Robert E. Lang is the director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, and is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. He was speaking at the Brookings Institution/University of Nevada, Las Vegas, conference in Las Vegas on October 28, 2008.

   Lang is one of the authors of the Brookings study titled "Mountain Megas," published in 2008, and was one of the speakers before an invited audience of about 100 at the conference that was about the emergence of the southern Intermountain West - Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

   Because for more than two years now I have been interested in the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport that - if built - will be only the third new international airport constructed in the U.S. over the past half century, I appreciated hearing from a credible source what I have been ruminating over since I first started reading about Ivanpah. Essentially, this is what I think:

   In order to remain fascinating and exciting, and to remain a vibrant and successful commercial center, Las Vegas must continue to be easily accessible for domestic and international air travelers, as well as the latest and most efficient air freighters, with infrastructure for the most modern aircraft.

   At Brookings' Megapolitan Las Vegas program on October 28, 2008, Lang said that Las Vegas has grown four times faster than the nation since 2000. In fact, in the Mountain Megas booklet, it is stated, "Nevada, Arizona and Utah ranked first, second and third in state growth rates between 2000 and 2007."

   With the development, though, also comes challenges. States Mountain Megas, "In the face of the region's rapid growth, four major infrastructure challenges loom large:

   ♦ Underdeveloped surface transportation network

   ♦ Limited global air connectivity

   ♦ Uncertain water supplies

   ♦ Energy in transition"

   All these challenges certainly are relevant to Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

   Concerning the issue of "air connectivity," much credit should be given to the success of Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. Since 1948, when it began as a little airfield, McCarran has grown dramatically, and has served Las Vegas well.

   There were about a million passengers in 1959, and 1.5 million in 1963. In 1982, Clark County sold $315 million in airport revenue bonds for expansion. In 1996, more than 30 million passengers passed through McCarran. Today, service exceeds 40 million passengers.

   Maximum capacity for McCarran is estimated at around 53 million passengers and 625,000 aircraft movements. McCarran is expected to rise to this capacity between 2015 and 2017. Ivanpah Valley Airport is proposed to then go into operation, accommodating primarily international and long-haul domestic flights.

   To repeat the statement of Robert E. Lang, "Las Vegas is a world city due to its connectivity to other cities."

   Since Ivanpah Valley Airport will specialize in accommodating international flights, the long-haul flights landing there will certainly include Airbus A380s, the double-deck jumbo jets that carry around 500 passengers.

   Entering commercial service at the end of 2007, ten of these planes have been delivered so far. Right now, they are flying between Singapore and Sydney, Dubai and New York, as well as Melbourne and Los Angeles.

   Airbus has - as of this writing - firm orders for 198 more A380 airplanes. The A380 will change long-haul jet transportation. They are so big they require unique facilities. Las Vegas will be out of the international jet transportation loop if these planes cannot land in Southern Nevada. This is another reason why Ivanpah Valley Airport will be necessary to maintain Las Vegas' "connectivity."

   When Ivanpah passengers are coming to, or departing from, Ivanpah they should be able to get on high-speed and light rail trains, depending where they want to go.

   Mountain Megas points out that Las Vegas lacks adequate rail systems. Brookings says Las Vegas has to develop both its passenger and freight train networks. Like the other megas, Las Vegas is unable to "go it alone," and it will require support from the federal government "to provide strategic, targeted, and reliable help."

   With developed train infrastructure, some people who live in California between Ivanpah Valley Airport and LAX will choose to fly out of Ivanpah due to enhanced connectivity to the new airport.

   With good trains, a portion of people who reside in San Bernardino and Riverside, California, would prefer to get to Ivanpah - located 30 miles south of Las Vegas at the California border - than use LAX. If transportation from Southern California to Ivanpah is fast and predictable, it will appeal to many who understand the uncertainties of ground travel from, say, San Bernardino all the way to Los Angeles International Airport.

   Also, development of high-speed train service should be considered all the way from Las Vegas up to St. George, Utah, through Mesquite, Nevada. Actually, at the Brookings/UNLV conference, Lang said, by mid 21st century, the St. George area could be considered part of the Las Vegas region.

   Las Vegas' land and air connectivity with other cities needs to be improved for the city to maintain its intriguing modernity and vitality.

   In Mountain Megas, Brookings Institution is saying Las Vegas - and the other megapolitan areas - should have "a long-term federal commitment to high-speed rail" and strategic plans "for its long-term air transportation needs." Also, the region needs "to develop high-quality surface transportation links between airports and regional job and distribution centers."

   In addition, with federal participation, a fresh "partnership is also needed on assembling world-class innovation inputs in the Mountain megas."

   Also, Brookings says the federal government should: "Experiment with new paradigms for augmenting and commercializing alternative-energy innovation."

   Above all, it appears Lang's message is Las Vegas needs to retain its propensity and talent for connectivity.