If you want to know how to get around the Las Vegas Strip in 2022, well — the transportation situation on the Strip changes almost as fast as the hotels do. The resorts are bigger and further apart than you might think, so walking distances can be long!
Your choices used to be taxis or an extremely slow, circuitous rubber-tired trolley. That’s an extremely inefficient transportation system for a corridor that boasts 11 of the world’s 20 largest hotels, so luckily, things have improved — but has Las Vegas done enough?
Las Vegas Boulevard is one of the busiest bus corridors in the nation, carrying more passengers (pre-pandemic) than the entire primary bus systems of cities like Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Indianapolis. This despite there being no dedicated transitways on The Strip. Imagine the ridership if transit was faster and more reliable!
This video reviews the bus services, as well as the smaller tram systems (The Aria Express, the Mandalay Bay tram, and the Mirage tram), but really focuses on a singular piece of transportation infrastructure: the Las Vegas Monorail. It’s a mode that functions primarily not as public transit, but as a feeder that deposits you deep inside the bowels of a casino resort, maximizing the likelihood of your disorientation and subsequent separation of you from your financial assets — the thing casinos do best!
We’ll do a full ride of the monorail, beginning at the MGM Grand, working our way through the maze of the casino and other obstacles, ride through the NFL Draft fan zone, and finish at Sahara Station.
We’ll review the recent history of transit planning on the Strip, current plans to excavate miles of expensive tunnels for Teslas, and recent experiences at the 2022 NFL Draft, where visitors and locals got to experience a car-free Las Vegas Boulevard and maybe dream of a different future.
What will be next for transit on The Strip? Who knows — so stay tuned!
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Twitter: @nerd4cities
Instagram: @nerd4cities
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Other CityNerd Videos referenced:
– Urbanist Ballparks: https://youtu.be/aXQx1_Zi1BA
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Resources:
– Deuce/SDX Route Map: https://www.lasvegashowto.com/support-files/map-sdx.pdf
– https://www.lvmonorail.com/route-map/
– https://rtcws.rtcsnv.com/routepdf/systemmap.pdf
– https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/05/02/clark-county-commissioner-suggests-permanently-closing-las-vegas-strip-vehicle-traffic/
– https://www.8newsnow.com/news/power-from-lake-powell-wins-out-as-wests-water-shortage-forces-hard-decisions-lake-mead-will-go-lower/
– https://www.rtcsnv.com/projects-initiatives/transportation-planning/
– https://assets.rtcsnv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/06/24202055/Regional-Fixed-Guideway-Hen-NLV-Alternatives-Analysis_Sept-2006Reduced.pdf
– https://www.rtcsnv.com/govegas/resources/RTC-TIBP-full.pdf?
– https://assets.onboardsnv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/11111731/On-Board-Mobility-Plan.pdf
– https://www.boringcompany.com/vegas-loop
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Image Credits:
– SDX 1 By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – Fremont Street Experience, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58160346
– SDX 2 By Junevivalasvegas – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33125966
– Cincinnati By Ynsalh – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37975260
– Kansas City By Jesper Rautell Balle – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3968326
– Indianapolis By tpsdave – https://pixabay.com/en/indianapolis-indiana-city-urban-1872528/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62117322
– Mirage Tram By C4K3 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113636331
– Walt Disney World Monorail By Gfgbeach – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84958735
– LV Monorail Thumbnail Photo by Joseph Zadeh, CC BY 4.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63010112
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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)
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Contact: [email protected]
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I find it really interesting because like you said, there really is this demand for a better way of getting around the strip. Even with the absolutely god-awful options currently available they still get a fair amount of use. It's kind of strange that the casinos/companies don't seem to fully recognize it. They understand it enough that they have all these small trams and poor solutions, without ever evolving that idea further to its natural conclusion. 2 major companies own the majority of the strip, they have their own services of all types, yet they just can't come together on perfecting the traffic and transportation of their area despite how popular it would be.
When I came to Vegas for the first time I was shocked to see the monorail and also shocked to hear it was useless. I wanted to ride it but never got the chance. A raised tram would be extremely useful in Vegas because the traffic is terrible, especially during major events with road closures like the NFL Draft which was going on when I went. Getting from the airport to the Flamingo took forever.
(I think we were in town the same time as you lol)
The Vegas loop is a pathetic joke
A constantly running train on the strip would absolutely rule!!! Walking that thing is terrible. Most of the time you just walk the casino tunnels or walkways and avoid the strip.
Vegas is just full of bad decisions, I guess 😂
We visited Las Vegas in 2004. The new monorail had to be shut down before we arrived. A wheel had fallen off and rolled down the street. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Based on some of the videos, if a monorail was to malfunction between stations, a crane would be needed to get some PEOPLE down on the ground one by one.
Watching this video got me thinking, that the JTA's Skyway in Jacksonville, FL might be a good topic for a video.
In Vegas? It'd had to be elevated.
1/4 mile is less than 500m. Who is so lazy, my dad is 87yo and walk 3km each day.
The longer I stare at it, the less it makes sense. This is exactly how I look at America now. My mind went gridlock ithink
I hear those things are awfully loud.
Whats wrong with an underground transit system?
Didn't do a double take; thought this was a fallout video
I'm in Vegas a lot for conferences (at least pre-COVID) 7-8x a year. Mostly at Mandalay, LVCC, Sands CC, and MGM. Staying at a "Conference Hotel" can be expensive and/or might not be at a property I want to stay at or have "Loyalty Status" with. The biggest conferences usually have dedicated private bus shuttles which are fine but not always ideal or fast. The best thing sometimes for me to get around without messing with the busses/bus schedule or paying for taxi/Uber, is the Monorail. Buy a multi-day pass and you are good for on/off as much as you need, when you need. $5 is high for "public transit" but it's way cheaper than an Uber ride from the LVCC to the MGM at rush hour.
The strip so so god damn wide you’d think they could put LRT on it.
Well, the biggest problem is you have a lot of different interests w/ deep pockets and power with different viewpoints= all of them self serving. You need a dictator w/ total authority to implement a vision and that's just never going to happen. SO= you get a bunch of conflicting concepts- none of which work great on their own and none of which work well in unison. 1. There shouldn't be any traffic allowed on the strip. Period. Downtown had lanes but has since closed and it's a much friendlier and engaging environment not just for tourists- but for everybody. I can't think of anything that epitomizes 'Vegas" than walking the strip. It would be so much Nicer and easier and friendlier to tourists and locals alike. You could also manage and monitor the strip better- clear out the vagrants and dealers and predators if there was only a pedestrian throughway. 2. Check out Mpls's Orange line. It used to be a kind of smattering of express bus routes which had to stop in traffic at regular intervals- it sucked. NOW- they built stations in the middle of the already existing highway= Easy to access/ easier to monitor for hoodlums/ faster. It's an example of something being done right. Well, if you going to close the strip to traffic= a simple and easy tram could move people in either direction in a safe an fun way right down the center of the strip. Hell, you could even just have people movers like Ceasers used to have to ferry people from the sidewalk into their casino. Generally, people on the strip aren't in a hurry to get from one end of it to the other. When i lived there I used to hangout in various casino commons areas on the strip just for fun and to people watch and just for something to do. If the strip were a kind of openair promenade= you'd make everyone happier. Even the newer changes to the strip like the North side of NYNY are a welcome respite from how operators used to design people flow. 3. The casino's employ a shit ton of workers. They have homes and families and kids, so creating 2 exit points for them= wow, not only would you improve the quality of their work time/ you'd lessen the pull of services required to move all of the workers to their intended destination. How? Numerous ways- You could use the existing monorail- that sucks- and turn industrial center into a huge parking facility that you would then make all employee's on the half (Divided N to S) park their. You'd charge them a fee too and keep it safe with security and lights and only accessible with a badge so none of the bums or tweakers can enter. They won't have to worry about their car or belongings and you will negate them from the people flow of the strip. Than you build one on the other end, maybe on the back side of Mandalay or next to it/ how about claiming eminent domain on that stupid golf course/ convert that into another giant employee parking tower for all of the workers on That side of the strip (divided in half going N to S). All you would have to do is either extend the Monorail or connect it to the monorail that runs from Excal- to Mandalay. If you closed traffic on the strip and had a more efficient way to ferry workers to their cars- in areas that the public wouldn't be or even allowed= I'm sure most tourists would be happier with a more relaxing environment and with a noticeable drop in overall people there. 4. If you did this all= you could ditch the bridges. They Suck. They suck on a level of sucking that even other things that suck are happy they don't suck as much as that. I remember the strip before them- you couldn't cross the strip during busy hours going E/W in less than an hour and a half- so we needed them- but they still blow. The escalators aren't in constant repair/ the stupid Elevators are slow as shit? and you take the focus of the guest experience OFF of the totality of the local and compartmentalize it. The strip doesn't have any symmetry now. There's no flow from 1 property to the next. It's just a bunch of sections you pass through and some are ok and a lot of them suck. Go walk down glitter gulch and tell me that isn't a more 1 unison environment vibe than the strip. The strip, with the cars, and vagrants (I don't feel safe their half the time) and the NOISE, and the endless up and down escalators- it's lame now. Remove cars and you'll boost tourism because they'll enjoy BEING there more. People walk the strip only to get to a different casino. Think if they walked the strip because it was something on it's own- to enjoy?
Well, the biggest problem is you have a lot of different interests w/ deep pockets and power with different viewpoints= all of them self serving. You need a dictator w/ total authority to implement a vision and that's just never going to happen. SO= you get a bunch of conflicting concepts- none of which work great on their own and none of which work well in unison. 1. There shouldn't be any traffic allowed on the strip. Period. Downtown had lanes but has since closed and it's a much friendlier and engaging environment not just for tourists- but for everybody. I can't think of anything that epitomizes 'Vegas" than walking the strip. It would be so much Nicer and easier and friendlier to tourists and locals alike. You could also manage and monitor the strip better- clear out the vagrants and dealers and predators if there was only a pedestrian throughway. 2. Check out Mpls's Orange line. It used to be a kind of smattering of express bus routes which had to stop in traffic at regular intervals- it sucked. NOW- they built stations in the middle of the already existing highway= Easy to access/ easier to monitor for hoodlums/ faster. It's an example of something being done right. Well, if you going to close the strip to traffic= a simple and easy tram could move people in either direction in a safe an fun way right down the center of the strip. Hell, you could even just have people movers like Ceasers used to have to ferry people from the sidewalk into their casino. Generally, people on the strip aren't in a hurry to get from one end of it to the other. When i lived there I used to hangout in various casino commons areas on the strip just for fun and to people watch and just for something to do. If the strip were a kind of open-air promenade= you'd make everyone happier. Even the newer changes to the strip like the North side of NYNY are a welcome respite from how operators used to design people flow. 3. The casino's employ a shit ton of workers. They have homes and families and kids, so creating 2 exit points for them= wow, not only would you improve the quality of their work time/ you'd lessen the pull of services required to move all of the workers to their intended destination. How? Numerous ways- You could use the existing monorail- that sucks- and turn industrial center into a huge parking facility that you would then make all employee's on the half (Divided N to S) park their. You'd charge them a fee too and keep it safe with security and lights and only accessible with a badge so none of the bums or tweakers can enter. They won't have to worry about their car or belongings and you will negate them from the people flow of the strip. Than you build one on the other end, maybe on the back side of Mandalay or next to it/ how about claiming eminent domain on that stupid golf course/ convert that into another giant employee parking tower for all of the workers on That side of the strip (divided in half going N to S). All you would have to do is either extend the Monorail or connect it to the monorail that runs from Excal- to Mandalay. If you closed traffic on the strip and had a more efficient way to ferry workers to their cars- in areas that the public wouldn't be or even allowed= I'm sure most tourists would be happier with a more relaxing environment and with a noticeable drop in overall people there. 4. If you did this all= you could ditch the bridges. They Suck. They suck on a level of sucking that even other things that suck are happy they don't suck as much as that. I remember the strip before them- you couldn't cross the strip during busy hours going E/W in less than an hour and a half in a car- so we needed them- but they still blow. The escalators are in constant repair/ the stupid Elevators are slow as shit? and you take the focus of the guest experience OFF of the totality of the local and compartmentalize it. The strip doesn't have any symmetry now. There's no flow from 1 property to the next. It's just a bunch of sections you pass through and some are ok and a lot of them suck. Go walk down glitter gulch and tell me that isn't a more 1 unison environment vibe than the strip. The strip, with the cars, and vagrants (I don't feel safe their half the time) and the NOISE, and the endless up and down escalators- it's lame now. Remove cars and you'll boost tourism because they'll enjoy BEING there more. People walk the strip only to get to a different casino. Think if they walked the strip because it was something on it's own- to enjoy?
Oh, and as an added benefit to centralizing employee parking= Every casino that has a dedicated lot (Which is all of them) would find themselves with a whole lot of extra land to do something with- it's probably the concepts biggest selling point. "Oh, now I have 5 more acre's? what can I do with that?" Just look what Ballys did with all that dead space in front of them- a cool pedestrian promenade that draws businesses to lease the space, draws tourists to visit it, and makes your property stand out and be more memorable to visitors.
"Hotel California school of interior design." Perfect!
Do New Orleans
I used the monorail on the strip for DEFCON in 2015, it worked great for me, especially in combination with a lot of underage drinking. The fare wasn't memorably high when I paid for the whole trip worth of day passes on arrival, and got me between Bally's (where DEFCON was held) and my hotel, which was the last stop. It was very empty though so idunno. I was living in Toronto at the time, and it felt a lot more useful than the TTC lol.
The wayfinding isn't a huge deal because the monorail stops are at the back of every building, and visible any time you go outside.
A separate tram on the centerline of the strip, maybe even primarily made of monotrack, would probably work pretty well.
wait a second, if catenary wires being visually cluttering is an issue, why not just copy what sydney did with their cbd and south east lrt lines? they use a powered third rail system that only powers on when the tram is directly over it, making it safe to be walked over.
i mean, maybe someone needs to show the planners and casinos that it could be done without overhead wires, because they might then actually approve of it lol. or maybe they'll just use it to make a sleeker streetcar that'll still get stuck in traffic to remind you that you are in vegas, after all.
Reminds me of the PRC purposefully corrupting democratic local governments in order to “prove” democracy doesn’t work
I kindof liked the monorail. It came in real handy getting to the hotels on the strip from the Westgate and back several times a day with the unlimited pass, and the views of the Venetian were pretty nice.
I was in Vegas twice. First time I had no idea there was a monorail. Second time, I knew about it, and was going to use it, but having to walk from my hotel (on west side of Strip) to the monorail, then walk to T-Mobile (also on west side) it would have only saved me about 5 minutes.
8:15 it's five dollars to get from ohare on the blue line in chicago
Yeah this thing was horrible, the walk out the the back of the hotels, monorail to the other hotel, then walk from the back of the second hotel. Way faster to cab from the front of hotel to the next hotel.
Hey, I'm going to TI to see the "Marvel Avengers Station", free parking.
The day they close the Strip to vehicle traffic they will get voted out.
does las vegas have any service to the clark county justice center?