LVCVA operating the Las Vegas Monorail isn’t as crazy as you think

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill surprised people this month when he publicly briefed his board of directors that he has made initial overtures for the LVCVA to take over the Las Vegas Monorail Co.

The beleaguered Monorail, the 3.9-mile transit system that operates from the Sahara to MGM Grand with stops at Westgate, the Las Vegas Convention Center, Harrah’s Las Vegas and The Linq Hotel, and Paris Las Vegas and Bally’s, remains a work in progress.

It’s never lived up to its potential and is most useful whenever there’s a megaconvention in town. In recent months, there have been conversations about how it could be more relevant if the Monorail line were to be extended south a mile to Mandalay Bay where the new end of the line would be a 10-minute walk to Allegiant Stadium, a nice stadium event transit option.

There were also discussions about building a station near the corner of Koval Lane and Sands Avenue that could move passengers to and from the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the future MSG Sphere at The Venetian.

In October, the Monorail nailed down $33.6 million in financing for the planned Sphere station — but not the extension to Mandalay Bay. Without that extension, the Monorail once again looked to fall short of its potential.

So why would the LVCVA be interested in acquiring and operating the Monorail?

If the LVCVA, in brighter future days, could somehow accomplish getting the Mandalay extension done, the Monorail would then link the city’s three largest convention centers — the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. But there are other smaller convention centers right off the line that many forget about.

The new Sphere-Sands Expo stop would be across the street from the Wynn Convention Center, which opened in February. The Monorail’s Harrah’s-Linq stop is next to Caesars Forum, the new convention space that was on the verge of opening when the pandemic hit.

And, perhaps because it’s been around awhile, people tend to forget about the MGM Grand Conference Center, the three-story facility that’s a short walk from the MGM Grand Monorail station. The Westgate also has conference space.

While the LVCVA’s mission is to attract visitors to Southern Nevada — and that includes the more than 6 million people who come here annually for conventions — it’s also invested in making sure they can move around once they get here. After all, there are restaurants, shopping, entertainment and other attractions to get to once they arrive for their stay.

While the Monorail is just one piece of Las Vegas’ tourism corridor transit solution, there’s another that could be even more important to long-term mobility.

That’s Elon Musk’s The Boring Company system.

There are some who still believe the LVCVA has rolled the dice when it entrusted Boring to build an underground people-mover to move conventioneers quickly. After all, the system is the first of its kind.

The big-picture Boring Company plan is for the Convention Center system to prove that the concept works and then to burrow beneath the resort corridor with tunnels to important destinations.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Genting Group’s Resorts World Las Vegas already have bought into the idea of having a Boring tunnel connecting their respective properties with the Convention Center.

Hill has spoken of the potential of Boring tunnels connecting properties underground with important destinations, including Allegiant Stadium and McCarran International Airport.

The cool thing about the Boring system is that every destination is point to point. It’s like travelling in an underground ride-hailing system. It’s not like the Monorail, which stops at every station on the route.

There’s just one problem: The Las Vegas Monorail Co. has a non-compete clause in its franchise agreement, meaning a rival transit system, like the one contemplated by The Boring Company, wouldn’t be allowed to run.

But if the LVCVA were to own the Monorail, that non-compete clause could disappear.

Hill was very upfront about that being a benefit of owning the Monorail. It was one of the first things he mentioned when briefing the LVCVA board about the proposed acquisition.

The idea of the LVCVA owning the Monorail isn’t as crazy as some think.

It would give the LVCVA the advantage of connecting multiple convention sites. It would enable The Boring Company to operate.

But most importantly, it would provide new mobility options for the millions of people who visit Las Vegas every year.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates The the Sands Expo and Convention Center. The Sphere is a project by Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas Sands Corp.