Saturday, August 14, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Riding the monorail

Early ridership figures for Strip train aren't meeting expectations

Las Vegas Monorail officials tried valiantly last week to cast a positive light on their disappointing ridership figures. But no amount of spin can obfuscate the mediocre news.

The monorail began service on July 17, and in the first two weeks carried about 30,800 passengers up and down the Strip each day. That's more than 40 percent below the 53,000 people officials hope to eventually see riding the train daily. And it's about 25 percent below the break-even figure of 40,000 daily riders for the $650 million project.

"We are pleased," said monorail spokesman Todd Walker. "We've just begun to market the system to the public."

One would think, however, that ridership numbers might spike initially given the novelty of the new system. And it's sheer folly to believe that ridership will significantly increase when the hours of operation are expanded later this month from 8 a.m. to midnight to 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.

All of this needn't concern Las Vegans at this point. It may indeed be true that numbers will pick up as the system matures and officials provide more options for purchasing tickets. Besides, the monorail is privately financed, although the state backed the bonds used to build the project.

But don't be surprised if taxpayers are eventually asked to subsidize the monorail's expansion to downtown or the airport. And if that happens, the ridership and revenue figures take on a whole other dimension.