Las Vegas has long been one of the top tourism destinations in the world, and ranks among the top three visited destinations in the United States. In 2014, the city saw record visitation with over 41 million visitors – over 5.1 million of them traveling here for meetings and conventions. While Las Vegas is synonymous with many things in peoples’ minds, ‘green’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ usually aren’t included. The Las Vegas Monorail is working to change that.
The private, not-for-profit Las Vegas Monorail system plays an integral part in carrying millions of visitors throughout the resort corridor every day. The system is the only mass transportation mode in Las Vegas that actually adds capacity to our transportation network, as it is an elevated train system that doesn’t require use of our already congested streets to carry passengers.
In 2014 alone, the Monorail carried nearly 4.5 million riders, reduced vehicle miles from Southern Nevada’s major roadways by over 2 million miles, and reduced emissions by more than 26.5 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Since the system opened in July 2004, the nine fully electric, zero emissions Monorail trains have collectively traveled nearly 5.6 million miles on the 3.9-mile route. The trains have carried over 65 million passengers during this time.
This equates to significant reductions in vehicle miles and emissions for our Southern Nevada community. In fact, the Las Vegas Monorail is responsible for eliminating over 23 million vehicle miles on our roadways. This is equivalent to 48 round trips between Earth and the moon.
The system also has helped our valley maintain air quality standards. Since opening, the Las Vegas Monorail has been responsible for keeping over 375 tons of CO, VOC and NOx from being emitted as a result of its operation. This is just less than the equivalent weight of two Boeing 747 aircrafts (unloaded).
While the Las Vegas Monorail is very proud of the contribution the system makes to improving mobility and air quality, in order to effectively provide those benefits we must continually and consistently market to our broad visitor base. According to LVCVA research, one of the top concerns of leisure visitors is that it is ‘too hard to get around.’ Likewise, one of the top concerns of large convention organizers is ‘transportation and access.’
The Monorail helps to address both of these issues. We partner with organizations such as Rock in Rio USA, UFC and Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon, and many large conventions such as CES, SEMA, NAB, ConExpo and others with ticket promotions and marketing messaging to increase usage of the system and therefore maximize mobility and air quality benefits.
During a busy citywide convention, the system will carry as many as 70,000 riders – essentially eliminating tens of thousands of additional vehicle trips from taxis, rental cars, per capita vehicles and shuttles and coaches.
We also provide a significantly discounted rate for locals to take advantage of the system with $1 local tickets for Las Vegas residents who want to use the system while they’re in the Resort Corridor for work or leisure. While it is primarily a system used by visitors to Las Vegas, every resident benefits from its existence through reduced emissions, reduced vehicles on the roads and operations that are fully funded by fares and advertising and not by any tax dollars.
Las Vegas built its success by delivering convenience, value and excitement, and the Las Vegas Monorail plays a significant role in meeting these expectations. It carries millions of riders on just 3.9 miles of system and greatly improves mobility in one of the most congested corridors in the world, and it does so at no cost to the community it serves.