Dive Brief:
- The Las Vegas Monorail Co. wants to extend its existing 3.9-mile system by one mile in order to expedite the flow of visitors between convention centers and to help with game-day traffic to a proposed $2 billion Raiders NFL stadium, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- The company will ask the Clark County Commission this week to green-light its plan, which also includes a new monorail station linking fans to the future stadium via a pedestrian bridge. The firm will also request that it be given two years to secure funding, which is expected to come from ridership-backed bonds and accumulate to approximately $100 million.
- Historically, the system has experienced low ridership rates and filed for bankruptcy in 2010 when it couldn’t pay all of its $650 million construction costs. According to the Review-Journal, the monorail still suffers from below-peak ridership.
Dive Insight:
In December 2015, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada proposed a $12 billion light-rail project to transport tourists from McCarran International Airport to downtown Las Vegas. The agency's plan also included more pedestrian-friendly features like wider sidewalks and footbridges, as well as a proposal for additional monorail stops. What the proposal did not include, however, was a funding source for as much as $19 billion in uncovered construction and maintenance costs. As of October of this year, the RTCSN was still considering options for all kinds of mass transit, including a light-rail system.
The Raiders' move hinges on approval from the NFL owners, as the Nevada General Assembly voted last month to approve $750 million of tax-backed financing necessary to build the stadium. The idea for a Raiders' Las Vegas relocation picked up steam earlier this year after NFL owners denied the team a requested move to Los Angeles. The owners meet again this coming January, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he would not try to prevent the team's move. In the past, however, NFL owners have not been very enthusiastic about allowing a franchise to operate so close to a legalized gambling mecca like Las Vegas.
As for the stadium itself, the team has already released drawings for the MANICA Architecture-designed venue, and developers say that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas football team will also use the facility as its home base. Under the design, construction of the stadium would cost $1.3 billion, and the team estimates an annual $100 million "exposure value" for the city of Las Vegas.
