c'mon ride the train.

Looks like the monorail is starting to do better. From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

LAS VEGAS MONORAIL: Ridership increases; June averages 23,790 per day

By OMAR SOFRADZIJA

More people were riding the Las Vegas Monorail last month than in any time since late 2005, but turnstiles still weren't spinning fast enough for the struggling rapid transit line to pay for itself.

In June, the monorail carried an average of 23,790 riders per day, the highest average since 25,788 people took the monorail each day in November 2005, according to statistics released Friday.

But at the current average of $3.77 in fares collected per passenger, the monorail would need a daily average of 32,625 riders to generate $123,000 in revenue needed to balance the monorail's books, according to an estimate made in 2006 by Fitch Ratings, a New York City-based credit ratings firm. Read more.

I've only taken the monorail twice in my trips to Vegas. It's not for lack of convenience or too high a price that I don't take it more often. It's great if you are trying to, as I was, get to Mandalay Bay in (relatively) quick fashion*. But most Vegas vacationers are more apt to stroll up and down the Strip, dropping in and out of all the casinos.

The monorail is great if you are trying to get from Point A to Point B, but that's not the nature of Vegas travelers, now is it? Having said that, the monorail could become a big money-maker if it connects to McKerran International Airport. That concept has been floated a time or two, but I wonder if that would help.


*—When I say "quick fashion" to get from Harrah's to Mandalay Bay via monorail, you need to consider what it takes:
* Take monorail from Harrah's to MGM Grand
* Exit monorail, make way out to Excalibur (not that easy, really)
* Take tram from Excalibur to Luxor
* Take ANOTHER tram from Luxor to Mandalay Bay

Quick? Hardly. Faster than walking? I suppose. But perhaps a cab would be quicker & cheaper next time.