Developers of the Las Vegas Monorail announced recently that the $650-million futuristic transit system running along the Las Vegas Strip should be completed $23 million under budget and on schedule to begin revenue service by March 1, 2004.

Cam Walker, president, CEO and principal of Transit Systems Management, the management firm for the Las Vegas Monorail Company, relayed this news during a meeting of the Las VegasMonorail Company’s five-member board of directors. During the meeting, the board approved the budget for the project and submitted it to Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn for his approval.

“We’re proud to near completion of a project of this magnitude on time and under budget, and are happy to report we have no claims outstanding,” Walker said. “This success is the result of great teamwork and partnership, and we need to recognize the great work of our contractors, Bombardier Transportation and Granite Construction, and also the hard work of our oversight consultants, GC Wallace and Booz Allen Hamilton.”

In addition to being a much-needed transit system that will ease traffic congestion on and around the famed Strip, Walker said the monorail will be another unique attraction for Las Vegas.

“The Las Vegas Monorail will be a huge benefit, convenience and an attraction for the millions of Las Vegas locals and visitors we expect to ride the monorail each year,” said John Haycock, chairman of the LVMC board of directors.

According to project officials, the Las Vegas Monorail is the most technologically advanced public transportation system in the world. It will link eight major Las Vegas resorts with more than 24,000 hotel rooms and nine convention facilities, including the Las Vegas Convention Center, the largest single-level facility of its kind in the world.

The 4-mi. (6.4 km) system will connect the MGM Grand and Sahara hotel-casinos on a route running east of and parallel to the Las Vegas Strip. Plans call for the monorail to eventually connect downtown Las Vegas and McCarran International Airport.

Walker said the fare for a one-way trip on the Las Vegas Monorail will be $3, with round-trip fare costing $5.50. The monorail will run 20 hours per day, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., 365 days a year.

Led by the late Robert Broadbent, a former Clark County Commissioner and mayor of Boulder City who chaired Transit Systems Management, the monorail is the result of a decade-long effort by entrepreneurs, business leaders and elected officials who successfully raised $650 million from revenue bonds, which will be supported by monorail fare revenue.

The monorail system is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Monorail Company, a non-profit corporation whose board is appointed by Nevada’s governor. The monorail company has engaged Transit Systems Management, LLC to administer all monorail-related contracts for the non-profit corporation.

Bombardier Transportation, the world’s largest transportation company, is overseeing construction of the entire system. Granite Construction, one of the largest construction companies in North America, is the civil contractor. Gensler Architects, the largest architectural firm in the United States, is the master architect. Carter-Burgess is the engineer of record.

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