{"id":222547,"date":"2024-04-10T21:42:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T21:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/10\/las-vegas-monorail-breeds-baffling-brouhaha\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:18:51","slug":"las-vegas-monorail-breeds-baffling-brouhaha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/10\/las-vegas-monorail-breeds-baffling-brouhaha\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Monorail Breeds Baffling Brouhaha"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n By Scott Roeben<\/a>, on April 10 2024 <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The fact the Las Vegas conversation is so active and passionate online is both a blessing and a curse. In this case, it\u2019s just confusing.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Monorail derailed the conversation for roughly 24 hours as a flurry of Twitter posts and news stories grappled with a long-standing question: What\u2019s happening with the monorail?<\/p>\n

We got to the bottom of this weird affair. Or possibly caused it. Not that we have to make everything about us, probably.<\/p>\n

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Yes, we have photos of the real Las Vegas Monorail, sometimes referred to as \u201celevated rail.\u201d Boring. Fun fact: Elevated Rail was the name of our band in high school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where to begin.<\/p>\n

The first recent news story we recall seeing about the monorail was a musing in the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/a>, \u201cFrom Buses to Monorail: Array of Options for A\u2019s Ballpark Transportation Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

A story like this is an example of putting the cart before the horse, because there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty about: 1) whether the A\u2019s are moving to Las Vegas, 2) who\u2019s paying for a ballpark, 3) where the ballpark could end up if the deal falls through on the Tropicana site, 4) whether voters will have a chance to nix public financing of the ballpark, etc.<\/p>\n

Discussing specifics of transportation to an imaginary A\u2019s stadium in Las Vegas is akin to nailing down which color glitter your unicorn will be wearing to compete in the annual Atlantis Games.<\/p>\n

That story came and went with zero pandemonium.<\/p>\n

Then our friend Corey Levitan, longtime Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist (we try not to hold that against him) and our current colleague at Casino.org<\/a>, wrote a story with the headline, \u201cEnd of the Line for Las Vegas Monorail.\u201d It\u2019s possible Levitan\u2019s story got the ball rolling on #Monorailgate (not a real hashtag, thankfully). Levitan did not, however, say the monorail is closing anytime soon. He simply reported what the LVCVA has said all along, the monorail will be taken out of service at some point, 2030 at the latest.<\/p>\n

See, the company that makes the monorail cars is defunct. As in you can\u2019t get more, and parts are hard, if not impossible, to come by. These are facts, not conjecture. The monorail has a built-in expiration date.<\/p>\n

Following Levitan\u2019s story, our friend Las Vegas Locally posted, \u201cThere are no plans to get rid of the Las Vegas Monorail, despite rumors to the contrary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There are no plans to get rid of the Las Vegas Monorail, despite rumors to the contrary. pic.twitter.com\/ui9qtPBUA2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Las Vegas Locally \ud83c\udf34 (@LasVegasLocally) April 7, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Never one to leave well enough alone, we Tweeted our slightly different take.<\/p>\n

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Despite rumors to the contrary, the LVCVA plans to dismantle the Las Vegas monorail. It was announced in 2020, and $11 million has been set aside for taking it down. Archive: https:\/\/t.co\/FSmt9cDCD1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) April 7, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Please note we didn\u2019t say the monorail is closing in the near future. We simply shared the fact the LVCVA plans to dismantle the monorail.<\/p>\n

The LVCVA announced this four years ago, and nothing\u2019s really changed since then, other than some whimsical conjecture about resuscitating the monorail to take people to an imaginary baseball stadium.<\/p>\n

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This is as likely to happen as the renderings shared by the A\u2019s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While we couldn\u2019t find anyone saying (rumor or news report) the monorail is shutting down, it seems our Tweet was interpreted that way by some people, as the official Twitter account of the Las Vegas Monorail posted a response to a \u201creport\u201d we presumably missed.<\/p>\n

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The report that the Las Vegas Monorail is winding down operations is 100% inaccurate. The Monorail is operating very successfully and the LVCVA has no plans to cease operations.<\/p>\n

\u2014 lvmonorail (@lvmonorail) April 8, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In case that embedded Tweet goes away someday, it simply said, \u201cThe report that the Las Vegas Monorail is winding down operations is 100% inaccurate. The Monorail is operating very successfully and the LVCVA has no plans to cease operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, despite upwards of 15 minutes of relentless investigative reporting, we have been unable find any report or rumor the monorail is \u201cwinding down\u201d or words to that effect.<\/p>\n

We did question the \u201coperating very successfully\u201d aspect of the Tweet, as we\u2019d always assumed the monorail operates at a deficit, as it has from day one. It has filed bankruptcy twice.<\/p>\n

A rep from the LVCVA corrected our incorrect assumption, \u201cThe LVCVA purchased the Monorail in December 2020 and resumed operations in May 2021. Since then, ridership and revenue have met or exceeded projections. In 2023, the monorail carried more than 5.5 million passengers, the highest ridership since 2009. Since July 2023, the monorail has earned more than $8 million in net revenue, significantly more than the cost to operate and maintain the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, The Las Vegas monorail made $8 million net revenue since July 2023. \u201cNet\u201d means \u201cafter expenses,\u201d also known as \u201cprofit.\u201d Color us shocked. The monorail doesn\u2019t even go to the airport.<\/p>\n

It costs about $500,000 to operate the monorail each year, so the monorail is operating in the black according to the LVCVA. Apparently, what they say about assuming is true.\u00a0Let\u2019s pause for a moment while our fellow youths watch a segment from a 1970s TV show, \u201cThe Odd Couple.\u201d<\/p>\n

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