The Las Vegas Monorail Co. is pinning future growth on a proposed extension to Mandalay Bay, even though newly released figures show that ridership fell for a second consecutive year on its existing 3.9-mile route.

The Las Vegas Monorail turns around at MGM Grand on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @vegasphotograph

The Las Vegas Monorail Co. is pinning future growth on a proposed extension to Mandalay Bay, even though newly released figures show that ridership fell for a second consecutive year on its existing 3.9-mile route.

The transit system reported more than 4.81 million passenger boardings in 2017, about 124,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to figures posted this week on the nonprofit’s website.





Total revenue for the private company — including ticket sales, advertising and other income — came in at $21.85 million in 2017, virtually stagnant when compared with the prior year.

The figures fall short of predictions that the monorail would generate $24.3 million in fare revenue for 2017, according to a ridership study published in April 2016 by BuroHappold Engineering.

In December, monorail spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman attributed the decline in ridership to increased competition from ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft — which also have severely cut into ridership for Las Vegas-area taxicabs and public buses operated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

The figures were released as the Las Vegas Monorail Co. embarks on an effort to expand the route by 1.14 miles from the MGM Grand to Mandalay Bay. Supporters of the monorail expansion have said a link to Mandalay Bay would allow pedestrians to walk across a proposed bridge over Interstate 15 to the stadium.

Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak on Monday said the “monorail is an integral part in terms of transporting these folks back and forth” to the stadium, hotels and the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is undergoing a massive expansion.

“We can’t do it all by cab and Uber and private transportation,” Sisolak said during a news conference meant to promote the monorail’s new partnership with GooglePay. “The monorail has to absorb a bigger percentage of this.”

Even though monorail executives have not disclosed an estimate, a source with knowledge of the project told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in December that the expansion will likely cost about $110 million.

Curtis Myles, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., said Monday that he hopes to announce “in the next month or so” plans on how the extension will be funded.

“We’ve got it figured out,” Myles said. “But we’re not ready to talk about it publicly yet.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter. Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.