The Las Vegas Monorail Company is set to expand service to McCarran International Airport early in 2011, a development that should shorten travel times to the Las Vegas Strip and alleviate traffic congestion. 
Approximately 70 percent of an estimated 44 million incoming passengers each year clog McCarran International, hailing taxis or waiting in line for a rental car. Increasing congestion on the roadways leading down onto the Las Vegas Strip has made transportation challenging for visitors.
An onslaught of new hotel construction doesn't help either.
Without suitable and viable public transportation to and from the airport, The
Strip could turn into one long, continual traffic jam. According to Curtis
Myles, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Monorail Company, the city has plans
for more than 40,000 new hotel rooms in the next few years, and expects an
increase in visitor volume. "Extending the monorail to the airport will
provide a fast, convenient and reliable transportation option for visitors from
the time they arrive in
However, some are against the planned expansion, namely taxi drivers and limousine services who depend on airport business.
The expansion plans to the airport include five proposed
stations with two stops at McCarran—the first at Terminal 1 and a second at the
soon-to-be-built Terminal 3. The extension will be 4.2 miles long, which is
slightly longer than the existing stretch that runs between the MGM Grand and
the