LAS VEGAS TRANSPORTATION

Transportation

Although Las Vegas cannot yet be classified as a big city, it does face many of the same challenges as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles when it comes to transportation.  With an ever growing population and rising tourist numbers, substantial demands are place on every roadway in the city. This, of course, results in dozens of ongoing construction efforts either to add new thoroughfares or to widen those already in use.  One of the more curious sites that newcomers encounter is wide 4-6 lane roads that appear to go nowhere.  Fear not, in a few years, these roads will be important to ease the Las Vegas growth. Southern Nevada invests $500 million a year in surface transportation, and the result has been more stress-free commutes in less time.

McCarran Airport, which serves the Las Vegas Valley, is one of the top ten busiest airports in the nation. The Clark County Department of Aviation is constantly expanding and remodeling the airport to meet the needs of the community. Getting into and out of Las Vegas has also become easier with the addition of 26 more gates at McCarran International Airport.  In 1999, McCarran recorded its highest year-end percentage passenger increase in five years. The city recently purchased 6,500 acres near Jean, south of Las Vegas, for a proposed second airport site, which could handle an additional 30 million passengers annually.

Bus service is provided via the Citizens Area Transit (CAT) mass transit system. CAT transports more than 2.5 million passengers per month. The buses offer 24 hour service in the downtown and strip areas, and 20 hour service to residential areas. In addition to the CAT bus system, a sleek, new modern bus called MAX (Metropolitan Area Express) has come to North Las Vegas. MAX made its debut in the Las Vegas Valley in 2003.

A monorail system was launched in 2004.  The Monorail consists of seven stations over four miles connecting eight resorts and the Las Vegas Convention Center.  The sleek, driverless monorail provides a quick and comfortable ride through the heart of the resort corridor with eventual plans to link with the airport and further downtown

AIRPORT INFO:   http://mccarran.com/

DRIVING INFO:       http://safetravelusa.com/nv/

GETTING AROUND LAS VEGAS: http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/stay/planning-information/basics.jsp?page=getting-around-vegas