Curtis Myles, president and chief executive of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., said a combination of building ridership and signing more ad contracts should provide the financial boost necessary to make the system profitable.

And confidence in a profitable system and increasing consumer demand with the variety of new projects downtown is what's needed to get private investors interested in extending the monorail route downtown -- a proposal boosted by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman at BankWest's unveiling of its new train on Tuesday.

Monorail ridership is not meeting expectations with the system serving about 30,000 passengers a day, below the 50,000 operators were hoping for and the 36,000 a day the system needs to cover costs.

The $650 million system was hurt by a series of mechanical glitches that closed it down for more than three months and prompted Moody's to downgrade the company's bonds to below investment grade.

In January, the Federal Transportation Administration rejected putting a $320 million grant into extending the monorail route two miles north to downtown from the system's terminus at the Sahara. The decision led to the shelving of a partnership between the monorail company and the Regional Transportation Commission to build the downtown extension.

Monorail officials opted instead to focus their attention on extending the route south from the MGM Grand to McCarran International Airport to address a growing problem of lengthy waits for passengers seeking taxis.

Myles said new attractions downtown -- the World Market Center opening next week, new luxury condominium projects and planned developments on 61 acres just west of Main and Fremont streets -- has generated interest in developing private financing to get the downtown link of the monorail back on track.

He added that the success of the monorail also is dependent on integrating it with new and existing public transportation options, such as the Citizens Area Transit bus system, the modern train-like Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) system that operates in dedicated traffic lanes in North Las Vegas and is expected to be extended to downtown Las Vegas and a light rail system that is on the drawing board.

Myles is well-positioned to work with RTC officials to integrate transportation options -- he replaced former monorail chief executive and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson after working several years as the RTC's deputy general manager.

Goodman, with the fire-engine red "Moneyrail" train on the track behind him, told a crowd of about 150 gathered for the BankWest unveiling that the monorail is important to the fortunes of downtown Las Vegas.

BankWest executives also took the podium to praise the monorail system, expressing confidence that the system's mechanical problems are behind it. The bank, founded in 1994 by casino owner Bill Boyd, who was present for the festivities, is the first local business to pony up the $1 million-a-year fee to sponsor a monorail train.

The bank is getting some bang for its bucks: In addition to putting the BankWest logo on the train, the bank is getting exclusive rights to put automatic teller machines in the seven monorail stations on the four-mile route.

The BankWest of Nevada monorail train makes its inaugural ride Tuesday. Photo by Matthew Minard

The bank is tying an only-in-Vegas promotion to the introduction of the ATMs, turning them into slot machines for some lucky users. Some customers will get an additional $100 when they use one of the machines for a transaction. The bank hasn't said how much extra cash the machines will spit out and for how long.

In addition to BankWest Chairman Art Marshall and President and Chief Executive Larry Woodrum discussing their investment, Robert Sarver, chairman and chief executive of the Western Alliance Bancorporation, said the affiliation between the bank and the monorail is important to his group.

The top executive for the holding company for BankWest, the Alliance Bank of Arizona and the Torrey Pines Bank of California said the proximity of those two states to Las Vegas has stirred interest in the monorail from his customers.

"It provides additional exposure and marketing opportunities for us," said Sarver, who also is the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team and the Arizona Rattlers Arena Football League team.

The BankWest deal with the monorail could jump-start other sponsorships.

Patrick Pharris, president and chief executive of Promethean Partners LLC, which secured deals with Hansen's Beverage Co., Paramount Parks, Nextel Communications and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to place ads on trains, said other companies are waiting in the wings.

Pharris did not disclose names, but said his company is in negotiations with an American automaker, a rental-car company and a clothing manufacturer to be the next company to put its logo on a train.

Richard N. Velotta covers tourism for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4061 or by e-mail at velotta@lasvegassun.com.