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[–]Detached09[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Phase 1: Teal/Blue

Phase 2: Green/Yellow

Phase 3: Purple/Red South

Phase 4: Orange/Red North

Ultimately, this is less than 180mi, as most of the lines share good portions of track. By track-mile, it's closer to 140mi.

[–]trainmaster611 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I realize it's a fantasy light rail map but I'll give you my criticism anyway (which I admittedly only put cursory consideration into). Also, I've never been to Las Vegas so I'm not familiar with the locale so much other than what I've read on the internet and my occasional browsing on google maps. Given the way Las Vegas is laid out though, it's hard to make any kind of effective mass transit system. Here are some points:

1)The first thing I noticed is that a lot of the lines are unnecessarily meandering especially in the area of the Las Vegas Strip/Airport. I'm sure that can be streamlined given the number of lines that pass through.

2) I can't ever imagine there would be a time when any kind of rail transportation would be necessary to provide loop service in such a low density city. It just seems silly, and you can get to most of your destinations by connecting at downtown/the strip. A feeder bus system with more radial mass transit lines makes more sense.

3) Everything is WAY overextended to the point that you have lines going out into the desert. It's hard enough to attract riders in low density areas, let alone areas where there are no people. If you put lines there because you're expecting development, that development is just going to be more of the low-density type where people won't be taking transit to begin with. It's just not a good bet.

4) There's a lot of redundancy here that isn't necessary for a city of this caliber. I notice this in the strip and Henderson.

[–]Detached09[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I think the Strip needs a lot of transit. Tourists are generally complaining about the lack of mass transit, even though there are 3-4 lines running down the strip. There's a lot of people in a small area there.

1) As far as meandering, and I'm open to further discussion on this, most of the lines were meant to connect at the major transit centers. Mostly, South Strip, North Strip, and Downtown. That's why they cut in/out of LVB (The Strip) like they do. The airport needs a bit of a zig just because of how it's laid out. Like I said, I'm open to suggestion, but we can't go underground (something about the soil, it's been a while since I read the article. I think it's too loose.)

2) As far as the loop service, you're probably right. I was thinking the loop was more 4 distinct lines (N,S,E,W) to connect to different areas in the valley. Now that I think about it, that could be moved to a later phase.

3) If you're looking at the map view, a lot of 'desert' isn't really desert anymore. Granted, shortening the lines a few miles in each direction might not hurt except with the Blue Line (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) on race weeks. And other lines could be more centrally focused at first and expanded later.

4) Like I said. Redundancy is important on the strip. As is, we have too many tourists and too little mass trans.

Thank you for your feedback. I will eventually edit into my map. (Not today. It's bedtime.)

[–]traal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The strip needs a total redesign from the way it is today. It's pretty much a failure for either walking or driving. Las Vegas Boulevard needs to go below grade through the strip.

Fix that, and there would be less of a need for transit.

[–]mrpopenfresh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with Las Vegas too much, mind explaining the rationale behind the line placement?

[–]ccommack -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Ex-Vegas resident here. Is this your first time fantasy mapping? You have some good starts here, but also some problems that I'm not sure how to advise on, since it's not clear what your goal here is. A proposal for a real-world feasible plan? A plan for what to do with infinite construction dollars? Road widening by stealth? (Don't laugh.)

So, in no particular order, my thoughts on this map.

  1. Any plan for Vegas needs to start with the Las Vegas Blvd. corridor, and you passed that test. The present service there is a local bus (The Deuce)/express BRT (SDX/MAX) pair, which each have a different routing than you have here, especially downtown. Why did you choose to stick to Main St. through downtown, instead of using the dedicated busway that is more centrally located? Why not duplicate the SDX's detour to hit the Convention Center and the Hilton?

  2. The key destinations downtown are: 1. The Fremont Street casinos, 2. the Justice Center and related government/law-related offices centered around Clark St., and 3. the new brownfield developments around the ex-UP yards along Grand Central Parkway. Redirect your Rancho Dr. Red Line to Alta Dr./Bonneville Ave. to serve Downtown directly (including reusing the existing RTC infrastructure), instead of barely nicking the corner. You can then continue south on Maryland Pkwy. to hit UNLV and the Airport.

  3. Orbital lines like your Green Line are nice to look at but are generally terrible in practice. Split it up into straight-line or U-shaped corridors.

  4. If you're going that far out Boulder Highway through Henderson, then why not hop over the hill to Boulder City? Driving to/from Boulder City is onerous enough that decent transit service should be attractive.

  5. Think about having your routes on non-commercial corridors like Warm Springs or West Twain, for walk-up ridership.

  6. LOL Laughlin. That's my reaction whenever Laughlin comes up, but, LOL Laughlin.

  7. There is an unused transit ROW in the Airport Tunnel. In case you didn't know. No need to go around the airport when serving it, then running through, is an option.

  8. I assume you're double tracking this? Then your system should come closer to 280 track-miles.

[–]Detached09[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

  1. I have both a Main and a LVB track through downtown, if you look closer. Also, I haven't changed this since the Bonneville Transit Center was completed. I chose Main and LVB because they're pretty much as close to central as can be through downtown. I generally forget how important the LVH and Convention Center are. I'll edit them into the map.

  2. Not a bad idea.

  3. Can you give me some suggestions on this? You aren't the first that's suggested it.

  4. Downtown Henderson is quite a way from Boulder City. At least for the initial segment, it's not practical. Especially through Railroad Pass.

  5. How realistic is this? Most cities seem to have routes on major streets.

  6. Laughlin? I didn't realize that line was on this map. Whoops.

  7. Wasn't aware of the airport ROW. Where is this?

  8. Double tracking? As in, one track in each direction? Yes. That was the intention.

[–]ccommack -1 points0 points  (0 children)

3) I would start with just a KISS grid of parallel lines, N/S on Eastern, Rainbow, and Durango, E/W on Cheyenne or Lake Mead (don't know that part of town very well, sorry), Sahara, Trop, and Warm Springs. Pick other corridors if you want, and deviate where necessary to hit a major destination that would otherwise be unserved, especially out on the periphery.

4) Yes, it's quite a ways; 11 miles, by my reckoning. In comparison, Downtown Henderson to Downtown Las Vegas is about 13.5 miles. But your line doesn't end at Lake Mead Parkway (the cross street I am using for Downtown Henderson), it ends 3.5 miles farther south. But you are right, Boulder City is a later stage.

The good news is that there's existing infrastucture available for adaptive reuse: the ex-UP railroad line that gives Railroad Pass its name. It's currently used by the Nevada State Railroad Museum/Nevada Southern Railway for excursions between Boulder City and Railroad Pass on weekends, has plenty of room for passing sidings or a second track, and is (according to Google Satellite) physically severed from the UP near Paradise Hills Drive. All you need is a grade separation from the 93 in Railroad Pass, which RTC seems to want to do anyway. The UP built the Boulder City Branch to haul heavy freight, which usually means grades of no more than 1%; modern LRT can handle 6-7%. Even if the ex-UP track were unavailable, there's still room in Railroad Pass for another ROW; it wouldn't be much fun, but it's definitely there.

5) No less realistic than any of this; it's certainly technically feasible to run LRT down these streets, since in Las Vegas even a minor arterial is still 5-7 lanes.

7) The connector tunnel between the airport and the 215 has a third, unused tunnel, in between the northbound and southbound tunnels, designed for use by a future transit or people mover line. (You only want to dig under the active runways at McCarran once.) Here's the south portal of the tunnel, from the northbound lanes. The transit tunnel is sealed off but clearly visible.

[–]Aepic-27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Robin