McCarran breaks all-time record for taxi cabs loaded

McCarran International Airport on Wednesday set an all-time high for taxi cabs loaded, driven primarily by strong attendance at this year's International Consumer Electronics Show.

In all, 14,495 taxis were loaded at the airport's Terminal 1 and 2 on Wednesday. That was about 4 percent greater than McCarran's prior high of 13,927 cabs loaded in a 24-hour period set Jan. 4, 2006, a day that also coincided with CES in Las Vegas.

Approximately 724 taxis were loaded, on average, each hour during McCarran's 20-hour operational period Wednesday. (Only 12 taxis were loaded between 2 and 6 a.m., when airline activity lulls.)

Between 10 and 11 p.m., the number peaked at 929 cabs loaded, as measured by a radio-based automated vehicle identification system used to track taxis, limousines and other commercial vehicles at the airport.

Wednesday's taxi total would have been greater had an estimated 800 travelers not been shifted toward approximately 50 shuttle buses.