Transportation in Las Vegas

[2][3] Many proposals have been made to expand the transportation system in the Las Vegas Valley including commuter rail[4] and rapid transit.

[5] Before Las Vegas became a tourist destination, railroads were a major industry in southern Nevada.

The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was the first to lay track in the Las Vegas Valley.

[7][8] The Desert Wind operated on Union Pacific tracks between Salt Lake City Denver & Rio Grande Depot and Los Angeles Union Station with a stop at the Las Vegas Amtrak station.

Amtrak plans for restoration of Las Vegas rail service surfaced almost immediately after the discontinuation of the Desert Wind.

These plans recommended using Talgo trains between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, similar to Amtrak's Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest.

In 2005 DesertXpress Enterprises LLC was formed in an attempt to restore passenger rail service to Las Vegas.

In 2009, after years of environmental reports, determining right of way, and debating over what federal agency would have regulatory authority, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced the official recognition of DesertXpress as a high-speed route.

[10] Their Brightline West project is a plan to construct a 185 mi (298 km) high-speed route from Las Vegas to Southern California.

The terminus of this line, Victorville, has been criticized due to its distance from Downtown Los Angeles, the place long considered to be the prime location for any high-speed rail terminal.

Terminal Three opened in June 2012, and added an additional fourteen gates, seven of which are to be used for international travelers to and from London, Mexico City, Frankfurt, Seoul, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam and Paris (seasonally).

In late 2007 Clark County commissioners gave permission to the Las Vegas Monorail Company for an extension to Harry Reid International Terminal One although funding had yet to be determined.

The extension was met with negativity by limo and taxi companies that had previously been the major transportation providers for arriving tourists.

However, as of August 2011, due to the economic downturn and lack of demand increase, the airport has been put on temporary hold and is still in the design phase.

[19][20] The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) operates the following bus services: (always check for changes, detours and outages) RTC Transit: South Strip Transit Terminal also called SSTT, is a major bus depot just south of the airport at 6675 Gilespie Street at 36°04′07″N 115°09′54″W / 36.068615°N 115.165103°W / 36.068615; -115.165103.

[36][37][38] Centennial Hills Transit Center and Park & Ride is at 7313 Grand Montecito Pkwy in the northwest of the Las Vegas Valley at 36°17′38″N 115°17′06″W / 36.293950°N 115.284894°W / 36.293950; -115.284894.

The CX Centennial Express bus stops at Centennial Hills Transit Center[39][40] Westcliff Transit Center and Park & Ride is at 25 South Durango Drive off the Summerlin Parkway, Highway 613, west of the city at 36°10′24″N 115°16′41″W / 36.173407°N 115.278181°W / 36.173407; -115.278181.

The outdoor UNLV Transit Center was built by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and RTC, with bicycle racks.

[46] Greyhound Bus has stations in Las Vegas, including South Strip Transit Terminal and Harry Reid International Airport.

The official City of Las Vegas statement: “The autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown.

It was built primarily as a tourist transit system, and exclusively serves the Las Vegas Strip.

Although ridership has declined due to Sahara closing in 2011 and the COVID pandemic, it still remains a key piece of the Las Vegas transportation system.

The monorail runs between the MGM Grand and the SLS which opened in August 2014 replacing the Sahara Casino.

The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop, LVCC Loop, is an underground transit tunnel opened in June 2021 to move Las Vegas Convention Center attendees by Tesla taxi around the vast complex.

[63] The system was built to reduce the walking time for attendees of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Ride attractions such as gondolas at the Grand Canal Shoppes and The Venetian Las Vegas also exist.