
Currently, a disaster-investigation firm, Exponent, has been hired to
investigate the system's problems and recommend solutions. The firm has
investigated other major disasters such as the grounding of the Exxon
Valdez, the walkway collapse at the Kansas City Hyatt, and the bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Information used in this report has been adapted from the Public
Transport Progress news distribution list, among other sources.



=PTP==============================================

http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2004/09/16/news/news08mono.txt

Las Vegas Business Press
Thursday, September 16, 2004

Monorail is derailed but not derelict to advertisers

By Steven Mihailovich
Business Press

------------------------------------------------------------------
[PHOTO]
The Nextel train in happier days, at the launch of the advertising
campaign in 2003.
------------------------------------------------------------------


As mounting operational failures on the recently-launched monorail forced
closure of the $650 million system last week until the problem can be
discovered and resolved, the potential financial consequences are neither
as vague nor as threatening for the time being.

New York-based Fitch Ratings, one of three top independent debt rating
companies, slapped a negative watch with the potential for downgrading
on its BBB- rating of the Las Vegas Monorail Company's notes totaling
$451.4 million in the wake of the shut down, even though the obligation is
insured.

Perhaps more crucial is the effect of the monorail's performance setbacks
on the longer-term strategy to generate income from advertisers that is
expected to produce $6.5 million, or 11.5 percent of total revenues, this
year and projected to reach 12.7 percent by 2008.

Expected to last for weeks, the closing has delayed the scheduled
September 28 grand opening of wireless phone provider Nextel
Communications' station at the Las Vegas Convention Center until the
train is rolling again. The telecommunications giant is taking a patient
approach to the delays but remains confident that, given the number of
parties involved with the monorail, it will salvage its $3 million annual
investment.

Yet Promethean Partners, the firm responsible for selling the yearly $1
million- per-train and $1 million-per-station advertising on the monorail, is
doing hot business as usual according to its president because major
consumer product makers and vendors are taking the long view on the
monorail's potential as a marketing vehicle rather than blowing a short
fuse on the system's current operational "speed bumps."

"The topic comes up," says Patrick Pharris, Promethean Partners
president. "We explain the situation and they get it. They have to ask the
question. But it's just one of 100 questions and they aren't questions
about operations but rather what it can do for them and other typical
questions of anyone making a $5 million [to] $15 million commitment."

Launched with much public fanfare, the monorail has been vexed by
mechanical snags even before its July 15 opening. Originally slated to
commence operations in January, the initiation was pushed back because
of persistent difficulties in the monorail's software system which drives the
train.

Since then, the system was shut for six days, including the busy Labor
Day weekend, when a steering tire fell from a train on September 1. Two
days later, a passing train dropped a metal piece from the drive shaft,
forcing an indefinite closure until the problem was identified and rectified.

Top engineers and other personnel from the monorail maker, Montreal,
Canada-based Bombardier Corporation, have descended on the city in
droves to find and fix the problem which, along with the involvement of
Clark County inspectors, is providing much of the calm being applied to
the situation by Nextel's general manager of its monorail operations,
Miguel Lecuona.

In November, Nextel signed a 12-year contract to pay $4 million annually
for the convention center station, twice the rate as any other station on the
line because of its prominent position, and $1 million annually per car for
a total of more than $96 million.

"What gives me comfort is that Bombardier helped build the Montreal
subway and the train under the English Channel," Lecuona says. "There
is a line of conversation with the county. This is not just business
enterprise for profit but the pride of the city. They want this to work for the
good of the city. I think we're going to see a full court press. We're
watching and we're definitely interested as a partner."

Part of that interest from advertisers is based on the risk of an unreliable
monorail and the harm it could do to their product by association if the
problems persist. Lecuona asserts the issue is not pertinent at this point
and his company's focus is on the immediate quandary.

"We're not at a point where those questions have been raised," he says.
"At this point, it's all about what we have to confront as a group and what
is the definition of the problem and what it takes to resolve it ... If 
this goes
on into the fall, there will be other considerations on what to do."

Nonetheless, the company has delayed opening ceremonies for Nextel's
15,000-square-foot "Nextel Station" until the trains are back on line,
although many of the station's features, such as its retail center, service
and repair facility, and meeting space, are operating after a soft opening.

Although the wireless lounge has yet to be completed, Lecuona said the
ceremony was more a question of formality than function, with the Nextel
center already receiving 4,000 visitors during the two days between the
two closures and access still available from the convention center.

"Even if the monorail is not running, the Nextel Center is open," he says.
"The original investment premise is sound ... We're deferring [the
ceremonies] pending information from the monorail. We want to wait until
the trains run."

While the monorail is a new system, the technology is not so
inexperienced and has been used successfully in other projects, although
some have experienced similar delays, according to Scott Trommer,
Fitch's surface transportation analyst who covers the monorail bonds.

"This monorail is existing technology," he notes. "There is a history that
when you build a new system and put it up, there is a question of how it
comes together. [For the Las Vegas Monorail], it really depends on the
nature of the problem. The question is whether it is an isolated incident or
a systemic issue."

The consistency of the nuisances troubling the monorail in recent weeks
mean Fitch won't remove its negative until it sees reliable performance for
an extended period of weeks and even months. If the operational
difficulties turn into advertising ones, however, then the downgrade could
still happen even if the train is running.

"The advertising revenue is part of the equation," says Trommer. "That's
another downside of the service interruption. It's just as important for
advertisers to get on line and have reliable operation."

Pharris is not perturbed by the dire possibilities. With those already on
board the advertising opportunity feeling confident, Pharris says that
potential clients have not considered putting a halt to ongoing negotiations
because of the recent operational problems.

Pharris would not specifically name the potential clients except by product
categories.

"Most people are saying it is a great project," he says. "No one is saying
we're not doing this thing until you get it running. There is more and more
interest from advertisers since the system opened, even with these
challenges. It's a moot point. They are looking at the long term. Everyone
understands to a tee that this is a new system and this is a glitch. You fix
it and move on."

It is current advertisers, however, that are feeling the present delays. With
the trains not operating, advertisers like Nextel, Hansen's Beverage
Company and Paramount Parks are not receiving their money's worth by
any measure.

While not revealing whether advertisers' bills will be pro-rated for the
missed days, Pharris says all efforts will be made to compensate the loss.

"The Monorail Company is doing a great job taking care of advertisers,"
he says.

Although startling, Lecuona argues it is better that any problems come out
in the beginning and that the experience will make for a better operation in
the long run.

"They've been working with us progressively and I expect we won't be
surprised," he says. "You can make mistakes and you can recover from
mistakes. Nobody [will] give up on this."

stevenm | 702-871-6780 x340



=PTP=================================================

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/MERC-Sep-23-Thu-2004/24818691.html

Las Vegas Mercury
Thursday, September 23, 2004

Editor's Note: The monorail: A dissent


The monorail is under siege. Mechanical problems have subjected the
Strip transit line to media questions and public ridicule. Just a few months
after it opened for business, the monorail is closed and may not resume
service for several months. While inspectors review every aspect of the
monorail operation to find problems and make repairs, hundreds of
thousands of dollars in potential revenue are lost. Things, it seems, are
going to get worse before they get better.

But things will get better. They will, because they have to.

Those mocking the monorail today--whether for wheels falling off or for its
mysterious public-private status--have every right to do so. Obviously the
folks who constructed the monorail made some mistakes that, if they
didn't exactly put people's lives at risk, certainly raised flags about quality
control and safety. And there's no question that the complex, secretive
nature of the monorail's financing and operation deserves intense scrutiny
to make sure taxpayers aren't getting shafted.

But amid the boos and hisses, we can't forget that Las Vegas desperately
needs the monorail. No, we don't need a glorified thrill ride, which is
basically what the monorail's current incarnation amounts to. But the
monorail also is the first leg of a valleywide mass transit system. It
represents the bare beginnings of Las Vegas' version of San Francisco's
BART, Chicago's El and Washington, D.C.'s Metro.

The monorail is the modest first piece of what should become a truly
useful transit network that would accomplish several things, not the least
of which is giving commuters an alternative to time-wasting, gasoline-
burning, air-polluting, blood pressure-raising highway and street driving.
Phase two would extend the monorail to downtown and phase three
would stretch the system to McCarran International Airport. The airport
link would take many tourists (in rental cars, taxis and limos) off the roads,
easing congestion for local motorists. Besides being good for Fremont
Street tourism, the downtown leg--terminating at a new bus and rail transit
hub--would increase the number of Las Vegans working on the Strip who
could use the monorail to get to work.

That's just the beginning. Transportation planners already are making
plans to run a commuter train along an old Union Pacific rail line to
Henderson, and talks proceed on a proposal to send a light rail line along
U.S. 95 to the northwest.

Transportation planners, for all their faults, are good at seeing the big
picture. They look at how Las Vegas is growing and believe that mass
transit must be incorporated into our long-term plans. They have studied
larger cities and know how congested they can get.

Today it's not always a big hassle to motor around Las Vegas. If you avoid
the morning and afternoon rush hours, it's possible to scoot around the
valley's highways at a pretty good pace. It's also still possible to use
surface streets to span fairly long distances in decent time. But rush hours
are another matter, with a growing number of chokepoints that slow cars
to a crawl, and when there's a fender-bender, you're in a world of hurt.

With about 1.6 million people in the metropolitan area, our traffic
congestion is bad but not terrible. We have to realize, however, that
unless we plan to put the brakes on growth--fat chance of that--we soon
will hit 2 million population. And then we'll hit 2.5 million and then 3 
million.
I don't want to imagine a million more people here without a viable mass
transit system.

In these pages recently, columnist George Knapp sagely speculated that
the pseudo-private monorail outfit eventually will turn over its burden to
the taxpayers. In one sense, this is alarming, in that it means we probably
would have to subsidize an unprofitable transit system. But the fact is that
the monorail and its eventual extensions should be publicly funded and
managed anyway. There are few if any examples in the world of a profit-
making mass transit system, and it's unrealistic to think Las Vegas would
be any different. Like health care, mass transit is one of those things that
doesn't fare well in the rough-and-tumble marketplace.

In recent history, taxpayers have made substantial commitments to
improving transportation facilities in Southern Nevada. We've spent
billions to expand McCarran Airport (as well as smaller airports), to
improve highways and interchanges, to build the beltway, to create
Citizens Area Transit. We've built the Desert Inn Super-Arterial, Frank
Sinatra Drive and pedestrian bridges on the Strip. We've widened dozens
of major streets, installed hundreds of traffic signals and even established
a few bike lanes.

We've done most of what we can do to serve motorists. Little stuff is all
that's really left. But we soon will reach a point where the street and
highway network will be overwhelmed. A serious, smart mass transit
system is the next logical and necessary investment.

Mass transit systems such as San Francisco's BART (32 years old) and
Washington's Metro (28 years old) no doubt had their setbacks and
naysayers. But the large communities in which they operate simply could
not imagine what life would be like without them.

Perhaps 10 years from now, Las Vegans will have that feeling about the
monorail and its appendages. And we'll have trouble remembering those
few months in 2004 when the system was in the shop.

--GEOFF SCHUMACHER



PTP Digest 2004/10/11-A = CONTENTS


* Las Vegas: Monorail had yet another incident of falling debris
    KLAS-TV Las Vegas October 7, 2004

* Las Vegas op: Did monorail bosses rush to install unproven system?
    Las Vegas Mercury  Thursday, September 30, 2004


=PTP================================================

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2398126&nav=168YRj8v

KLAS-TV Las Vegas
October 7, 2004

Latest Word On Troubled Monorail

Adrian Arambulo, Reporter


(Oct. 6) -- The Las Vegas Monorail opened late and has been troubled
ever since. Eyewitness News has learned there was a fourth incident of
debris falling from the newly constructed monorail.

Eyewitness News obtained a memo sent from one monorail official to
another, which documents an incident where debris fell onto a car. On
Wednesday a spokesperson with the group confirmed the memo and told
us how they fixed the problem.

Even before the monorail opened to the public, a drive shaft fell from one
of the cars. And then in September, two incidents of falling debris from
monorail cars forced administrators to shut the system down and open an
investigation into its safety.

But there was yet another incident back in April. A memo from Las Vegas
Monorail's vice president to the project manager describes it as an
"incident" where a cable tray clip from the track fell on to a vehicle
underneath.

A spokesperson for the group confirmed that the incident did happen.
"There were some fasteners that hold the cable tray to the guideway that
during windstorms back in the spring came dislodged," said Todd Walker.

The clips hold the sheet metal, which protects the system's cable system.
Monorail officials say the clips are several inches long and weigh a couple
of ounces, enough to damage to a vehicle parked underneath the
monorail. But officials say this incident is relatively minor compared to the
two incidents that shut the system down.

Measures were taken to make sure these clips wouldn't fall on people
walking underneath. Walker says, "They're very small and the contractor
went back and replaced each one of those, but in such a large
construction project you would expect minor instances like this to take
place."

Monorail officials say there have not been any other incidents besides the
ones now reported, which Clark County's building department confirms.
"We don't believe there are design problems with the system. But we are
being precautionary with this investigation that this system is safe," Todd
Walker added.

There has been some mention of installing some type of barrier to protect
people from falling debris.

This incident is not related to the two incidents that shut down the
monorail since this incident involved falling debris from the track while the
others involved debris from the monorail cars.

The monorail has been closed since Sept. 8. There is still no timetable for
when it will reopen. But it is at least several weeks away.




=PTP===============================================

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/MERC-Sep-30-Thu-2004/24871168.html

Las Vegas Mercury
Thursday, September 30, 2004

This week's Monorail Moment

George Knapp is a longtime reporter and anchor for KLAS Channel 8.


As we all await the results of the intensive, ongoing inspection of the
troubled Las Vegas Monorail, alert reader Jim C. asks a pertinent
question. He wonders why this monorail has had so many mechanical
problems, while the smaller, cheaper systems operated for years by the
Mandalay and MGM properties ran just fine? We don't recall hearing any
stories about tires falling off or doors opening of their own accord during
all of the tens of thousands of trips made by those lesser monorails.

The MGM's monorail, since absorbed into the Las Vegas Monorail
system, featured trains that were originally purchased from Disney. That's
right. MGM bought used Disney technology and it worked just fine. It
would seem that the inexperience of LVM's well-connected juice
merchants is starting to show. If they wanted to build a pie-in-the-sky
fantasy train, they probably should have consulted with the experts in all
things make-believe.