Since a lot of people are commenting, the monorail presents a lot of issues. It mostly travels behind casinos on one side of the strip, making access very difficult. It also runs a bad service at a pretty high fare. Vegas ideally would have more speed capacity and connectivity!
If it were me, I would take the Teslas in a sewer tunnel and turn it into a Heathrow Pod type system and then expand that out to the destinations you list in your video.
@@fredashay Although the Heathrow Pod system is better than the Teslas because it is fully automated, it still lacks the capacity and therefore economies of scale of a train.
A note on the Monorail. It is a similar system as the Disneyworld Monorail which transports about 150K people a day easily. If they would have built the Monorail to the Airport, it could have saved so much time when arriving in Las Vegas. The system could have been improved over time to have a second line on the other side or center Strip. Yes, a Monorail is not perfect, but better then nothing. However, this will never happen in Vegas as money talks and not convenience.
I was curious why the Monorail didn't go to the airport despite being so close. Of course it was lobbying, but I don't think it means they shouldn't extend it nowadays.
@@zo62 it's 7 dollars per entry unless I'm going the whole line I'd rather walk. And most stations it's at the back of the hotels I dont want to go through the whole casino edit:(someone said its 13.45 for a day pass)
As a civil engineer born and raised in Vegas why do you think it didn't happen yet? What would it take to change that? I'm a transplant been here for 4 yrs and this city depresses me.
@@gabrieldilaurentis2902 Lobbying from taxi companies, entrenched car dependent infrastructure, and a desire from casinos to make it harder to travel so that it incentives prospective gamblers to stay put in the casino are my main guesses.
Much as I deride it, the Dubai Metro is a perfect model for Las Vegas since it runs along a hyper highway (Sheikh Zayed road) and all its stops tend to be specific attractions. It even has a "gold class" car. The real problem there is that you can't go anywhere actually residential easily. But they could easily fix that with shutles at each stop.
Express buses are desperately needed. Trying to use the buses for anything but short trips just doesn't work time wise. That is from the perspective of residents trying to get around the city and not just a small core area. For example a drive for me to work during rush hour is 30 minutes. That same trip by bus is 2 1/2 hours. Miss a transfer and now it is over 3 hours. Funny enough express shuttle buses are ran to the stadium and work great. The same idea needs to be out in place between key nodes all over the city.
@@nscalefan7739 yeah I personally ride the DVX one of two express buses in town. Yet it and the CX have some of the lowest ridership in the system. I doubt they will build more of those.
Indeed, Las Vegas is a city where a good bus system isn't good enough. I think Las Vegas is large enough and dense enough to support an above ground tram and a below ground metro at the same time. I do think they should be made to fit the general look of the city and should be extremely flashy and even garish. I think your argument over weird tram cars is true 99% of the time however Las Vegas is that 1% that's an exception. The trams should serve as advertisement for the casino's and each major casino should have their own design. For maintenance purposes they should be all the same mechanically but with different shells and they should be allowed to really go crazy with the shells they put on. That each casino's tram car is instantly recognizable.
9:35 I actually really like that idea, it would be a very Vegas-y thing to do. The station outside New York-New York could look like a typical green-painted station you'd see in Brooklyn.
Much less with the low black light fixtures that line the whole platform with the early 20th century style tile work on the station walls (including station name).
I've watched City Nerd's videos on Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and it seems that convincing the residents and businesses that a good functioning metro system is preferable to the stroad filled landscape currently there would be as big a hurdle as actually getting it built.
Comes down to funding. RTC doesn't have a lot of money. The locals would still have a crappy bus local system ( made worse by diverted funds) . But tourists would have well everything else. You can see that in all the casino funded transit projects. Of course don't forget the taxi mafia who control access to the airport.
Vegas grew rapidly in the last few decades (the valley had a lot of room for growth). That was the best time to invest in rapid transit, but there was no desire for it since it was always a car based town.
As a current resident, It always bugged me that they built out so many roads and neighborhoods with ZERO consideration for public or mass transit. In DTLV there is actually some pretty nice bus lanes, but since the Strip isn't technically in Las Vegas, they don't get any of that.
@@bodybait PHX has been building light rail, and light rail extensions for a while now. The RTC has been building Express and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) around town (An alternative to steel tires)
A Las Vegas Metro would be one of the busiest metros in the US (especially a line that runs through Downtown, The Strip, Airport, and Brightline Station which that line alone would be the busiest on the West Coast).
The original plan for the Las Vegas Monorail was to go "down the strip" much like you propose, along with connecting to the airport. As others have commented, the taxi/limo drivers fought against the airport extension, while the casinos themselves fought against the line being built on the strip, as it would "obstruct the scenic view of the strip". Thus we end up with the current monorail service that connects some hotels (who each payed for a station behind their hotel, and thus other hotels in between are not connected directly), and the only major non-casino "destination" is the Convention Center. The private operator (thus far Clark County/City of Las Vegas has not had a stake in its operation) has plans to build the extensions exactly as you're proposing, continuing North to Downtown/Fremont Street, South towards Brightline, East to UNLV/Airport, and a second main line running up the back of the West side, thus serving those casinos, but doesn't have the finances to do the construction (as a private entity, it is expected to operate at a profit, which it struggles to do). The ideal solution would be for the County/City to take ownership of the monorail, allowing the private operator to continue operating on their behalf, and build all of the extensions, making the system more usable. The city could then use the permitting process to require that all casinos as they're renovated be connected to one of the existing stations. They might still be behind the strip, but at least people can get where they're going a lot quicker.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA) just purchased the monorail a few years back and they are a part of the county government. I agree if they could get something together that all the properties and public could benefit from would be great for Las Vegas.
@@jonw999999 It hasn't. goto the meetings that crop up. The casinos also don't want people leaving their compound and possibly spending money in somebody else's casino compound.
A problem with a metro is that it will always favor some establishments over others just by proximity to stations. That will lead to a lot of conflict and bribery from the hotels and casino's who are trying to influence the metro in their favor and against the favor of their biggest competitors. This is always a big problem when you're trying to add a brand new metro to an established city, you get constant conflict where it should and shouldn't go.
I live in Las Vegas, and I loved this! It’s one of the few things I absolutely hate about this city-lack of walkability and transit. It would be easy to convert some of our extremely wide roads into bus lanes and possibly even for train tracks. The only thing is that I know Lyft/Uber are big lobbyists to the county (since the strip isn’t actually in the city proper) and I think some hotels too because they want people’s paid parking money. However, there are more and more people moving here that want this kind of stuff so I’m hoping this can actually happen!
This plan would be so beneficial for Vegas. Getting a ride share after an event at Allegiant Stadium is a nightmare. The biggest obstacle would it would have to work with new F1 race track down the strip. Like you said, A/C stations and safety doors would be a must in Vegas.
Given the shots of Vancouver, we need a Skytrain esque system that goes to all the major points, like downtown, the Strip, the airport, and Henderson. The monorail can be a peoplemover feeding to the system
As a Las Vegas local, this is definitely something I would be excited for. traffic is getting worse and worse despite the city spending millions on widening the highway (and already plan on widening it even more by the downtown area). If Casinos can be convinced to get behind the idea, then it might be possible, though the airport connection will be harder without stronger political capital due to the Taxi lobby. Some people are also convinced the hyperloop is going to be better (It's not). I just hope we will be able to propose and implement these changes sooner rather than later.
I was in Macau recently and was shocked at how low the ridership of the Macau LRT was, Vegas could definitely look at Macau as an interesting case study and avoid making some of the same mistakes. The Macau LTR provides a convenient link from the airport/ferry terminal to all of the main casinos but it doesn't compete on price as the big casinos all have free buses. The LTR is likely to become a more attractive option to tourists when it links the casinos on Cotai to some of the tourist destinations on the Macau peninsula.
I would IMAGINE a lot of the Vegas Casino's would come up with "free" shuttle busses like Macau has as the Casinos DO NOT want tourists on a public transit system that CAN take them to a different casino I am surprised there is almost NO "free" shuttlebus from the casinos like Macau and "assumed" there was the time I flew to Vegas there was a bus taking us to our hotel but that was a convention / training thing NOT "vacation"
I think we should have light rail to the casino's but have the casino's themselves own the trains. Also give them a lot of freedom to customize their appearance to make them essentially advertisement vehicles and part of the attraction itself. I'm thinking something similar to a joyride train like you have in children's theme parks but on a larger scale. But there should also be an overarching city organization that builds and maintains the infrastructure. Making sure to give each one a chance. It would also give power to the city government to punish any casino's that break the rules. Though creating an organization that can be above the interests of the powerful casino's will be no easy feat, I think the state government of Nevada itself needs to step in and lay down the law. This would not be an unprecedented thing as this already works this way with the highways where the state builds them but the counties maintain them. I think they should treat a Las Vegas LRT the same way with the state of Nevada building it and Las Vegas maintaining it. I think Las Vegas is important enough for Nevada to justify building a city transit system with state funds.
@@jasonriddell The problem is that Macau is very independent so those casino's are the most powerful entity in the city, the city government does not have the authority to overrule them. With Las Vegas I think you could have the state government of Nevada itself step in and build the LRT system themselves.
I love las vegas and the only thing it is missing a great public transit option. The downtown-strip-airport corridor is one of the biggest no brainer investments for the city. I am baffled as to why this hasn't happened yet. Casinos on the edge of the strip would get a massive boost as well as both center-strip and downtown casinos who's visitors tend not to visit the other because of the distance. I love how they can build a 3 billion dollar LED sphere and a 50 story screen but haven't dared to build an automated light metro.
Uniquely for Vegas, there's a good opportunity to make the metro a tourist attraction in its own right. Make it a super advanced (fully driverless) super stylish elevated system integrated directly with the casinos with covered bridges and I'm sure tourists will flock to ride it, even if they don't need to go anywhere else.
The thing about Vegas is the casinos want to do everything in their power to keep you, the tourist, in that particular casino. This is why they fought to prevent the Las Vegas Monorail from being built on the strip and forced it to take the back route on the east side of the Strip. If it hurts their employees, so be it, according to them.
I went to Vegas in 2021 and was surprised how little the monorail covered, I ended up walking from Downtown to the Strip.....about 8 miles or something, I don't remember the exact distance but it was crazy.
The monorail extension that for years was “going to the airport” is now going the other way to the NFL stadium since it’s cheaper than digging the tunnels they’d need to get to the airport. One thing to note that makes Vegas slightly complicated. The CITY of Las Vegas ends at Sahara Avenue (the north end of the longest monorail.) The Strip is in unincorporated towns (Winchester and Paradise) that are run by Clark County. The only major casino on the Strip that is in the city is The Strat (nee The Stratosphere) (the one with the huge observation tower). I think RTC Transit is run by the county, but they only run the busses, the Monorails are run by the casinos they connect to.
I think a problem with Las Vegas is that it's dominated by a handful of powerful casino's which always fight against each other. One of the biggest problems public transit often faces is when you get powerful corporations that are trying to gain the benefits from it and deny it to their competitors. That's why you need a powerful government institution that's above it. I think in the case of Las Vegas the federal government itself might have to step in and build the system themselves. Transit is indeed funded by the county which is a big part why trams are so rare in the US since very few counties have the funds for something like that. In Germany the states run a lot of the transit so it's much easier to build a transit system. The funny thing is that this system of transit in Germany is actually based on the system the US uses to build highways.
I’m really curious if you’re going to ever talk about the transit of literally the most visited city in the world - Bangkok. I feel like the city’s transit system is one of the least talked about ever.
@Zaydan Alfariz I know. I just kind of expected him to criticize the city’s transit system anyways. I don’t really care tbh if he makes the city’s transit system look good or bad. I wanted just one video specifically talking about Bangkok considering that many Asian cities’ metro systems already have a specifically tailored videos for each of them like Singapore.
@Zaydan Alfariz tbh, I feel like all Southeast Asian cities’ transit systems really deserve their own video. Getting them mentioned for a brief period doesn’t feel the same as having an entire video dedicated to them does it?
I wish something like that existed here. I love the idea of the lines in and around the strip and connecting the airport, but I'm an even bigger fan of the idea of having lines that spread out into the suburbs. Vegas is a very sprawly city and everything is so spread out, so if there were rapid transit through the suburbs and to the strip and downtown area, things would feel closer together. I'd love it if there were busses here (Toronto-style, like you said) that connected local areas to stations, and I'd often use it. Also, here in vegas, whenever someone travels somewhere, they always need someone to drop them off at the airport by car. If this system existed, you could take the local bus to the station, take the metro into downtown or the strip and take the other line to the airport. Overall, great video
Sometimes in my spare time, I like to imagine what some cities might look like with a metro, and Las Vegas was one of the cities that I also thought could really benefit from a metro. Initially, my plan was to make it underground through the strip, but elevated could work too. Although I do have an interesting idea if it was underground. Going back to when you were talking about how the stations don’t have to look bland and can match the styles of the various casinos, an idea I had for both the New York, New York casino, and the Paris casino was that the entrances of those stations could be modeled after the entrances to the Paris Metro and the NYC Subway, both of which have iconic entrances
I've been obsessed with drawing track maps recently and this is such an interesting idea. I might honestly try drawing one up of this proposed Las Vegas system based on these ideas if that's alright with you RM.
Awesome new series! Hopefully future transit like this isn't put off for too long in Vegas, although they might still have tunnel vision (I had to lol)
If you look at the diameters of those car tunnels in Las Vegas, they are actually somewhere between London's deep level tube tunnels and Elizabeth line Line / Thameslink in terms of size, so you could easily fit trains in them.
If I recall, London's deep-level Underground lines were built between the 1860s to the mid-1900s. Because they were built with the standards of those times in mind, they would not hold up well due to regulations regarding the need for passengers to evacuate the tunnel in emergencies.
@@randomscb-40charger78 If you have a nice smooth walking surface between rails you can have easy and safe end evacuation from front and rear of trains (once power isolated). This can apply to narrow tunnel systems like London and elevated alignments. London's tube has the handicap of a 4-rail electrification system with a centre conductor between running rails, so while this method IS used in legacy tunnels, it represents a major tripping hazard to evacuees and rescuers. A similarly sized miniature tube system, the Glasgow Subway in Scotland, has a third rail to one side only for power and uses end evacuation. New trains being delivered there, manufactured by Stadler, are intended to be fully autonomous eventually, and have big, wide swinging doors and folding ramps at the ends.
@@LunaDragofelis Yes that's a good idea. I think London considered this for some line modernisation projects in the past but it has never been followed through. Most deep tube lines have surface sections at their extremities, in many cases forming a high proportion of the total length, so an overhead system would be fairly expensive on these, once out of the central tunnels. Only the Victoria and Waterloo & City Lines are entirely Underground (including the depot in the case of the W&C). Another approach is to have a moderately sized battery onboard so lighting and HVAC can stay on for a long time in the event of a neccessary emergency power rail isolation. With sufficient battery capacity, such a train might also be able to get to at least the next station to disembark passengers.
@@LunaDragofelis Unlikely. Though overhead wires are preferable over 3rd rail, they demand a larger structure gauge compared to 3rd rail and it's this reason why e.g. Berlin and Hamburg keep their 3rd rail S-Bahn (the trains are barely fitting into the tunnel) when the rest were build with overhead wires. Edit: Though I also realised the wires could be low voltage powered which would mean smaller isolations. Nonetheless, wires and pantograph still take up quite a bit of space compared to 3rd rail and one may not have enough to stand upright in such a small train.
The daft thing about the monorail is it goes close to the airport at its terminus, MGM Grand, but doesn't reach it (around 2 miles short). It also has some long stretches between stations in places, and doesn't reach the downtown area (again around 2 miles short) so it basically only connects a select group of casino resorts and the convention centre to each other. I wonder if the support structure might be convertible to an elevated minimetro, so the route might be taken over, improved and extended.
@@RMTransit The MGM station and at least the Sahara Station do have street access (been a while since I was there), and it’s not too long a walk to the strip from them. But there are a few that ONLY exit through casinos unless it’s an emergency exit. Actually the Convention Center and Westgate (used to be the Intercontinental Hotel) the monorail stops near the front door.
The downtown extension was cancelled because it’s a long way to the next touristy spot, so even if they did put in a station in between, it wouldn’t be used much, so the economics didn’t make sense. The airport extension got killed by taxi operators since it would cut into the number of people using taxis to get out of the airport. Last I heard that extension is now going to the Raiders stadium instead, and perhaps an infill station for that MSG Sphere.
Airport and downtown expansion would have made the monorail useful. Tourists go to see Circa and the Fremont Experience. A stop at the Stratosphere would have been convenient for those stay at that hotel.
Not sure if someone mentioned it, but in Macau, the Las Vegas of the east, one form of de-facto public transport is the free shuttle bus operated by all the casinos. They connect major points of entry to the individual casinos' door step, because of that, people can go from point A - casino - point B or casino 1 - port - casino 2 for free.
Macau now has a people's mover system which has been criticized for serving the casinos rather than the residential areas better (the latter is mainly skirted around by the system). To be fair though, another alignment that cut straight thru the residential areas was opposed for causing an eyesore (since the roads there are mostly narrow & 1-way, so the columns/piers needed for the elevated people's mover would end up in the middle of the road, & there're tall buildings built with little setback from the road. There's a Taiwanese/ROC YT channel 鐵道事務所 that talked about this in more detail). In hindsight maybe trams with traffic priority could've been more effective
Maybe a LIM Metro with Glasgow subway sized trains with a lower floor & more space for passengers due to the lack of traction motors could be interesting for the Tesla tunnels
I am literally in Las Vegas right now and just rode the monorail. It summarizes everything wrong about transit - stations located in inconvenient places ( I had to walk 10 minutes from Caesar’s Palace at street level to get to the station and 10 more minutes to get to the MGM Grand from the station I got off at. Frequency was at a dismal 9 mins. And the trains moved very slowly along some stretches. Looking at how the Las Vegas strip alone is busy even during off peak - the city is in need of good transit
And even with all that I'd imagine it'd get some decent ridership if it had actually been built to connect to the airport. But the taxi companies stopped that, of course.
@@GustavSvard you hit the nail right on the head. And I am pretty sure the hotels along the strip didn’t want an elevated guideway running down the strip either.
If you ask me, It's embarrassing that a RUclipsr from Canada (No offense) has a better understanding on how to improve an area that is thousands of miles away from them then the local Clark County/Las Vegas officials. These city officials live here year round and are absolutely clueless yet you're in a different country and in 13 minutes you just provided a solution to one of Las Vegas' biggest problems. Seriously, Vegas politicians are a joke lol
live in Las Vegas. Elevated is a no go due to the casinos not wanting it. It is the reason the monorail was built on the backside instead of the down the Strip. Fully underground in the strip is the only way that would get support. Your core plan makes sense. It would do little to serve the workers as they wouldn't live nor could afford to live along the line. Future lines this central truck would cover that.
Having the signs in multiple languages is a must. I cannot tell you how many times I've been to Vegas and seen foreign people (particularly Hispanic people) asking me for directions in Spanish. I always have to use the little Spanish I comprehend to tell them, "Lo siento yo no fluido en español"
Amazing! I can only hope the local government and people living there get behind this. It's a no brainer. Great channel. As an aside, I thought I "found" your channel myself, but not that you mention it, City Nerd has been a favorite for a few years now, so I'll just say that it would be great to see your channels collaborating more, as your content is excellent.
I'm excited to see the Las Vegas Loop built out. Vegas had an opportunity to build a metro system under the Strip a few years back. They did a study and they finished without doing anything. The cost was going to be "Billions". The LVCC Loop has been open (technically) a couple of years, and it has handled the traffic of CES admirably. It isn't a completely finished product, because the cars aren't yet automated, but the
Be careful here, you'll get pitched forked Denver isn't far in terms of population & density, unlike Las Vegas it has extensive light rails opened in 1994, but that still did NOT prevent most of the Denver population right now (decades later) from driving CARS Maybe, just maybe, copy pasted Tokyo/European rails (because "Train good") onto most US cities and expecting it will change things just wasn't realistic? I know, hot take
Would love to see a video on Cincinnati, I think we have a good backbone of a city and you could even mention the plans for the planned subway that was never finished and how you would improve/change it today. Sadly we are a smaller city, but I think there's a big appetite for public transportation here and it could totally transform the city for the better
The Highway lobby forced I-75 on the some of the subway right of way and bisected the west end. Even today a transit terminal and parking garage could be built by Hopple Street to take trains in the existing tube to downtown. The unused downtown transit center could be the terminus there. A parking tax could be implemented to help pay for some of this as cars destroyed the city, let those who use them pay for the damage and pollution they cause. Once the above is up and running a spur could be constructed to Union Terminal. Commuter Rail should of been started there years ago.
I would like to see it done completely as a subway. Go west from the airport terminals go North at Las Vegas bvld, stopping for the casinos. Walkways could be built to go to the east casinos, and west casinos on the other side of the street. You could build entrances into the casinos, which could save walking time from the streets into the casinos. You dont have to build it by cut and cover, use boring machines to keep LV open with less interuptions.
Love this series idea! Would love to hear you do this for another tourist hub, Nashville, TN. We are in desperate need of working public transit for locals and tourists alike.
Great video, you should consider doing one about Philadelphia's Roosevelt Boulevard extension. The community is trying to push for it to be built, but the transit agency says they can't afford it.
You can imagine literally cutting and pasting the core part of the Dubai metro on to the strip and it would work. Imagine the naming rights to stations etc. plus if you took out a lane or two on each side, it would drastically leave more sidewalk space that can be monetized (New York New York and the Linq does this to some extent). A reliable transit separate from traffic congestion would also make people stay longer at their hotels and you can imagine some hotels offering check through service (like the Hong Kong MTR) all the way to your final destination as an ultra luxury convenience. ($50 to not have to worry about my stuff, just call the downstairs desk and I’m reunited with my check in at the carousel in Chicago/Dallas/Miami, etc.) would be an absolute game changer.
The bus terminals you were talking about already exist. There is the Bonneville Transit Station in downtown Vegas at S. Casino Center blvd. and Bonneville st. There's another one south of The Strip, aptly named The South Strip transit station on Sunset rd. And Gillespie st. It's right across Sunset from the airport. About the only thing I'd change about your plan is making the metro at-grade on the Strip. Oh, and close it to cars.
i live in vegas and i used to work downtown near fremont, my bus ride took about an hour and a half. Vegas is largely a grid system and it's PERFECT for busses. i just wish our busses ran more often, more routes, and most importantly, more consistently. But a big reason on why they don't is because bus drivers aren't being fairly paid. but yeah, i guess the city needs to spend money on more important things, like a novelty tunnel that just goes around the convention center and is a huge fire hazard.
This is a cool series concept! Could you consider covering Nashville, TN? They have a single commuter rail line and some aBRT lines, but no true rapid transit.
100%. We can start with lines to Titans, Predators, NSC, Vanderbilt, Belmont, Ten State, Lipscomb and the Airport. Then suburban lines to Antioch, Smyrna and Franklin. Sick of driving I-24 and I-65. Congestion is insane and gets worse every day.
It's wild really. And must be solely from lobbies like taxi companies. By having transit from the airport onto a single rapid transit corridor down Las Vegas Blvd up to Fremont, the recreational opportunities for visitors would be crazy. It's sad because the quality of experience that would provided by being able to quickly move between Fremont, and any of the major strip destinations via rapid transit and just going around on foot would massively better than needing to drive or take taxis through and around a congested arterial. Elevated metro along the entire strip all the way to downtown, with additional lines to key destinations. Pave over the entirety of the strip and ban cars. Give portions of the areas to the resorts and casinos specifically as areas for pedestrians and outdoor attractions. Would truly elevate the Vegas experience at night. Big windows on the metro to view the strip, ads and lights on the outside, make it an attraction in and of itself.
The thing to realize about Vegas is that the valley is 2 million people, and the rest of the state is nearly vacant. The proposed areas in this video are technically outside of Vegas proper and in Clark County. This means infrastructure investments come out of either county or state funds; which requires state legislature approval, which never happens because of over representation of rural counties.
Vegas only seems bigger because it gets 40 million visitors annually. Which means it needs infrastructure for that many people, supported by a relatively smaller local population.
I noticed you used a lot of footage from Bangkok, and I love it! Bangkok is especially a good example here because it was built around the automobile, much like American cities, is a massive tourist destination, and is presently rapidly expanding its existing transit network
The monorail was originally going to run down the center of the Strip. It would have been one of the wonders of the modern world. But the taxi companies (there are more taxis in Las Vegas than in all of Manhattan) used their influence to make sure it didn't, and made sure it didn't connect to the airport. When ridesharing was first starting up in Vegas, the taxi companies were posing as riders and tipping off the taxi authority. Then the driver would get pulled over, and their car impounded. The taxi companies were using the taxi authority as their muscle to kill the competition. Screw the taxi companies.
I think my favorite form of mass transit - suspended rail - could work well here. Being suspended means the actual "track" takes up less space so it wouldn't block as much of the view for people outside, and could allow for a better view from inside the vehicle as well. It being a rather unique form a transit also helps with the tourist appeal for the area. Though I expect the more likely situation is for the existing monorail service to be expanded instead of adding a new service with non-interchangeable vehicles.
I think the ideal city for a series like this is Tel Aviv. The metro area (of similar size to cities with a similar population) houses 4 million people, plus almost 4 million tourists before COVID. Yet, it's by far the largest city in a wealthy country outside of North America that doesn't have any kind of rapid transit. Three LRT lines are under construction, with one almost done, but it will only cover a small part of the city, and expected to be over-capacity on day one.
Like many people here I would prefer to see the US connected with rapid transit, but I would also like to see people talk more about local issues and why it hasn't been adopted in those cities. I hate seeing people not living in these cities assume they know what's best for them, because rapid transit is a cure-all in their minds. In my view, there's little consideration for why rapid transit might not actually be what's best for the people who live there. And why some other options like rapid bus transit or metro/light rails are in fact the better choice.
One concern: That Formula 1 race. From a hype perspective, it's the biggest event coming to Vegas in years, and from my understanding, the Strip will form part of the circuit. I think the city would have to choose between the race and a massive construction project on the Strip... and I think we all know what Vegas would be inclined to choose.
I was just thinking that, that’s why elevated rail may not be the best idea on that part of the strip. It should like dive down around where like the Wynn is and then come back up to the mgm
Is that meant to be a regular thing or a one-off? Because even if they started serious work on this proposal today, they probably wouldn't have shovels in the ground until well after the race date I'm seeing in google
Las Vegas metro trains needs use transparent LCD screens for platform screen doors and train doors/windows to jazz things up for tourist. I usually don't advertising on transit, but Vegas make sense for them. Have life size videos of a celerity headliners welcome tourist onto the trains at the airport and say farewell as they depart. Display shows and amenities as the train nears a casino.
i think the strip section should be cut and cover. while i understand that there is the space, las vegas does rely on its image. the ability to see the towers fairly unobstructed is probably going to be important to it’s businesses and residents. there is space for cut and cover in the road, and wouldn’t be too much more expensive than elevated compared to deep bore.
@@RMTransit i suppose but i do think the case for cut and cover is still strong. elevated, and especially stacked evelated, would have some visual impact on the corridor which in the case of vagus is genuinely an issue. it’s not just a cookie cutter suburb, the nighttime view down the strip is culturally significant. i suppose it is a matter of subjective opinion. i personally think maintaining the way that URBAN (not suburban) areas look is important more so than the average transit advocate
@@JacobOhlssonBudinger Cut and cover is an even better option when you consider that the strip is due for major repair work in a lot of areas, could take this opportunity to develop it into a less car centric place while adding the metro tracks underneath.
A cool looking retro-futuristic elevated metro (made mostly of glass) with fabulously flamboyantly themed stations and garish lighting all the way would elegantly and seamlessly integrate into the look of the strip. That is as close to a straight fact as you get in architecture. Bonus: When looking down the strip it would somewhat distract from the other straight fact that you are looking at a congested stroad.
@@geirmyrvagnes8718 i’d argue that the strip is awe inspiring for its wide open nature that gives full visibility of the lights on all the hotels. the allure is ruined when you put a continuous elevated structure over the top, along its length, especially from the ground which is the most important view. elevated metro encloses the space which goes against that idea. the way the built environment behaves is more complex than just looking at what the architectural styles are. cut and cover with modern surface entrances and some street remodelling (for example making more of it vegetation and sidewalks) is the best outcome
Personally I think you glance over the fact that an elevated railway on the strip would be IMPOSSIBLE. Given that you need the support from all the major casinos in the area, especially if you want direct connections into the casinos from the stations. Things like exterior sponsorship deals that casinos have with companies would need to be respected, and casinos in general would never go for something that blocks the view of much of their buildings from the passenger window of a car. All this would most definitly contribute to eternal delays; fixing every contract and getting all the massive companies on board for something they clearly have not desired until now would be tough. For me, a system that is underground during that section would make the most sense. Shorter trains running more frequently (sub 1-2 minutes) with small stations makes more sense to me. In adition, maybe letting the casinos own the land the stations are in, and put slot machines in their respective station, with the city taking a percentage of those specific machines to fund the system may make it possible for it to be free.
I agree totally. Build a connection to the existing monorail to the airport. It can move hundreds of people per hour back and forth. Close off the las vegas blvd to cars and build a people mover from the Luxor to downtown Fremont st.
A transit system that needs a look-through and extra design work is Sacramento, California. There are multiple missing links that need designs for it and it's all LRT for an urban area of 1.7 million people.
The first and major hurdle a city faces when it finally wakes up to the idea of mass transit is that land is used up in the very areas where mass transit should be located. A city needs to set aside lands for future development beyond the widening of streets as more car traffic develops over decades.
I think most of this video is right on. This is a city that has a clear demonstrated need for high capacity transit. It doesn't need a re-imagining of the existing city, it's already pretty well setup to drive transit use as you said. I think free fare isn't necessarily a good idea. Free things can be over-used and abused (see Staten Island Ferry). Also, Las Vegas is a particularly NOT price sensitive market. Provide discounted access to Vegas commuters but people coming from California or Texas or whatever could care less if the metro ticket is 3 or 5 dollars or 15 a day.
I think it’s important to recognize that many of the original streetcar routes were abandoned because they had become slow and unreliable. Simply putting the tracks back wouldn’t address this and in most places I wouldn’t recommend it.
Not that you are specifically referring to Las Vegas but I believe Las Vegas is the only major US city that never had a streetcar system in the late 19th century and early 20th century... due to its young age.
@@Brickinghoops210 I absolutely agree, that's why I'm designing one in my free time! Since you live there, is there a big push to get more public transport or isn't it a big topic at all?
RTC just announced redeveloping Boulder Highway with a BRT line. I remember when N LV BLVD had the MAX BRT like and that ended up defunct in less than 10 years.
Gonna send this awesome video to my mother who knows a lot of people on the Vegas city council and in state government, as well as both of our senators.
Indeed, the Las Vegas Metro can bring about more benefits for many residents working there. Perhaps a shadow operator, maybe like Singapore's SMRT Corporation (via Strides Rail), MTR Corporation of Hong Kong, Transdev of France, Germany's Deutsche Bahn or anybody else can be brought in to work with the Las Vegas Mayor as also the consultant too should there be a need to expand it.
I think it's best to first make a metro and immediately afterwards a tram. Once the metro is in place you should have enough excess capacity for a little while to build the tram as well.
I will add the Las Vegas mayor has no say on what happens on the Strip. The city limit stops at Sahara. You would be dealing with Clark county and influential corporate entities south of that. History the city of Las Vegas has been more interested in light rail along Charleston Blvd of all places.
Great video! It’s been something I’ve always thought of when visiting and always wished they had. I hate how close the airport is and yet my cab is more expensive than else where. It’s interesting to think about how casinos also want to keep folks within their buildings, so connectivity within the strip would be counterintuitive. A one way metro where they can get to the casino versus leaving is probably their ideal 😅. Your considerations for the surrounding areas is something they should look into. The sprawl is pretty chaotic with all of the immigration to the area.
I’m sure I’ve commented this before but could you please do something on the lack of rapid transit in Dublin Ireland? The national transportation authority just released their 20 year vision, which has been derided as lacklustre and ambition-less. A notable feature includes a plan for 8 light rail lines, scheduled to break ground in “after 2042”. My personal favourite is the nerfed Metro tunnel which’ll connect the airport and city centre, 20 years later than originally proposed. Public transport in dublin is actually quite interesting, as policy makers have always understood its necessity - but the urban landscape (80% suburban sprawl) has made double decker busses on snaking routes the only viable option in most instances.
the issue still is the cars will still be on the las vegas strip since the train track in your proposal would be built above and not on the ground. Though I guess once the metro is built, the city can start getting rid of parking spaces, which will naturally lead to fewer cars, and then slowly eliminate lanes. Ideal scenario is to have the metro running above and then have ground level be fully pedestrianized.
LOVE the series idea, and a great episode. One suggestion I have would be to include a section where you say why you think a project like yours hasn't happened so far, because if it's logical enough for you to make a video suggesting the idea, you can bet many people are thinking the same thing, but there's been some kind of local political or funding blockage.
My ideas: This network could be a lot like the Skytrain, with Mark II or III cars. Or, it could use a model similar to the Canada line trains. Or sticking to the gadgetbahn-rich history of Vegas, perhaps a VAL, or ooh! I'm getting unrealistic! Don't stop me now! A hanging monorail! A sideways elevator like the one in that Austrian ski resort! A gondola! A high-speed conveyor belt! An underground canal tunnel system with TVs on the ceilings! Bring on the teleporters! Edit: In all seriousness, I imagine it as a baby Skytrain system, a conventional boring high-capacity metro, like with Alstom Metropolises, or a Haneda-style monorail.
I agree with the metro, but I have a few disagreements about the busses. Firstly, I think bus is not the right method. As you said, vegas is a well-trafficked city with plenty of cash. They can pay a bit extra. Dieisel busses are rather polluting and noisy, so if the city has enough cash to choose the type, they should probably go with electric. I don't really like BEBs, so I think Vegas would do best with trolleybusses. Also, with a little foresight, it's easier to convert to a tram in the future! Secondly, I feel the map is a little incomplete. I'd add a route along NV-159, through downtown, and then out along US-93. Also, I feel it's a little odd the 2 lower bus routes aren't connected. If I'm in SW Vegas and want to get to SE Vegas or the airport, I don't want to have to change twice and go via the metro. I'd have the two lines connect, or at least have both terminate in the same place. The busses can go through NV-171 under the airport. Finally, less of a critique and more of an oversight: Every single vehicle needs neon lights and go-faster stripes. I don't care if it impacts performance, this is Vegas. In needs Vegas theming. Thanks for reading.
I was in Las Vegas a week ago, it is shocking how bad the transit is especially for going from the airport to the strip. It is designed to almost completely avoid the strip save for a very infrequent once an hour CX line that crosses the strip near MGM/NYNY.
The route WAX express bus between the airport and the central Bonneville bus station was withdrawn recently. This leaves only the tortoise-speed route 109 and the CX bus lines from the airport to the bus station which is on the east side of the railroad tracks away from the Strip. There was a proposal to replace route 109 with a Rapid transit link, but because of cost, this was modified to a guided bus lane. That was early last year: nothing seems to have been done yet.
@@cardiffian558 Yeah whats the the deal with the WAX, isnt it supposed to work in tandem with the Deuce? (The Deuce also takes forever to travel the Strip). I waited for the CX at the scheduled time, never arrived, and waited for about 15 mins after its scheduled arrival too and then just ended up taking a super slow 109 to Downtown LV. Meanwhile I saw a few CX buses later in the day off route... WTF, absolutely no heads up about detours as I was waiting at the saddest-looking airport bus stop. Shockingly terrible service, when you are a transit agency in Las Vegas you have one job... Airport to and along the Strip!!! How do the taxis have such a say? All major powerful stakeholders in LV have a single interest... make it as easy as possible for visitors to spend money in the casinos. Why wouldn't it be in their best interest to have really good, really cheap, really easy transport from the airport, versus inefficient taxis, sketchy looking shuttles, do they really think everyone will get around in limos, are they just so focused on cars as the only way to travel and operating their casinos with blinders on? When I was visiting LV it was on an intentionally planned 7 hour layover between flights to squeeze in a mini trip to LV, the airport is literally a stones throw from the Strip, its nuts that there isnt good reliable frequent service to the Strip (yet decent service to the other parallel north-south roads that have practically no destinations on them). End of rant.
@@squirrelmanning7889 Yes, probably your best bet especially as the Luxor is not directly on the CX route. Then again you are commenting on a transit video :) so you might have more patience/tolerance/comfort with transit that it could be worth considering using the CX with the Luxor-Excalibur tram where the Excalibur station is near the CX stop on Tropicana Ave... depends on the bags you have and how well the infrequent CX schedule works with your arrival.
I’ve always though Vegas is the perfect opportunity to make a Montreal-style underground city. There’s already tons of indoor space, and the temperature gets just as bad in the opposite direction. An automated metro makes total sense, maybe even with a comtinuous tunnel in the central section like Chicago, allowing for varied stopping patterns based on whatever events were going on, or the time of dayetc.
I started going to Vegas around mid 2006. I always thought they'd come up with a better way to manage all of the traffic by now. The transit never seems to catch up with the new construction and attractions.
Thank you Reece from Roger Sexton for an absolutely brilliant presentation. You certainly convinced me when you argued that a stacked/elevated line is the best solution. I also agree that Las Vegas is a rare example where free transit would make sense. My only reservation is, how easy will it be to build an elevated line without bringing traffic on 'The Strip' to a standstill? As things stand, how easy is it to divert traffic away from The Strip onto parallel roads?
I completely agree with your routing, but I think a cut-and-cover subway line would be a better alternative, since Las Vegas gets hot in the summer, and the roads are extremely wide (with ample room to work). I also don't understand why Brightline West decided to make a station that is so far from the downtown. The line's I15 route could easily connect to the Cima Subdivision just 12 miles from the downtown without building on developed land. The Cima subdivision is already double/triple-tracked, and is grade separated in the downtown, so freight interference would not necessarily be an issue. Additionally, the land next to the the Clark County Government Building has enough undeveloped space to fit four large train platforms. This could not just serve Brightline West, but also, Amtrak and a few regional rail lines. It's also less than 400 meters from the Flixbus station. Heck, considering how bustling Las Vegas is, they could have a 2nd HSR station by the strip (nothing unusual for a big city), since there's another large unused lot between I15 and the Rio Convention Center, which has enough land for several 400m platforms.
THANK YOU. I'm tired of people dismissing the Strip's traffic, labeling the boring company tunnels as "a good solution" when it's like adding another lane but underground. I would *love* to have an underground transit system like the London Underground for example, but welp, what can you do when America was basically built for cars only. I hope someday it just happens. 😔
Reese, I love your videos and learn so much. In this one though, I can’t believe you didn’t mention the Las Vegas Monorail, which actually moves tens of thousands of people a day. During convention time, which is when I am there , it’s packed. This past week I attended the KBIS/IBIS shows, which alternate between Orlando and Las Vegas every couple of years. I ride the Las Vegas Monorail every time I am there. Though seriously flawed for the reasons you mention in your reply, it is a useful mass transit mode for many. It’s chief problems are its connectivity to the strip and its stopping short of major activity centers. But it runs frequently (5-6 minute headways), is reasonably comfortable and manages speeds of 35-45mph. It is also quite safe, never having had a passenger fatality. Making it work rather than scrapping it and building something entirely new seems like the best place to me to start. Extending the monorail, north to DTLV, southeast to UNLV and the airport, southwest to Brightline, while doubling its capacity by using Bombardier Innovia 300 trains at 8 cars instead of the 4-car trains used now, are serious options to consider consider. Adding an infill station at the new Sphere is also planned and necessary to increase ridership. Getting people from the strip to the stations, which are too far east of the strip for most people, is the real challenge. As you point out and any rider discovers. But a series of east-west moving sidewalks or gondolas or even people -mover style elevated trams at two or three places could make enough connections to make the 15-25 minute walk from hotels like Aria, MGM, and Caesar’s Bundling the monorail fare into the registration of convention goers meant I’d “already paid” for the ticket and used it. So did many of my roughly 125,000 fellow convention-goers. When leaving the convention halls at 5PM, if the monorail had not been there, the crowd would have been unimaginable. LV Monorail website says that during conventions alone, approximately 67,000 passengers ride in 3-4 days. Their annual ridership is 5 million. A single fare is expensive, but a multi-day pass isn’t if you use the monorail 4x per day or more. While I spent approximately $250 on cabs and rideshares during my time there, my company would pay for that and it wasn’t money out of my pocket. But the real scandal there was all the time it took to wait for them and then sit, one passenger in one fossil-fuel powered vehicle, in miles of traffic in or near the Strip. It was sometimes the same amount of time to take a cab from the Aria complex to the Convention Center as walking 20 minutes to the Monorail for the 10-minute ride from the MGM station.
The Monorail is not terrible, but not serving the strip is a huge problem for any system in Vegas. I think a more standardized and larger scale system still makes a ton of sense, even if the monorail is a functional stopgap!
Since a lot of people are commenting, the monorail presents a lot of issues. It mostly travels behind casinos on one side of the strip, making access very difficult. It also runs a bad service at a pretty high fare. Vegas ideally would have more speed capacity and connectivity!
If it were me, I would take the Teslas in a sewer tunnel and turn it into a Heathrow Pod type system and then expand that out to the destinations you list in your video.
@@fredashay Although the Heathrow Pod system is better than the Teslas because it is fully automated, it still lacks the capacity and therefore economies of scale of a train.
deuce?
A note on the Monorail. It is a similar system as the Disneyworld Monorail which transports about 150K people a day easily. If they would have built the Monorail to the Airport, it could have saved so much time when arriving in Las Vegas. The system could have been improved over time to have a second line on the other side or center Strip. Yes, a Monorail is not perfect, but better then nothing. However, this will never happen in Vegas as money talks and not convenience.
monorail and tesla's tunnel are jokes
I remember when Vegas added the monorail. Taxi drivers lobbied to prevent it from accessing the airport, knowing that it would threaten their fares.
Does anyone use that thing
I was curious why the Monorail didn't go to the airport despite being so close. Of course it was lobbying, but I don't think it means they shouldn't extend it nowadays.
Taxis are not friends of efficient public transit. Not even a little.
@@zo62 it's 7 dollars per entry unless I'm going the whole line I'd rather walk. And most stations it's at the back of the hotels I dont want to go through the whole casino edit:(someone said its 13.45 for a day pass)
lol even in Fallout New Vegas the Monorail is connected to an McCarran/Harry Reid airport from the Strip
As a civil engineer, born and raised in Vegas, nothing would make me happier than being able to work on a project like this.
As a civil engineer born and raised in Vegas why do you think it didn't happen yet? What would it take to change that? I'm a transplant been here for 4 yrs and this city depresses me.
@@gabrieldilaurentis2902 Lobbying from taxi companies, entrenched car dependent infrastructure, and a desire from casinos to make it harder to travel so that it incentives prospective gamblers to stay put in the casino are my main guesses.
You’re so right!
Much as I deride it, the Dubai Metro is a perfect model for Las Vegas since it runs along a hyper highway (Sheikh Zayed road) and all its stops tend to be specific attractions. It even has a "gold class" car. The real problem there is that you can't go anywhere actually residential easily. But they could easily fix that with shutles at each stop.
Also excited for this series and I would love to see if you could propose solutions for the impossible problem of transit in Beirut and Lebanon.
Yep that’s a great point that I should’ve brought up!
@Zaydan Alfariz yes and no at the same time. It's hard to explain.
Dubai's problem is that they have too much money to burn on stupid stuff. Even though there is actually a massive amount of poverty.
@Zaydan Alfariz hyperinflation keeps getting worse and our politicians are inhuman
It's worth mentioning Las Vegas does have an interesting priority bus system, but it doesn't replace the need for rapid transit.
Express buses are desperately needed. Trying to use the buses for anything but short trips just doesn't work time wise. That is from the perspective of residents trying to get around the city and not just a small core area.
For example a drive for me to work during rush hour is 30 minutes. That same trip by bus is 2 1/2 hours. Miss a transfer and now it is over 3 hours. Funny enough express shuttle buses are ran to the stadium and work great. The same idea needs to be out in place between key nodes all over the city.
@@nscalefan7739 yeah I personally ride the DVX one of two express buses in town. Yet it and the CX have some of the lowest ridership in the system. I doubt they will build more of those.
It is nearly impossible to get around Vegas on a bus.
My friends used to drive for las Vegas and she said she drove triple busses or bi articulated busses
Indeed, Las Vegas is a city where a good bus system isn't good enough. I think Las Vegas is large enough and dense enough to support an above ground tram and a below ground metro at the same time. I do think they should be made to fit the general look of the city and should be extremely flashy and even garish.
I think your argument over weird tram cars is true 99% of the time however Las Vegas is that 1% that's an exception. The trams should serve as advertisement for the casino's and each major casino should have their own design. For maintenance purposes they should be all the same mechanically but with different shells and they should be allowed to really go crazy with the shells they put on. That each casino's tram car is instantly recognizable.
9:35 I actually really like that idea, it would be a very Vegas-y thing to do. The station outside New York-New York could look like a typical green-painted station you'd see in Brooklyn.
Much less with the low black light fixtures that line the whole platform with the early 20th century style tile work on the station walls (including station name).
YES!
I've watched City Nerd's videos on Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and it seems that convincing the residents and businesses that a good functioning metro system is preferable to the stroad filled landscape currently there would be as big a hurdle as actually getting it built.
Comes down to funding. RTC doesn't have a lot of money. The locals would still have a crappy bus local system ( made worse by diverted funds) . But tourists would have well everything else. You can see that in all the casino funded transit projects. Of course don't forget the taxi mafia who control access to the airport.
Vegas grew rapidly in the last few decades (the valley had a lot of room for growth). That was the best time to invest in rapid transit, but there was no desire for it since it was always a car based town.
As a current resident, It always bugged me that they built out so many roads and neighborhoods with ZERO consideration for public or mass transit. In DTLV there is actually some pretty nice bus lanes, but since the Strip isn't technically in Las Vegas, they don't get any of that.
@@mso82 You could insert any city built after the 1960s. Phoenix, is another example.
@@bodybait PHX has been building light rail, and light rail extensions for a while now. The RTC has been building Express and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) around town (An alternative to steel tires)
A Las Vegas Metro would be one of the busiest metros in the US (especially a line that runs through Downtown, The Strip, Airport, and Brightline Station which that line alone would be the busiest on the West Coast).
Would easily rival New York's during CES
Skytrain on da strip wud b perfect from BrightLine to Downtown Las Vegas section of da system.
@@julianreymus1721 or any convention in town, even when it’s EDC week.
The original plan for the Las Vegas Monorail was to go "down the strip" much like you propose, along with connecting to the airport. As others have commented, the taxi/limo drivers fought against the airport extension, while the casinos themselves fought against the line being built on the strip, as it would "obstruct the scenic view of the strip".
Thus we end up with the current monorail service that connects some hotels (who each payed for a station behind their hotel, and thus other hotels in between are not connected directly), and the only major non-casino "destination" is the Convention Center. The private operator (thus far Clark County/City of Las Vegas has not had a stake in its operation) has plans to build the extensions exactly as you're proposing, continuing North to Downtown/Fremont Street, South towards Brightline, East to UNLV/Airport, and a second main line running up the back of the West side, thus serving those casinos, but doesn't have the finances to do the construction (as a private entity, it is expected to operate at a profit, which it struggles to do).
The ideal solution would be for the County/City to take ownership of the monorail, allowing the private operator to continue operating on their behalf, and build all of the extensions, making the system more usable. The city could then use the permitting process to require that all casinos as they're renovated be connected to one of the existing stations. They might still be behind the strip, but at least people can get where they're going a lot quicker.
I do suspect things have changed a bit in the last 20 years making things more favorable to a route.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA) just purchased the monorail a few years back and they are a part of the county government.
I agree if they could get something together that all the properties and public could benefit from would be great for Las Vegas.
@@jonw999999 It hasn't. goto the meetings that crop up. The casinos also don't want people leaving their compound and possibly spending money in somebody else's casino compound.
Taxis and local government is controlled by the mob.
A problem with a metro is that it will always favor some establishments over others just by proximity to stations. That will lead to a lot of conflict and bribery from the hotels and casino's who are trying to influence the metro in their favor and against the favor of their biggest competitors. This is always a big problem when you're trying to add a brand new metro to an established city, you get constant conflict where it should and shouldn't go.
I live in Las Vegas, and I loved this! It’s one of the few things I absolutely hate about this city-lack of walkability and transit.
It would be easy to convert some of our extremely wide roads into bus lanes and possibly even for train tracks. The only thing is that I know Lyft/Uber are big lobbyists to the county (since the strip isn’t actually in the city proper) and I think some hotels too because they want people’s paid parking money.
However, there are more and more people moving here that want this kind of stuff so I’m hoping this can actually happen!
This plan would be so beneficial for Vegas. Getting a ride share after an event at Allegiant Stadium is a nightmare. The biggest obstacle would it would have to work with new F1 race track down the strip. Like you said, A/C stations and safety doors would be a must in Vegas.
Given the shots of Vancouver, we need a Skytrain esque system that goes to all the major points, like downtown, the Strip, the airport, and Henderson. The monorail can be a peoplemover feeding to the system
Yep!
As a Las Vegas local, this is definitely something I would be excited for. traffic is getting worse and worse despite the city spending millions on widening the highway (and already plan on widening it even more by the downtown area). If Casinos can be convinced to get behind the idea, then it might be possible, though the airport connection will be harder without stronger political capital due to the Taxi lobby. Some people are also convinced the hyperloop is going to be better (It's not). I just hope we will be able to propose and implement these changes sooner rather than later.
London airports make plenty of business for taxis despite transit options.
I was in Macau recently and was shocked at how low the ridership of the Macau LRT was, Vegas could definitely look at Macau as an interesting case study and avoid making some of the same mistakes.
The Macau LTR provides a convenient link from the airport/ferry terminal to all of the main casinos but it doesn't compete on price as the big casinos all have free buses.
The LTR is likely to become a more attractive option to tourists when it links the casinos on Cotai to some of the tourist destinations on the Macau peninsula.
I would IMAGINE a lot of the Vegas Casino's would come up with "free" shuttle busses like Macau has as the Casinos DO NOT want tourists on a public transit system that CAN take them to a different casino
I am surprised there is almost NO "free" shuttlebus from the casinos like Macau and "assumed" there was the time I flew to Vegas there was a bus taking us to our hotel but that was a convention / training thing NOT "vacation"
I think we should have light rail to the casino's but have the casino's themselves own the trains. Also give them a lot of freedom to customize their appearance to make them essentially advertisement vehicles and part of the attraction itself. I'm thinking something similar to a joyride train like you have in children's theme parks but on a larger scale.
But there should also be an overarching city organization that builds and maintains the infrastructure. Making sure to give each one a chance. It would also give power to the city government to punish any casino's that break the rules. Though creating an organization that can be above the interests of the powerful casino's will be no easy feat, I think the state government of Nevada itself needs to step in and lay down the law. This would not be an unprecedented thing as this already works this way with the highways where the state builds them but the counties maintain them. I think they should treat a Las Vegas LRT the same way with the state of Nevada building it and Las Vegas maintaining it. I think Las Vegas is important enough for Nevada to justify building a city transit system with state funds.
@@jasonriddell The problem is that Macau is very independent so those casino's are the most powerful entity in the city, the city government does not have the authority to overrule them. With Las Vegas I think you could have the state government of Nevada itself step in and build the LRT system themselves.
I love las vegas and the only thing it is missing a great public transit option. The downtown-strip-airport corridor is one of the biggest no brainer investments for the city. I am baffled as to why this hasn't happened yet. Casinos on the edge of the strip would get a massive boost as well as both center-strip and downtown casinos who's visitors tend not to visit the other because of the distance. I love how they can build a 3 billion dollar LED sphere and a 50 story screen but haven't dared to build an automated light metro.
Uniquely for Vegas, there's a good opportunity to make the metro a tourist attraction in its own right. Make it a super advanced (fully driverless) super stylish elevated system integrated directly with the casinos with covered bridges and I'm sure tourists will flock to ride it, even if they don't need to go anywhere else.
The casinos could buy slot machines to put INSIDE some of the train cars... if that isn't quirky Vegas style advertising I don't know what is!
@@NutsAndThighs so true.
Even make it retrofuturistic space age
The thing about Vegas is the casinos want to do everything in their power to keep you, the tourist, in that particular casino. This is why they fought to prevent the Las Vegas Monorail from being built on the strip and forced it to take the back route on the east side of the Strip. If it hurts their employees, so be it, according to them.
Gotta love capitalism
Running cities based on who's rich and can afford lobbying throws democracy out of the window.
@@AnotherDuck as if we had democracy in the first place. Having the rich have most of the power is undemocratic.
I went to Vegas in 2021 and was surprised how little the monorail covered, I ended up walking from Downtown to the Strip.....about 8 miles or something, I don't remember the exact distance but it was crazy.
I believe The Strip is 4 miles.
I'm glad that RM Transit and City Nerd are cooperating.
I love imaging new lines or transit connections. Sounds a really cool series
Yes. Next town RM Transit should look at is Cincinnati. It is time to finish the Cincinnati Subway.
Same for me to the extent that I often make my own fantasy transit maps for different cities
@@sarthsingh3271 Same! I personally always use a site named Metro Dreamin for that purpose😁
You should play NIMBY RAILS :)
I agree I’ve long wanted to make it!
The monorail extension that for years was “going to the airport” is now going the other way to the NFL stadium since it’s cheaper than digging the tunnels they’d need to get to the airport.
One thing to note that makes Vegas slightly complicated. The CITY of Las Vegas ends at Sahara Avenue (the north end of the longest monorail.) The Strip is in unincorporated towns (Winchester and Paradise) that are run by Clark County. The only major casino on the Strip that is in the city is The Strat (nee The Stratosphere) (the one with the huge observation tower). I think RTC Transit is run by the county, but they only run the busses, the Monorails are run by the casinos they connect to.
I think a problem with Las Vegas is that it's dominated by a handful of powerful casino's which always fight against each other. One of the biggest problems public transit often faces is when you get powerful corporations that are trying to gain the benefits from it and deny it to their competitors. That's why you need a powerful government institution that's above it. I think in the case of Las Vegas the federal government itself might have to step in and build the system themselves.
Transit is indeed funded by the county which is a big part why trams are so rare in the US since very few counties have the funds for something like that. In Germany the states run a lot of the transit so it's much easier to build a transit system.
The funny thing is that this system of transit in Germany is actually based on the system the US uses to build highways.
I’m really curious if you’re going to ever talk about the transit of literally the most visited city in the world - Bangkok. I feel like the city’s transit system is one of the least talked about ever.
Curious to watch too from Thais here haha
@Zaydan Alfariz right on.
There’s a reason I put the footage in!
@Zaydan Alfariz I know. I just kind of expected him to criticize the city’s transit system anyways. I don’t really care tbh if he makes the city’s transit system look good or bad. I wanted just one video specifically talking about Bangkok considering that many Asian cities’ metro systems already have a specifically tailored videos for each of them like Singapore.
@Zaydan Alfariz tbh, I feel like all Southeast Asian cities’ transit systems really deserve their own video. Getting them mentioned for a brief period doesn’t feel the same as having an entire video dedicated to them does it?
I wish something like that existed here. I love the idea of the lines in and around the strip and connecting the airport, but I'm an even bigger fan of the idea of having lines that spread out into the suburbs. Vegas is a very sprawly city and everything is so spread out, so if there were rapid transit through the suburbs and to the strip and downtown area, things would feel closer together. I'd love it if there were busses here (Toronto-style, like you said) that connected local areas to stations, and I'd often use it. Also, here in vegas, whenever someone travels somewhere, they always need someone to drop them off at the airport by car. If this system existed, you could take the local bus to the station, take the metro into downtown or the strip and take the other line to the airport. Overall, great video
Sometimes in my spare time, I like to imagine what some cities might look like with a metro, and Las Vegas was one of the cities that I also thought could really benefit from a metro. Initially, my plan was to make it underground through the strip, but elevated could work too. Although I do have an interesting idea if it was underground. Going back to when you were talking about how the stations don’t have to look bland and can match the styles of the various casinos, an idea I had for both the New York, New York casino, and the Paris casino was that the entrances of those stations could be modeled after the entrances to the Paris Metro and the NYC Subway, both of which have iconic entrances
I've been obsessed with drawing track maps recently and this is such an interesting idea. I might honestly try drawing one up of this proposed Las Vegas system based on these ideas if that's alright with you RM.
Keep us updated! I would love to see such a map as a Vegas local!
I’ve been doing the same for years but never ventured into the US. I’m from the UK do I’ve done my country many times tho 😂
As a worker at the strip: there’s nothing slower than going up or down the strip.
Also: Las Vegas has more than crummy buffet food now!
Awesome new series! Hopefully future transit like this isn't put off for too long in Vegas, although they might still have tunnel vision (I had to lol)
Loool
If you look at the diameters of those car tunnels in Las Vegas, they are actually somewhere between London's deep level tube tunnels and Elizabeth line Line / Thameslink in terms of size, so you could easily fit trains in them.
If I recall, London's deep-level Underground lines were built between the 1860s to the mid-1900s. Because they were built with the standards of those times in mind, they would not hold up well due to regulations regarding the need for passengers to evacuate the tunnel in emergencies.
@@randomscb-40charger78 If you have a nice smooth walking surface between rails you can have easy and safe end evacuation from front and rear of trains (once power isolated). This can apply to narrow tunnel systems like London and elevated alignments. London's tube has the handicap of a 4-rail electrification system with a centre conductor between running rails, so while this method IS used in legacy tunnels, it represents a major tripping hazard to evacuees and rescuers. A similarly sized miniature tube system, the Glasgow Subway in Scotland, has a third rail to one side only for power and uses end evacuation. New trains being delivered there, manufactured by Stadler, are intended to be fully autonomous eventually, and have big, wide swinging doors and folding ramps at the ends.
@@marktownend8065 The tunnels could use an overhead power rail to further improve evacuation safety.
@@LunaDragofelis Yes that's a good idea. I think London considered this for some line modernisation projects in the past but it has never been followed through. Most deep tube lines have surface sections at their extremities, in many cases forming a high proportion of the total length, so an overhead system would be fairly expensive on these, once out of the central tunnels. Only the Victoria and Waterloo & City Lines are entirely Underground (including the depot in the case of the W&C). Another approach is to have a moderately sized battery onboard so lighting and HVAC can stay on for a long time in the event of a neccessary emergency power rail isolation. With sufficient battery capacity, such a train might also be able to get to at least the next station to disembark passengers.
@@LunaDragofelis Unlikely. Though overhead wires are preferable over 3rd rail, they demand a larger structure gauge compared to 3rd rail and it's this reason why e.g. Berlin and Hamburg keep their 3rd rail S-Bahn (the trains are barely fitting into the tunnel) when the rest were build with overhead wires.
Edit: Though I also realised the wires could be low voltage powered which would mean smaller isolations. Nonetheless, wires and pantograph still take up quite a bit of space compared to 3rd rail and one may not have enough to stand upright in such a small train.
The daft thing about the monorail is it goes close to the airport at its terminus, MGM Grand, but doesn't reach it (around 2 miles short). It also has some long stretches between stations in places, and doesn't reach the downtown area (again around 2 miles short) so it basically only connects a select group of casino resorts and the convention centre to each other. I wonder if the support structure might be convertible to an elevated minimetro, so the route might be taken over, improved and extended.
And not super, conveniently because it’s behind them!
@@RMTransit The MGM station and at least the Sahara Station do have street access (been a while since I was there), and it’s not too long a walk to the strip from them. But there are a few that ONLY exit through casinos unless it’s an emergency exit. Actually the Convention Center and Westgate (used to be the Intercontinental Hotel) the monorail stops near the front door.
The downtown extension was cancelled because it’s a long way to the next touristy spot, so even if they did put in a station in between, it wouldn’t be used much, so the economics didn’t make sense. The airport extension got killed by taxi operators since it would cut into the number of people using taxis to get out of the airport. Last I heard that extension is now going to the Raiders stadium instead, and perhaps an infill station for that MSG Sphere.
Airport and downtown expansion would have made the monorail useful. Tourists go to see Circa and the Fremont Experience. A stop at the Stratosphere would have been convenient for those stay at that hotel.
Let's just put this out there, the Vegas monorail, while neat and cool, but it's a joke.
Not sure if someone mentioned it, but in Macau, the Las Vegas of the east, one form of de-facto public transport is the free shuttle bus operated by all the casinos. They connect major points of entry to the individual casinos' door step, because of that, people can go from point A - casino - point B or casino 1 - port - casino 2 for free.
Macau now has a people's mover system which has been criticized for serving the casinos rather than the residential areas better (the latter is mainly skirted around by the system). To be fair though, another alignment that cut straight thru the residential areas was opposed for causing an eyesore (since the roads there are mostly narrow & 1-way, so the columns/piers needed for the elevated people's mover would end up in the middle of the road, & there're tall buildings built with little setback from the road. There's a Taiwanese/ROC YT channel 鐵道事務所 that talked about this in more detail). In hindsight maybe trams with traffic priority could've been more effective
Maybe a LIM Metro with Glasgow subway sized trains with a lower floor & more space for passengers due to the lack of traction motors could be interesting for the Tesla tunnels
Glasgow or London Underground sized tunnels not possible today. New build tunnels have to allow for emergency passages.
@@conveyor2 tell that those Tesla death tubes you can’t even open the door in lmao
Honestly, I don’t think these ideas are really possible unfortunately
I am literally in Las Vegas right now and just rode the monorail. It summarizes everything wrong about transit - stations located in inconvenient places ( I had to walk 10 minutes from Caesar’s Palace at street level to get to the station and 10 more minutes to get to the MGM Grand from the station I got off at. Frequency was at a dismal 9 mins. And the trains moved very slowly along some stretches. Looking at how the Las Vegas strip alone is busy even during off peak - the city is in need of good transit
And even with all that I'd imagine it'd get some decent ridership if it had actually been built to connect to the airport. But the taxi companies stopped that, of course.
@@GustavSvard you hit the nail right on the head. And I am pretty sure the hotels along the strip didn’t want an elevated guideway running down the strip either.
@@japanesetrainandtravel6168 Isnt the main goal to get people as easily as possible to their casino to spend money?
@@jonw999999 absolutely! Interestingly, some hotels have a tramway based on the same system as the one as Pearson Airports - and it’s free :)
Yep, I didn’t spend lots of time talking about the monorail because there’s nothing great about it at all
If you ask me, It's embarrassing that a RUclipsr from Canada (No offense) has a better understanding on how to improve an area that is thousands of miles away from them then the local Clark County/Las Vegas officials. These city officials live here year round and are absolutely clueless yet you're in a different country and in 13 minutes you just provided a solution to one of Las Vegas' biggest problems. Seriously, Vegas politicians are a joke lol
live in Las Vegas. Elevated is a no go due to the casinos not wanting it. It is the reason the monorail was built on the backside instead of the down the Strip. Fully underground in the strip is the only way that would get support.
Your core plan makes sense. It would do little to serve the workers as they wouldn't live nor could afford to live along the line. Future lines this central truck would cover that.
Having the signs in multiple languages is a must. I cannot tell you how many times I've been to Vegas and seen foreign people (particularly Hispanic people) asking me for directions in Spanish. I always have to use the little Spanish I comprehend to tell them, "Lo siento yo no fluido en español"
Amazing! I can only hope the local government and people living there get behind this. It's a no brainer. Great channel. As an aside, I thought I "found" your channel myself, but not that you mention it, City Nerd has been a favorite for a few years now, so I'll just say that it would be great to see your channels collaborating more, as your content is excellent.
I'm excited to see the Las Vegas Loop built out. Vegas had an opportunity to build a metro system under the Strip a few years back. They did a study and they finished without doing anything. The cost was going to be "Billions".
The LVCC Loop has been open (technically) a couple of years, and it has handled the traffic of CES admirably. It isn't a completely finished product, because the cars aren't yet automated, but the
Be careful here, you'll get pitched forked
Denver isn't far in terms of population & density, unlike Las Vegas it has extensive light rails opened in 1994, but that still did NOT prevent most of the Denver population right now (decades later) from driving CARS
Maybe, just maybe, copy pasted Tokyo/European rails (because "Train good") onto most US cities and expecting it will change things just wasn't realistic? I know, hot take
Worth mentioning the Macau Light Rail considering Macau's Cotai Strip is a complete copy of the Las Vegas Strip.
I was thinking of it, but since it uses Crystal mover I thought it would detract from discussion of a proper full metro, but yes, definitely relevant
Would love to see a video on Cincinnati, I think we have a good backbone of a city and you could even mention the plans for the planned subway that was never finished and how you would improve/change it today. Sadly we are a smaller city, but I think there's a big appetite for public transportation here and it could totally transform the city for the better
YOU COULD STILL BUILD A SUBWAY SYSTEM OR LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM
The Highway lobby forced I-75 on the some of the subway right of way and bisected the west end. Even today a transit terminal and parking garage could be built by Hopple Street to take trains in the existing tube to downtown. The unused downtown transit center could be the terminus there. A parking tax could be implemented to help pay for some of this as cars destroyed the city, let those who use them pay for the damage and pollution they cause. Once the above is up and running a spur could be constructed to Union Terminal. Commuter Rail should of been started there years ago.
I would like to see it done completely as a subway. Go west from the airport terminals go North at Las Vegas bvld, stopping for the casinos. Walkways could be built to go to the east casinos, and west casinos on the other side of the street. You could build entrances into the casinos, which could save walking time from the streets into the casinos. You dont have to build it by cut and cover, use boring machines to keep LV open with less interuptions.
Love this series idea! Would love to hear you do this for another tourist hub, Nashville, TN. We are in desperate need of working public transit for locals and tourists alike.
Great video, you should consider doing one about Philadelphia's Roosevelt Boulevard extension. The community is trying to push for it to be built, but the transit agency says they can't afford it.
You can imagine literally cutting and pasting the core part of the Dubai metro on to the strip and it would work. Imagine the naming rights to stations etc. plus if you took out a lane or two on each side, it would drastically leave more sidewalk space that can be monetized (New York New York and the Linq does this to some extent).
A reliable transit separate from traffic congestion would also make people stay longer at their hotels and you can imagine some hotels offering check through service (like the Hong Kong MTR) all the way to your final destination as an ultra luxury convenience. ($50 to not have to worry about my stuff, just call the downstairs desk and I’m reunited with my check in at the carousel in Chicago/Dallas/Miami, etc.) would be an absolute game changer.
The bus terminals you were talking about already exist. There is the Bonneville Transit Station in downtown Vegas at S. Casino Center blvd. and Bonneville st. There's another one south of The Strip, aptly named The South Strip transit station on Sunset rd. And Gillespie st. It's right across Sunset from the airport.
About the only thing I'd change about your plan is making the metro at-grade on the Strip. Oh, and close it to cars.
i live in vegas and i used to work downtown near fremont, my bus ride took about an hour and a half. Vegas is largely a grid system and it's PERFECT for busses. i just wish our busses ran more often, more routes, and most importantly, more consistently. But a big reason on why they don't is because bus drivers aren't being fairly paid. but yeah, i guess the city needs to spend money on more important things, like a novelty tunnel that just goes around the convention center and is a huge fire hazard.
Crappy pay is the source of a lot of our problems, tbh. My local municipality can't hire drivers because they just don't pay enough.
This is a cool series concept! Could you consider covering Nashville, TN? They have a single commuter rail line and some aBRT lines, but no true rapid transit.
100%. We can start with lines to Titans, Predators, NSC, Vanderbilt, Belmont, Ten State, Lipscomb and the Airport. Then suburban lines to Antioch, Smyrna and Franklin.
Sick of driving I-24 and I-65. Congestion is insane and gets worse every day.
@@nicksurface3513 Do you know anything about the Let's Move Nashville plan? I didn't know about it until I heard about it in a Thomas Y video.
Loving the RMTRANSIT and CITYNERD crossover!
This would have so many benefits and I hope such a system or one similar can be built one day
It's wild really. And must be solely from lobbies like taxi companies. By having transit from the airport onto a single rapid transit corridor down Las Vegas Blvd up to Fremont, the recreational opportunities for visitors would be crazy.
It's sad because the quality of experience that would provided by being able to quickly move between Fremont, and any of the major strip destinations via rapid transit and just going around on foot would massively better than needing to drive or take taxis through and around a congested arterial.
Elevated metro along the entire strip all the way to downtown, with additional lines to key destinations. Pave over the entirety of the strip and ban cars. Give portions of the areas to the resorts and casinos specifically as areas for pedestrians and outdoor attractions. Would truly elevate the Vegas experience at night.
Big windows on the metro to view the strip, ads and lights on the outside, make it an attraction in and of itself.
The thing to realize about Vegas is that the valley is 2 million people, and the rest of the state is nearly vacant. The proposed areas in this video are technically outside of Vegas proper and in Clark County. This means infrastructure investments come out of either county or state funds; which requires state legislature approval, which never happens because of over representation of rural counties.
Vegas only seems bigger because it gets 40 million visitors annually. Which means it needs infrastructure for that many people, supported by a relatively smaller local population.
@@JesseBethke the Nevada state politicians would scream “communism” at this, sadly.
I noticed you used a lot of footage from Bangkok, and I love it!
Bangkok is especially a good example here because it was built around the automobile, much like American cities, is a massive tourist destination, and is presently rapidly expanding its existing transit network
The monorail was originally going to run down the center of the Strip. It would have been one of the wonders of the modern world. But the taxi companies (there are more taxis in Las Vegas than in all of Manhattan) used their influence to make sure it didn't, and made sure it didn't connect to the airport.
When ridesharing was first starting up in Vegas, the taxi companies were posing as riders and tipping off the taxi authority. Then the driver would get pulled over, and their car impounded. The taxi companies were using the taxi authority as their muscle to kill the competition.
Screw the taxi companies.
Hopefully Uber & Lyft ravaged the power of the taxi industry, I know it did in most cities where taxis are on life support.
I think my favorite form of mass transit - suspended rail - could work well here. Being suspended means the actual "track" takes up less space so it wouldn't block as much of the view for people outside, and could allow for a better view from inside the vehicle as well. It being a rather unique form a transit also helps with the tourist appeal for the area. Though I expect the more likely situation is for the existing monorail service to be expanded instead of adding a new service with non-interchangeable vehicles.
i would love to see an episode like this devoted to marta’s potential if it was to be expanded throughout inner-city atlanta and it’s suburbs!!
I think the ideal city for a series like this is Tel Aviv. The metro area (of similar size to cities with a similar population) houses 4 million people, plus almost 4 million tourists before COVID. Yet, it's by far the largest city in a wealthy country outside of North America that doesn't have any kind of rapid transit. Three LRT lines are under construction, with one almost done, but it will only cover a small part of the city, and expected to be over-capacity on day one.
I would love your perspective on Halifax's weirdly rail-less transit system!
Like many people here I would prefer to see the US connected with rapid transit, but I would also like to see people talk more about local issues and why it hasn't been adopted in those cities. I hate seeing people not living in these cities assume they know what's best for them, because rapid transit is a cure-all in their minds. In my view, there's little consideration for why rapid transit might not actually be what's best for the people who live there. And why some other options like rapid bus transit or metro/light rails are in fact the better choice.
One concern: That Formula 1 race. From a hype perspective, it's the biggest event coming to Vegas in years, and from my understanding, the Strip will form part of the circuit. I think the city would have to choose between the race and a massive construction project on the Strip... and I think we all know what Vegas would be inclined to choose.
I was just thinking that, that’s why elevated rail may not be the best idea on that part of the strip. It should like dive down around where like the Wynn is and then come back up to the mgm
I don’t really see a reason that you couldn’t have both to be honest
It has to be underground along the strip
Is that meant to be a regular thing or a one-off? Because even if they started serious work on this proposal today, they probably wouldn't have shovels in the ground until well after the race date I'm seeing in google
@@Nalehw Every year
I was just recently thinking that Last Vegas really badly needs to reinvent itself. A transit line would really help drive that.
Las Vegas metro trains needs use transparent LCD screens for platform screen doors and train doors/windows to jazz things up for tourist. I usually don't advertising on transit, but Vegas make sense for them. Have life size videos of a celerity headliners welcome tourist onto the trains at the airport and say farewell as they depart. Display shows and amenities as the train nears a casino.
Putting some slot machines in the trains would:
a) be very Vegas
b) pay all the fares
Win-win at its best😎😜
i think the strip section should be cut and cover. while i understand that there is the space, las vegas does rely on its image. the ability to see the towers fairly unobstructed is probably going to be important to it’s businesses and residents.
there is space for cut and cover in the road, and wouldn’t be too much more expensive than elevated compared to deep bore.
The thing is a low elevated guideway isn’t going to impact the ability to see the towers
@@RMTransit i suppose but i do think the case for cut and cover is still strong. elevated, and especially stacked evelated, would have some visual impact on the corridor which in the case of vagus is genuinely an issue. it’s not just a cookie cutter suburb, the nighttime view down the strip is culturally significant.
i suppose it is a matter of subjective opinion. i personally think maintaining the way that URBAN (not suburban) areas look is important more so than the average transit advocate
@@JacobOhlssonBudinger Cut and cover is an even better option when you consider that the strip is due for major repair work in a lot of areas, could take this opportunity to develop it into a less car centric place while adding the metro tracks underneath.
A cool looking retro-futuristic elevated metro (made mostly of glass) with fabulously flamboyantly themed stations and garish lighting all the way would elegantly and seamlessly integrate into the look of the strip. That is as close to a straight fact as you get in architecture. Bonus: When looking down the strip it would somewhat distract from the other straight fact that you are looking at a congested stroad.
@@geirmyrvagnes8718 i’d argue that the strip is awe inspiring for its wide open nature that gives full visibility of the lights on all the hotels. the allure is ruined when you put a continuous elevated structure over the top, along its length, especially from the ground which is the most important view. elevated metro encloses the space which goes against that idea. the way the built environment behaves is more complex than just looking at what the architectural styles are.
cut and cover with modern surface entrances and some street remodelling (for example making more of it vegetation and sidewalks) is the best outcome
I think it would add to the atmosphere to have a modern trains zoom overhead
since you are canadian you should cover some canadian cities that need and deserve rapid transit of some kind, like halifax, victoria, london etc.
Personally I think you glance over the fact that an elevated railway on the strip would be IMPOSSIBLE. Given that you need the support from all the major casinos in the area, especially if you want direct connections into the casinos from the stations. Things like exterior sponsorship deals that casinos have with companies would need to be respected, and casinos in general would never go for something that blocks the view of much of their buildings from the passenger window of a car. All this would most definitly contribute to eternal delays; fixing every contract and getting all the massive companies on board for something they clearly have not desired until now would be tough.
For me, a system that is underground during that section would make the most sense. Shorter trains running more frequently (sub 1-2 minutes) with small stations makes more sense to me. In adition, maybe letting the casinos own the land the stations are in, and put slot machines in their respective station, with the city taking a percentage of those specific machines to fund the system may make it possible for it to be free.
I agree totally. Build a connection to the existing monorail to the airport. It can move hundreds of people per hour back and forth. Close off the las vegas blvd to cars and build a people mover from the Luxor to downtown Fremont st.
As someone that is born and raised in vegas, PREACH
A transit system that needs a look-through and extra design work is Sacramento, California. There are multiple missing links that need designs for it and it's all LRT for an urban area of 1.7 million people.
The first and major hurdle a city faces when it finally wakes up to the idea of mass transit is that land is used up in the very areas where mass transit should be located. A city needs to set aside lands for future development beyond the widening of streets as more car traffic develops over decades.
I think most of this video is right on. This is a city that has a clear demonstrated need for high capacity transit. It doesn't need a re-imagining of the existing city, it's already pretty well setup to drive transit use as you said. I think free fare isn't necessarily a good idea. Free things can be over-used and abused (see Staten Island Ferry). Also, Las Vegas is a particularly NOT price sensitive market. Provide discounted access to Vegas commuters but people coming from California or Texas or whatever could care less if the metro ticket is 3 or 5 dollars or 15 a day.
Definitely make it contactless pay with a debit/credit card like London Underground.
What do you think of putting down new trolley tracks in places that they once were but we’re removed after WWII?
Especially in places that were originally designed as street car suburbs!
I think it’s important to recognize that many of the original streetcar routes were abandoned because they had become slow and unreliable. Simply putting the tracks back wouldn’t address this and in most places I wouldn’t recommend it.
Not that you are specifically referring to Las Vegas but I believe Las Vegas is the only major US city that never had a streetcar system in the late 19th century and early 20th century... due to its young age.
Please do more on this series! Would love to see how cities could improve
Las Vegas just needs a reliable useful and helpful Rapid Transit system for people to go around Las Vegas more easily like Dubai.
Actually a far better comparison is Macau which is kind of China's Las Vagas.
The Philippines needs that too
I agrée!
@@LeZylox yeah I live in the Philippines and we mostly use cars and especially the National Capital Region needs a rapid transit system.
@@Brickinghoops210 I absolutely agree, that's why I'm designing one in my free time! Since you live there, is there a big push to get more public transport or isn't it a big topic at all?
RTC just announced redeveloping Boulder Highway with a BRT line. I remember when N LV BLVD had the MAX BRT like and that ended up defunct in less than 10 years.
Gonna send this awesome video to my mother who knows a lot of people on the Vegas city council and in state government, as well as both of our senators.
Wonderhussy has by far the obsolutely best entertaining intelligent and humorous Las Vegas videos!
You should do a video in this series about expanding the west coast express in metro Vancouver!
Amazing! I can’t believe I missed this when it came out. This would be a total game changer.
Indeed, the Las Vegas Metro can bring about more benefits for many residents working there.
Perhaps a shadow operator, maybe like Singapore's SMRT Corporation (via Strides Rail), MTR Corporation of Hong Kong, Transdev of France, Germany's Deutsche Bahn or anybody else can be brought in to work with the Las Vegas Mayor as also the consultant too should there be a need to expand it.
I think it's best to first make a metro and immediately afterwards a tram. Once the metro is in place you should have enough excess capacity for a little while to build the tram as well.
I definitely think the idea of bringing an external expertise is interesting
I will add the Las Vegas mayor has no say on what happens on the Strip. The city limit stops at Sahara. You would be dealing with Clark county and influential corporate entities south of that. History the city of Las Vegas has been more interested in light rail along Charleston Blvd of all places.
Great video! It’s been something I’ve always thought of when visiting and always wished they had. I hate how close the airport is and yet my cab is more expensive than else where.
It’s interesting to think about how casinos also want to keep folks within their buildings, so connectivity within the strip would be counterintuitive. A one way metro where they can get to the casino versus leaving is probably their ideal 😅. Your considerations for the surrounding areas is something they should look into. The sprawl is pretty chaotic with all of the immigration to the area.
Your ideas are very good and definitely make a lot of sense for Vegas to implement, which is why they never will do that.
I’m sure I’ve commented this before but could you please do something on the lack of rapid transit in Dublin Ireland?
The national transportation authority just released their 20 year vision, which has been derided as lacklustre and ambition-less. A notable feature includes a plan for 8 light rail lines, scheduled to break ground in “after 2042”.
My personal favourite is the nerfed Metro tunnel which’ll connect the airport and city centre, 20 years later than originally proposed.
Public transport in dublin is actually quite interesting, as policy makers have always understood its necessity - but the urban landscape (80% suburban sprawl) has made double decker busses on snaking routes the only viable option in most instances.
the issue still is the cars will still be on the las vegas strip since the train track in your proposal would be built above and not on the ground. Though I guess once the metro is built, the city can start getting rid of parking spaces, which will naturally lead to fewer cars, and then slowly eliminate lanes. Ideal scenario is to have the metro running above and then have ground level be fully pedestrianized.
Do Leeds in the uk, it is the largest city in Western Europe without a major transit system
LOVE the series idea, and a great episode. One suggestion I have would be to include a section where you say why you think a project like yours hasn't happened so far, because if it's logical enough for you to make a video suggesting the idea, you can bet many people are thinking the same thing, but there's been some kind of local political or funding blockage.
Please do more such videos! It's interesting to think about new hypothetical transit systems for major cities
My ideas:
This network could be a lot like the Skytrain, with Mark II or III cars. Or, it could use a model similar to the Canada line trains. Or sticking to the gadgetbahn-rich history of Vegas, perhaps a VAL, or ooh! I'm getting unrealistic! Don't stop me now! A hanging monorail! A sideways elevator like the one in that Austrian ski resort! A gondola! A high-speed conveyor belt! An underground canal tunnel system with TVs on the ceilings! Bring on the teleporters!
Edit: In all seriousness, I imagine it as a baby Skytrain system, a conventional boring high-capacity metro, like with Alstom Metropolises, or a Haneda-style monorail.
I agree with the metro, but I have a few disagreements about the busses.
Firstly, I think bus is not the right method. As you said, vegas is a well-trafficked city with plenty of cash. They can pay a bit extra. Dieisel busses are rather polluting and noisy, so if the city has enough cash to choose the type, they should probably go with electric. I don't really like BEBs, so I think Vegas would do best with trolleybusses. Also, with a little foresight, it's easier to convert to a tram in the future!
Secondly, I feel the map is a little incomplete. I'd add a route along NV-159, through downtown, and then out along US-93. Also, I feel it's a little odd the 2 lower bus routes aren't connected. If I'm in SW Vegas and want to get to SE Vegas or the airport, I don't want to have to change twice and go via the metro. I'd have the two lines connect, or at least have both terminate in the same place. The busses can go through NV-171 under the airport.
Finally, less of a critique and more of an oversight: Every single vehicle needs neon lights and go-faster stripes. I don't care if it impacts performance, this is Vegas. In needs Vegas theming.
Thanks for reading.
I was in Las Vegas a week ago, it is shocking how bad the transit is especially for going from the airport to the strip. It is designed to almost completely avoid the strip save for a very infrequent once an hour CX line that crosses the strip near MGM/NYNY.
The route WAX express bus between the airport and the central Bonneville bus station was withdrawn recently. This leaves only the tortoise-speed route 109 and the CX bus lines from the airport to the bus station which is on the east side of the railroad tracks away from the Strip. There was a proposal to replace route 109 with a Rapid transit link, but because of cost, this was modified to a guided bus lane. That was early last year: nothing seems to have been done yet.
@@cardiffian558 Yeah whats the the deal with the WAX, isnt it supposed to work in tandem with the Deuce? (The Deuce also takes forever to travel the Strip).
I waited for the CX at the scheduled time, never arrived, and waited for about 15 mins after its scheduled arrival too and then just ended up taking a super slow 109 to Downtown LV. Meanwhile I saw a few CX buses later in the day off route... WTF, absolutely no heads up about detours as I was waiting at the saddest-looking airport bus stop. Shockingly terrible service, when you are a transit agency in Las Vegas you have one job... Airport to and along the Strip!!! How do the taxis have such a say? All major powerful stakeholders in LV have a single interest... make it as easy as possible for visitors to spend money in the casinos. Why wouldn't it be in their best interest to have really good, really cheap, really easy transport from the airport, versus inefficient taxis, sketchy looking shuttles, do they really think everyone will get around in limos, are they just so focused on cars as the only way to travel and operating their casinos with blinders on? When I was visiting LV it was on an intentionally planned 7 hour layover between flights to squeeze in a mini trip to LV, the airport is literally a stones throw from the Strip, its nuts that there isnt good reliable frequent service to the Strip (yet decent service to the other parallel north-south roads that have practically no destinations on them). End of rant.
@@jonw999999 We are going to the Luxor. Would you recommend just getting a taxi from the airport?
@@squirrelmanning7889 Yes, probably your best bet especially as the Luxor is not directly on the CX route. Then again you are commenting on a transit video :) so you might have more patience/tolerance/comfort with transit that it could be worth considering using the CX with the Luxor-Excalibur tram where the Excalibur station is near the CX stop on Tropicana Ave... depends on the bags you have and how well the infrequent CX schedule works with your arrival.
Perhaps expanding the current monorail system from the airport to downtown would be a good start
I’ve always though Vegas is the perfect opportunity to make a Montreal-style underground city. There’s already tons of indoor space, and the temperature gets just as bad in the opposite direction. An automated metro makes total sense, maybe even with a comtinuous tunnel in the central section like Chicago, allowing for varied stopping patterns based on whatever events were going on, or the time of dayetc.
I started going to Vegas around mid 2006. I always thought they'd come up with a better way to manage all of the traffic by now. The transit never seems to catch up with the new construction and attractions.
Thank you Reece from Roger Sexton for an absolutely brilliant presentation. You certainly convinced me when you argued that a stacked/elevated line is the best solution. I also agree that Las Vegas is a rare example where free transit would make sense. My only reservation is, how easy will it be to build an elevated line without bringing traffic on 'The Strip' to a standstill? As things stand, how easy is it to divert traffic away from The Strip onto parallel roads?
You can build an elevated line above a roadway without impacting traffic on it too severely! It’s been done many times at this point!
@@RMTransit Sorry Reece, but I did not make it clear that my concern is disruption during the period THE METRO IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
I completely agree with your routing, but I think a cut-and-cover subway line would be a better alternative, since Las Vegas gets hot in the summer, and the roads are extremely wide (with ample room to work).
I also don't understand why Brightline West decided to make a station that is so far from the downtown. The line's I15 route could easily connect to the Cima Subdivision just 12 miles from the downtown without building on developed land. The Cima subdivision is already double/triple-tracked, and is grade separated in the downtown, so freight interference would not necessarily be an issue.
Additionally, the land next to the the Clark County Government Building has enough undeveloped space to fit four large train platforms. This could not just serve Brightline West, but also, Amtrak and a few regional rail lines. It's also less than 400 meters from the Flixbus station.
Heck, considering how bustling Las Vegas is, they could have a 2nd HSR station by the strip (nothing unusual for a big city), since there's another large unused lot between I15 and the Rio Convention Center, which has enough land for several 400m platforms.
THANK YOU. I'm tired of people dismissing the Strip's traffic, labeling the boring company tunnels as "a good solution" when it's like adding another lane but underground. I would *love* to have an underground transit system like the London Underground for example, but welp, what can you do when America was basically built for cars only. I hope someday it just happens. 😔
Accessibility for wheelchair (or travelers carrying luggage) would also be nice, not just inclines but also elevators where it make sense.
Reese, I love your videos and learn so much. In this one though, I can’t believe you didn’t mention the Las Vegas Monorail, which actually moves tens of thousands of people a day. During convention time, which is when I am there , it’s packed. This past week I attended the KBIS/IBIS shows, which alternate between Orlando and Las Vegas every couple of years. I ride the Las Vegas Monorail every time I am there. Though seriously flawed for the reasons you mention in your reply, it is a useful mass transit mode for many. It’s chief problems are its connectivity to the strip and its stopping short of major activity centers. But it runs frequently (5-6 minute headways), is reasonably comfortable and manages speeds of 35-45mph. It is also quite safe, never having had a passenger fatality. Making it work rather than scrapping it and building something entirely new seems like the best place to me to start.
Extending the monorail, north to DTLV, southeast to UNLV and the airport, southwest to Brightline, while doubling its capacity by using Bombardier Innovia 300 trains at 8 cars instead of the 4-car trains used now, are serious options to consider consider. Adding an infill station at the new Sphere is also planned and necessary to increase ridership. Getting people from the strip to the stations, which are too far east of the strip for most people, is the real challenge. As you point out and any rider discovers. But a series of east-west moving sidewalks or gondolas or even people -mover style elevated trams at two or three places could make enough connections to make the 15-25 minute walk from hotels like Aria, MGM, and Caesar’s
Bundling the monorail fare into the registration of convention goers meant I’d “already paid” for the ticket and used it. So did many of my roughly 125,000 fellow convention-goers. When leaving the convention halls at 5PM, if the monorail had not been there, the crowd would have been unimaginable. LV Monorail website says that during conventions alone, approximately 67,000 passengers ride in 3-4 days. Their annual ridership is 5 million. A single fare is expensive, but a multi-day pass isn’t if you use the monorail 4x per day or more.
While I spent approximately $250 on cabs and rideshares during my time there, my company would pay for that and it wasn’t money out of my pocket. But the real scandal there was all the time it took to wait for them and then sit, one passenger in one fossil-fuel powered vehicle, in miles of traffic in or near the Strip. It was sometimes the same amount of time to take a cab from the Aria complex to the Convention Center as walking 20 minutes to the Monorail for the 10-minute ride from the MGM station.
The Monorail is not terrible, but not serving the strip is a huge problem for any system in Vegas. I think a more standardized and larger scale system still makes a ton of sense, even if the monorail is a functional stopgap!
I hope to see this style of video for more cities. How would you improve cities like Chicago or Denver?
Very good idea. Especially the fact it would remove a lot of vehicles off the road.
a Vegas rapid transit system ought to be an attraction in and of itself