Las Vegas faces one major problem when major events or conventions take over the city.
The Las Vegas Strip's setup is unlike that of any other city, which generally makes it ideal for hosting a Super Bowl, a Formula 1 race, or conventions that bring in more than 100,000 people.
No other city has so many world-class hotels, restaurants, and entertainment options crammed into such a small space. If you hold one of these major events in Orlando or New York, guests would be spread out over a much greater distance.
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In Las Vegas, the vast majority of the resort casinos are clustered on the south and central sections of the Las Vegas Strip. You can walk between the various Caesars Entertainment (CZR) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) properties in those areas and take the monorail from those resorts to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
So what's the problem? It's really hard to get around the Strip.
Walking has become a challenge on parts of the South and Central Strips as sidewalks have been broken up, requiring people to use walkways and escalators. They generally are unable to walk in a straight line.
More important, there's no easy way to get to the Strip, aside from taking a cab or ride-share service. Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) serve Las Vegas, but they're relegated to secondary pickup spots at the Caesars and MGM resorts as well as at the airport.
For airport trips, taxis remain the best option; for pickups from your hotel's front door, they're your only option.
And those rides are about to get a lot more expensive.
Image source: Robert Mora/Getty Images.
Las Vegas Taxi Prices Are Going Up
Getting a cab in Las Vegas will soon cost you more. The base fee for every ride will increase fully 50%, to $5.25 from $3.50, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"The distance fee will also increase from 23 cents for every 1/12th of a mile traveled to 37 cents per every 1/8th mile. For the algebra-challenged, that’s an increase of 20 cents per mile, from $2.76 to $2.96," Casino.org reported. That's a more than 7% rise.
And those increases are not the only way taxi fares are going up. Riders looking to get from Harry Reid International Airport to the Las Vegas Strip pay a set fee based on where they are staying. The cost to get to each of the three zones on the Strip from the airport is going up as well.
- Zone 1 (Sunset Road north to Tropicana Avenue): From $19 to $21 (10.5%)
- Zone 2 (Tropicana north to Flamingo Road): From $23 to $25 (8.7%)
- Zone 3: (Flamingo north to the STRAT): From $27 to $29 (7.4%)
The Taxicab Authority, which decides on rates, has also considered implementing surge pricing, the demand-based system that Lyft and Uber use. That could be implemented during peak times and major events like Las Vegas Raiders games or concerts at Allegiant Stadium.
No timetable for when the increases will go into effect has been set, but it should be in place before year's end, according to Casino.org. In addition, no decision about surge pricing has been formally made, nor has a timetable for when that decision will be made been set.
Elon Musk Looms Over Every Decision
While taxis remain a key part of the transportation infrastructure on the Las Vegas Strip for now, they will become less important when Elon Musk's Boring Co. finishes its Las Vegas Loop.
This is an series of underground tunnels through which driverless Tesla vehicles will shuttle people not just to Strip destinations but to the convention center, downtown, the airport, and other Las Vegas locations.
"During typical peak hours, driving from the Las Vegas Convention Center to Allegiant Stadium, for example, can take up to 30 minutes. The same trip on Vegas Loop will take approximately 4 minutes," Boring Co. says on its website.
"Vegas Loop will be designed with similar compatible construction infrastructure and would provide an express connection between any two stations using Tesla vehicles."
Currently, Boring Co. has a small loop connecting the north and south sections of the convention center as well as a connector between Resorts World on the North Strip and the convention center.
Musk's ambitious plans will eventually include 18 miles of tunnels and more than 50 planned stations with routes going throughout the resort corridor, to Allegiant Stadium, and to Harry Reid International Airport, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
No timetable has been given for the Loop to be completed or even for some meaningful parts of it to be put into operation.
