BIKE: Poor little monorail, nobody loves it.

[ddobbs]

Re: Fed refusal to fund Las Vegas Monorail

Dear warm and comfortable fellow cyclists in Austin,

All things considered this is an unfortunate development
since it makes sense to have a continuous technology from
downtown Las Vegas out to and along the strip in what
amounts to a huge theme park that is being overwhelmed by
car traffic along Las Vegas Blvd.  Understandably, the
system's prolonged breakdown made this inevitable, so let's
hope everything works well from this point on.  Las Vegas is
just another example where the failure to install surface
rail forty years ago and upgrade it incrementally as the
need and funds presented themselves has now created the need
for a very expensive solution.  Monorail looks to be
appropriate here if the bugs can be worked out.

Anything that will really provide first class transit
service is going to cost big bucks, but count on the Feds to
cheap it while road lobby devises evermore creative
accounting schemes to keep the paving machines operating and
sprawl sprawling.  And outside of your neighborhood, riding
a bike is a challenge in Nevada's largest city.  I return
periodically to check on rental property I own out there and
it isn't getting better. 

In 1968 when I was stationed at the Navy base in Las Vegas
(would you believe the Navy was in Las Vegas?), the problem
was already apparent, but casino owners didn't want to share
customers and there wasn't even a bus running along the
strip!

Right now, reporting from Rochester, New York where snow
drifts and below zero temperatures have engulfed the region,
Las Vegas, nonetheless, is looking pretty good.  Since
Saturday last, I have spent more than five hours shoveling
snow on different days and another hour laying down rock
salt over a one hundred yard driveway on a hill into the
place where I am staying.  There no lack of exercise around
here, but it definitely is not on a bicycle.

Dave Dobbs
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Texas Association for Public Transportation
9702 Swansons Ranch Road
Austin, Texas 78748
(512) 282-1149
Visit us at http://www.lightrailnow.org 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


----- Original Message Follows -----
From: Fred Meredith <bikin-fred>
To: Austin Bikes <forum>
Subject: BIKE: Poor little monorail, nobody loves it.
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:31:40 -0600

> Just passing on the news from a reporter friend in Vegas.
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> > Date: January 27, 2005 12:26:30 PM CST
> > To: bikin-fred
> >
> > \beginstory
> > BC-NV--Vegas Monorail,403
> > AP NewsBreak: Feds turn down funds for Vegas monorail
> > extension agtt1
> > \Quadcenter{By ADAM GOLDMAN }
> > \Quadcenter{Associated Press Writer }
> >
> >    LAS VEGAS (AP) - Plans to build a downtown extension
> > of the Las Vegas monorail have been scrapped after city
> > and transportation officials learned the federal
> government will not fund the project. >
> >    The Department of Transportation will not recommend
> > the 2.3-mile extension when it publishes a notice in the
> > Federal Register next month, Ingrid Reisman, a
> > spokeswoman with the Regional Transportation Commission
> of Southern Nevada, confirmed Wednesday. >
> >    ``We can submit for funding again in August for the
> > president's '07 budget,'' Reisman told The Associated
> > Press. ``We are looking at alternative technologies.''
> >
> >    Reisman said a major factor in failing to get federal
> > approval turned out to be poor ridership numbers in the
> > first phase of the monorail.
> >
> >    The $650 million monorail, which began running a
> > 3.9-mile, Z-shaped route in July behind some of the Las
> > Vegas Strip's largest hotels, had to show a need for an
> > extension, she said. Organizers had hoped the privately
> > funded project would cover its debts and operating
> > budget by attracting 19 million to 20 million people
> riders a year. >
> >    But ridership was reduced drastically when mechanical
> > problems shut down the monorail for nearly four months
> > before it finally reopened in late December.
> >
> >    Organizers had hoped to open a $396 million extension
> > to downtown by 2007 and were considering a connection to
> > McCarran International Airport.
> >
> >    Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said it wasn't a
> > surprise the extension didn't get the nod after the
> > monorail's startup problems, which also caused its
> opening to be delayed six months. >
> >    Goodman said he already has been looking at cheaper,
> > alternative funding for a light-rail system or high-tech
> buses. >
> >    ``As far as I'm concerned, I wish the monorail well.
> > ... but we are not going to mourn it,'' Goodman said.
> >
> >    Cam Walker, the president and CEO of Transit Systems
> > Management, the private company that operates the
> > monorail for the nonprofit Las Vegas Monorail Co., said
> > his company has no immediate plans to extend the
> monorail in any direction. >
> >    ``We're very focused on and pleased to be in service
> > ,'' Walker said. ``The opportunities for enhancing the
> > system are not our priority right now.''
> >
> >
> > \Quadcenter{--- }
> >
> >    On the Net: Las Vegas Monorail:
> http://www.lvmonorail.com >
> > \endstory
> >
> >
> When in doubt, ride your bike 
 or at least write about
> it!
> 
> Fred Meredith
> P.O. Box 100
> Manchaca, TX 78652
> 512/282-1987 (voice)
> 512/282-7413 (fax)
> 512/636-7480 (wireless)
> visit <http://2merediths.com> for writings and photos
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Get on or off this list here: 
> http://BicycleAustin.info/list