Saturday, March 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS MONORAIL: Testing delays opening

Officials want to be sure all kinks ironed out before giving system green light

Las Vegas Monorail cars glide past the Las Vegas Hilton during the testing of the system Thursday night. Planners once hoped to open the monorail to the public as early as this month, but the opening is now expected later this summer as testing continues. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Testing will keep the Las Vegas Monorail from opening to the public until sometime this summer, but that's OK with project officials who'd rather find glitches before passengers do.

"We'll open it when we're ready to open, when it's right and when it's done," said Jim Gibson, chairman and CEO of monorail manager Transit Systems Management, on Friday. "When you pay $650 million for a system, you want it to be a first-class system."

A more precise timeframe for opening the system has not been determined.

"We've probably been a little picky. ... This is not all that forgiving a venue. Shoot, the (UNLV) Rebels have to win more than 20 games a season to pack the house," said Gibson, also the mayor of Henderson. "This is probably the toughest venue when you're opening something new."

Monorail officials had at first been working toward an opening on or around March 1 before aiming to open before the end of this month. Gibson said a floating opening date can be expected when building a high-tech rapid transit system from scratch.

"We're confident that we've made a lot of progress," Gibson said of the four-mile line that will run from Sahara Avenue south to Tropicana Avenue just east of the Strip. It will be Las Vegas' first rapid transit line.

The lack of a firm opening date doesn't concern the Regional Transportation Commission, which has been monitoring progress on the independently run monorail system.

"This is a first-of-its-kind project, We would certainly want to see it opened when the system is ready, rather than trying to push a deadline," said spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman.

Current testing involves what Gibson calls "stressing" the system. That includes everything from adjusting doors, gauging ride quality and fine-tuning suspension systems to buying 1,000 monorail tickets electronically via credit cards.

And most tweaks that result require modifications of the computer system that guides the driverless trains.

"When you get into testing that kind of a system, your hope and expectation is that you'll discover any weakness or any work that needs to be done, and not discover it after you open," said Gibson.

The highest-profile glitch to date has been a Jan. 5 accident in which a drive shaft fell from one of the monorail cars. No one was hurt, but the accident shut down testing for three days. Nonetheless, Gibson said "there are no show-stoppers" that imperil the project.

"There are some who would be discouraged because we've found issues," Gibson said. "The way we look at it, we're excited that the testing is going well enough where we're finding these things."

Gibson expects trains to run up to 20 hours a day in the immediate future. "We'll actually be running it around the clock within the next month or so," he said.

Gibson said that testing is helping drive expectations, since the tests are within view of scores of passers-by. "We've had people say, `I know it's open, but how do you get on it?' That's because they see it passing all the time," he said.

On the funding front, Gibson is confident the system will meet its goal to pay for itself. The monorail expects up to 20 million riders in its first year of operation, with around 15 million needed to break even on project costs.

"Anytime you do anything in Las Vegas that's new, it's a crapshoot," Gibson said. "We're expecting we're going to meet that ridership."

Gibson said he expects to nearly sell out advertising sponsorships of train cars, and he noted that two station sponsorships have been sold to date.

Officials still hope to break ground on a $450 million northward extension before the end of this year, with completion expected in 2007. It will take longer to extend the line south to McCarran International Airport.

"We're looking at a four- or five-year horizon (to start work). It might be a little longer than that," Gibson said. "There's a lot of demand for an extension to the airport, but there's a lot of issues, too" regarding right-of-way and planning, among other things.

Once the monorail begins operations, fares are expected to be $3 for one-way trips, $5.50 for round-trips and $10 for all-day passes. Operating hours probably will be 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., though at first hours may be closer to 8 a.m. to midnight.