LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race week is just around the corner and several questions still remain, including how to get employees where they need to go.
On Tuesday, race officials updated Clark County Commissioners and said employees will have several options.
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That includes parking on-property like normal, parking at the Las Vegas Convention Center and taking the monorail, or parking at the Las Vegas Convention Center and taking a shuttle bus to the Strip.
When looking at property numbers provided to race officials, they've allocated 2,240 parking spaces for Caesars Entertainment, 2,006 parking spaces for the Venetian/Palazzo, 400 parking spaces for Brookfield/Grand Canal Shoppes, 117 parking spaces for Westin, 180 spots for Casino Royale, 80 spots for Ellis Island, 75 spots for Hilton Grand Vacations, 30 spots for Elara-Hilton Grand Vacations, 108 spots for Harmon Center, and 379 spaces for Las Vegas Grand Prix volunteers. Race officials add that properties should be in contact with their employees on who will and will not be allowed to park at the Convention Center.
"Each property parking on or around the convention center lots is distributing a map showing their employees exactly where they'll be parking," said Brian Yost, Chief Operating Officer for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "Employees will be fully briefed on how to get to their parking lots. Those same employees will be receiving monorail tickets through a QR code that will be affixed to their employee badge or parking placard to park at the Convention Center that will afford them the ability to ride the monorail during the course of the race events at no cost to them. That's being provided by the Las Vegas Grand Prix."
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According to race officials, the monorail will be running 24/7 starting on Nov. 14 at 7 a.m. through Nov. 20 at 3 a.m. They add the number of trains operating will be between three and eight trains and the intent is to run at full capacity during peak times. Yost said the monorail will be able to transport about 3,000 passengers per direction, per hour during peak operations. If the monorail is at capacity, he added buses will be on standby to provide transportation. Yost said they're expecting with three to eight trains running, workers will have to wait between five to 11 minutes to take the monorail.
Yost said shuttle hours will vary depending on the day, which you can see below.
The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop will continuously take employees from the West and South Hall parking lots to the monorail and bus hub. Buses will also be staged at the Rio parking lot to shuttle Caesars Entertainment employees into the circuit. Buses will also be staged at off-site parking lots to take MGM Resorts employees to properties adjacent to the circuit.
Yost said the bus company selected to run the shuttles has previously worked with big events in town like SEMA and EDC and can handle traffic flow.
"They are no strangers to both the traffic here in the valley as well as the roads and best routes. They will have constant contact with their drivers through both a GPS system that will show the location all of the shuttle buses while staying in contact through other communication methods," Yost said. "The shuttle operator is proposing multiple routes to accomplish shuttle needs with the expectation if the first route gets too busy, drivers will be instructed to follow the second or third route."
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According to Yost, there will a "test day" for all of the properties parking at the Convention Center to test the system.
"We want to try the lost well in advance of race activities so employees are comfortable with the plan," Yost said.
Yost said there will also be about 180 flaggers located throughout the circuit that will work with law enforcement to "make sure critical arteries like Frank Sinatra are kept as open as possible since it is a main feeder to many of those properties".
You can keep up with the latest on Las Vegas Grand Prix traffic by visiting the race website or by signing up for SMS-text messages.
