Monorail - more info please....

Hello!!

I'm looking for a bit more information on the monorail system....it looks like it may be a great way to get around, but I just have a couple concerns:

*The Monorail shows on our maps to be behind the Hotels on the East side of the strip. How far back from the Hotels is it? It looks like it may be quite a distance.

*Is the Monorail safe to travel later in the evening? Or are there stations that may not be so secure?

Any help would be greatly appreciated....thanks!!

Gregg.

 

The monorail is pretty much right behind the hotels and easy to get to, but that's still not always a short walk. Maybe 5 minutes on average to walk from a casino floor to its monorail stop. The walking does add up, though. If you're going from one west side property to another (say, NYNY to Mirage), you might do almost as much walking with the monorail as without (although a lot more air conditioned walking, which is nice in July).

I've never heard of any safety problems on the monorail at all. Its pretty well lit and a decent level of business. The only place I'd be at all concerned is the Sahara stop since that hotel is closed and there's not much close to it, but thats more about the surrounding area and being at a closed casino.

 

We usually hop on the monorail once a trip. Station entrance exits are usually through a casino but not usually a short walk. Personally, I don't find it the most convenient way to get around.

 

I've never stayed on the east side of the strip since the monorail has been built. I've only used it a couple of times and it was more trouble than it was worth. I don't consider it much of an option unless you are already at a hotel with a stop going to another with a stop. Even then it's a pain to get to and only economical if you are solo. Other than it being inconvenient and somewhat expensive, it's great! The only thing more poorly exucuted was TI's replacement of the pirate show with "Sirens".

 

I found the monorail to be a very convenient and accessible way to get between the Flamingo and the LVH (formerly the Hilton) back in January 2012. We stayed at the Flamingo and went to the LVH sportsbook for NFL playoffs.

Be sure to take into account how often you plan on using the monorail and where you'll be going, as the monorail features both one-way fare and all-day fare structures.
For example, two of us going via monorail from Flamingo to LVH cost $10 one-way (5 bucks/ticket). The next day, cab fare for that same one-way trip cost 12 bucks total.

 

Quickie review + Ideas

We bought a 24 Hr pass for the Las Vegas Monorail.

It's faster if you are going long distances, Like from MGM, to Harrah's & the stations are well lit & clean,
and security cameras everywhere.
Example from LV Blvd @ Entrance to MGM, to Monorail station at a brisk pace 7 Mins.
Bally's/Paris Monorail Station out to LV Blvd On Strip 8-9 Mins.
It does take a little while to go from stip to the Monorail Stations, as you well
know, casinos are designed to be mazes & sometimes walking from point
"A" to point "B", can be not such a straight line, where casino's are Involved.

This might be part of the reason it Went Chapter 11 Bankrupt in 2010.

My biggest gripe & still disappointment is why the Las Vegas Monorail does not go to the Main Airport Terminal. !!!!!xxxx
Shame on you Las Vegas Monorial Planners!
This would pull 1,000's of Polluting cabs off taxi lines that Idle for hours just to pick up 1 Fare &
reduce traffic substantially off LB Blvd, for arrivals & departing Guests from the city.

My 2nd gripe, No stations at Venetian/Plazzio or Wynn/Encore & a dead station at Sahara.

Bigger Picture: its usefulness!
Sand is soft, was it really that Impossible to use TBM's & go Underground?
or was that ever even thought of in the Planning Phase & Economic Impact study?
A subway style system from McCarran down LV Blvd to Freemont St,
with elevators to the hotels for guests with luggage & escalators up to the strip would have been the Ticket? Oh well......

 

It's amazing that other countries can build entire cities in the blink of an eye, but years later, the monorail can't make the stone's throw from the MGM Grand to the airport. They're practically within spitting distance of one another, and would financially save the monorail. Then again, this is the greatest country in the world, where nothing can get done on time, under budget, and without argument.

 

Cab Companies...

 

This is all excellent and very helpful information - Thanks Guys!!

 

The LV monorail is a classic example of a great idea poorly executed.

It really is a shame. I love riding it, but it's such a pain to use.

 

yes, I remember reading an article saying that owners of the cab companies fight this every single time there is a hearing on it. I honestly think its just a matter of time till it is done.


I try to take the monorail as much as I can to save a buck. I useally stay mid strip and will take it to mgm. To get to the stations it is somewhat of a walk as others have said, but what can you really do? Put the thing above the middle of the vegas strip?

I wish it had more stops(like luxor, wynn). Another downside is the thing stops at 3am. So many times I take the 'rail with a 5$ pass and take a taxi home. I bet they lose so much money this way.

The bottom line is id rather pay 5$ for a pass then pay 13$ish a cab ride.

 

Do you think the Sahara station would be unsafe (in daylight) because the hotel has closed? How far a walk to the Stratosphere ? Do you think that would be a good transportation option from Bally's to the Stratosphere?

 

Monorail pros and cons often come down to where you stay, where you like to go and your physical fitness. Years ago we had no problem hiking from Harrahs/Flamingo down to the MGM. Now in the heat I can no longer do it...we also ALWAYS stay on the east side of the strip where the monorail is located. For us it is great....but I can see why those who stay/play at Wynn, City Center and most mlife properties would think it is a waste. I have been on it at night alone and did not feel unsafe. During the day the walk from Sahara to The STRAT would be safe, it is however longer than some people realize.

 

In daylight it'll be safe. From Sahara's station to Stratosphere its about a 10-15 minute walk (little over half a mile).

Is it good? Its ok... if there are two of you it'll cost a little more to take a taxi which will get you there faster and you won't have to walk.

If you are talking about going in the next couple of months I'd rather take a cab... I would have no problem with the walk and all that, but would rather just get there and not get there all hot and sweaty because I just walked all that way when its 100+ degrees outside.

 

There are two of us and we are now planning to go in Sept (it's been changed a few times!) so I know it will still be very warm. If we did this we would get the 24 hour monorail pass and utilize it efficiently.

 

Off the top I'll say that there are a few different things they could have done that would have made the monorail a more popular choice to ride, or they could have even made it where the monorail is free for passengers to ride and they generate revenue to cover the costs in other ways.

But... what they have is what they have.

I think the biggest issues the monorail faced was:

- They rushed in to the project without really thinking it through. On one hand they did think about it, but the impression it gives is that when deciding on everything the room was just filled with "yes men" that wanted to get the project going and nobody pointed out the potential flaws.

- They used bad data and just assumed that if they built it people would ride it. At issue here is that they really didn't give people a reason to ride it.

- They went in to the project with no contingencies like "what if people don't ride it?" they just assumed that it would get high ridership and make enough money to expand to Downtown and the airport, which would increase ridership more. But when they didn't get that initial high ridership they expected they couldn't afford to build to Downtown or the airport.

- The county really should have been involved in the project, but they weren't. The problem there is the county was more concerned with the big real estate boom going on and all the expansion being planned at the time, but also in the end they just didn't want to step on the toes of the taxi industry.


Right now the irony is that the only thing that could really save the monorail and possibly fix it would be if it failed.

 

1) They don't really own the land they'd need to build it on, do they? Thats a big expense (for an already broke venture).

2) There are also a lot of approvals that would be needed and coordination with McCarron airport.

3) There are likely more parties with an economic incentive to fight it than with one to get it done. LV monorail is operated as a non-profit. CET would no doubt like to see it extended to the airport and downtown. But the cab companies and especially the SHUTTLE companies have a huge incentive to fight it. And MGM Resorts, despite the link to one of their hotels, probably don't like the idea of an airport connection for all their main competition that doesn't help them nearly as much. I think originally the monorail was proposed to initially go to both sides of the strip, but I can't see it happening especially since MGM has all those trams between properties already.


So in principle, I agree with you, it sounds like a no brainer linking to the airport (then again, I wonder what a pass would cost then, and how crowded it would get).

But its really not hard to see why they are having such a tough time getting it done.

 

We've ridden the monorail a lot over the years, and enjoyed it, but it was doomed from the start. The failure to connect with McCarran and the failure to access the west side of the Strip made it a turkey from the get-go. They should have split the line at both ends: McCarran - Sahara as it is now, and a second line running from McCarran down to Mandalay Bay, then up the west side to Sahara.

Downtown can be accessed by cab. There is no real reason to run the line there, and the Strip hotels would fight it big time. So make the line a state/county/city project, and any hotel that objects will just see them not build a stop there.

 

You can't really be for an airport connection on the basis of an affordable option and against a Downtown connection... the cost of a taxi from the airport to most places on The Strip is going to be about the same or less than the cost of a taxi from most places on The Strip to Downtown.

Actually it is almost always the other way around. Whenever projects like this get proposed in other cities its always the smaller guys who protest the most.

Its all about who has the most drawing power and in the case of Las Vegas that is The Strip, so they would be all for it.

Downtown would be against it because they know that they would get a lot of people staying Downtown that are doing so just for the cheap rates and who will end up going to The Strip for the nightlife, club scene, shows, dining choices, gambling, etc.

They can't play hardball with the casinos because first they would ideally want a stop at all of the major casinos, but secondly it was the casinos that paid for the stations in the first place and if they wanted to continue any kind of relationship like that with them they can't really play hardball because it just offsets too much of the construction costs and most likely a lot of the casinos would just say no.

Like just think if CET said no to the monorail project in the first place? There would be a stop at MGM, a stop at Bally's and then the next stop would be the convention center before going on to The Hilton and Sahara...

 

Like I said, nothing can be done because of all the arguing and selfish interests, a specialty behavior for our country. The entire country of Japan has nearly recovered from a Tsunami 16 months ago. The city of New Orleans has achieved far less since Katrina in 2006. Coincidence? Nope.

Land? A good portion of it already runs right down the center of Paradise Blvd in the air above the medial strip. Take it from the MGM station straight down the center of Tropicana, curve to the right and you're at the airport. Yes, it really truly is that simple. Therefore cannot be done.