The Las Vegas Moronorail is finally about to open (maybe), many months behind schedule:
The Las Vegas monorail is back on track for a scheduled July 15 opening after nearly six months of costly delays during which engineers worked out various kinks that threatened the rail system's reliability.Cost overruns! It's probably still unreliable! It's way behind schedule! And it's ugly! But Seattle's Moronomaniac cult is still drooling to bring one to town:
Seattle monorail backers, especially City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, have pointed to the Vegas project as proof elevated transit can work in Seattle. Opponents have pointed to the delays as a bad omen for the Green Line, and even Steinbrueck agrees that the generic-looking concrete columns in Vegas are not attractive enough for Seattle tastes.Sigh. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 30, 2004 12:16 PM
as a person who rides a bus 4 days out of 5 per week, have there been any discussions of improving the bus service in areas that are allegedly benefiting from this monorail project? is improved bus service simply not an attractive or viable alternative?
any construction project of this magnitude is certain to have: 1) cost overruns; and 2) delays.
(see the bay bridge issue in the bay area).
Hey! What's wrong with monorails? Disney World has one so it's got to be good.
Posted by: Andrea Harris on June 30, 2004 02:08 PMDinesh, you're right about buses. They're a more cost-effective and flexible way to move people around a city than a fixed rail system. Unfortunately, they're not as lucrative of a source of pork barrel spending as rail. That's why the bus sytem is suffering to make room for Monorail and Sound Transit light rail.
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on June 30, 2004 05:19 PMThe mention of attractiveness is right on; the only advantage monorails have over cheaper surface or elevated rail is that they can be made to look better and perhaps sound quieter. Hardly worth the outrageous cost, however.
Posted by: John Doe on June 30, 2004 05:30 PMLooks like everyone likes monorails.
Here is a link to the Jakarta monorail project:
http://www.indahnesia.com/Indonesia/Jawa/Jakarta/Jakarta.php?code=JAKMON
Jakarta monorail project
Work started Monday on a $600 million monorail system, designed to carry up to 270,000 people a day, which will ease the Indonesian capital's notorious traffic problems.
A Las Vegas type monorail isn't going to work in any other city. It is starting to work here (has a long way to go to prove itself) but only the same way the one in Disneyland works: It hauls tourists around from one attraction to the next.
Posted by: Ted "Mr Vegas" Newkirk on August 25, 2005 04:51 AM