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By Robert L. Candiotti October
18, 2010 For those who are interested in the distant future of Las Vegas-related transportation infrastructure
systems, thinking about tomorrow can be both exhilarating and exhausting. For Las Vegas, and the broader Southern Nevada, using a target
year of 2030 for interwoven transportation components of airplanes, trains, autos, trucks and buses can generate
both fun and fatigue.
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Looking back 20 years before looking forward
20 years
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| Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990. Courtesy NASA. |
The monumental Southern Nevada infrastructure projects presently
being considered and discussed academically and commercially are projected ahead generally to the year 2030. Gazing
twenty years forward, which some today-oriented people think is like looking ahead to incomprehensible fantasy fabrications,
actually is not wildly forward in time. Going in the reverse, looking 20 years back to 1990,
is that year so historical? Is it so removed from modern life? In 1990: The first
McDonald's opened a restaurant in Moscow. The tanker captain went on trial for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
Nelson Mandela was released from prison after being behind bars for 27 years in South Africa. In
1990: The Hubble Space Telescope was launched from Space Shuttle Discovery. Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets,
died of pneumonia in New York. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned from office. The World Wide Web was launched.
These events all happened 20 years back. But they do not seem long ago at all. Their occurrences still
feel close to today. Oppositely, 20 years forward certainly is not that outrageously
futuristic. In fact, when it comes to infrastructure planning, 2030 is barely over the horizon.
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Airbus A380 for 2030 air passenger and freight transportation
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| For the Airbus A380 to ever land at Las Vegas, Ivanpah Valley Airport has to be built. Courtesy SIA. |
As of the posting of this page, Airbus has signed 234 firm orders
for its A380 aircraft. Seventeen long-haul airlines based all around the world - with 37 A380 aircraft
already delivered to a portion of them - are committed to incorporating these huge jets into their route systems.
Because of the A380 size - as stated already in other areas of this website - it will never be able to land
at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. Las Vegas' only hope for handling the A380 will be the
creation of Ivanpah Valley Airport. If Las Vegas wants to be a convenient international destination for European, Asian and
Middle Eastern tourists and business people, Ivanpah Airport is going to need to be built ideally with a completion around
2020, with a full maturation around 2030.
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| Huge A380-800F freighters are inevitable, but is same true for Ivanpah Airport? Courtesy Airbus. |
Still, there is another dimension - equal to, or perhaps
beyond, the importance of the passenger-heavy A380 - and that is the Airbus A380-800F freighter, the airplane model's
all-cargo version. The all-cargo A380-800F will be able to carry
150 tons of cargo over 5,600 nautical miles. This will allow the A380 freight version to fly very significant cargo routes
non-stop. Airbus claims these freighters can fly at 21 per cent lower operating costs than competing freighters. Airbus' marketing states, with three decks for cargo, the A380-800F freighter will
be able to fly 50 per cent more cargo than other rivals. And,
interestingly, it is Boeing that it is reporting, in its 2006 Current Market Outlook found on the Internet, "As
world air cargo nearly triples over the next 20 years, the number of freighters in the world fleet will grow by more than
two-thirds. Replacement airlines will generally be larger, increasing the fleet sharge of large freighters from 26 per ent
to 33 per cent by 2028." Boeing continues, regarding rapid
transportation of long-haul freight, "Prompt delivery actually adds to the value and competitiveness of a variety
of products." In reality, the A380-800F that
can carry 150 tons of cargo non-stop across continenents will only be able to land in Las Vegas if Ivanpah Valley Airport
is constructed. Which naturally leads to the topic
of the maglev running between Southern Nevada and Southern California.
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Fastest Nevada-California train technology needed for freight
in 2030
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| Fast and smooth maglev transportation important for both passengers and freight. |
Very fast and ultra-smooth. It does not require a genius to see where successful future transportation infrastructure needs
to go. As Boeing is reporting, the volume of air cargo will
increase by 300 per cent over the next 20 years, and the number of jet freighters will expand by 66 per cent. From the very beginning of its consideration - now going back many years - one of the
needs for the "supplemental" Ivanpah Valley Airport will be to accommodate air cargo. Naturally, there will be heavy tonnage of freight arriving at, and departing from, Ivanpah Airport.
And it will be heavily connected to California. So, will a steel-wheel
DesertXpress train from Las Vegas to Victorville, California, "make the grade?" One thinks not. The future needs for very
fast and ultra-smooth train transportation between Nevada and California to include both passengers and
freight. Extremely modern trains can be highly beneficial to freight. In Switzerland, these days, 62 per cent of
its freight travels by rail.
Maglev freight cars can be fascinating. Freight continuously traveling via maglev between Nevada and California
could be extraordinarily successful and newsworthy.
This is clearly why DesertXpress will never fill the futuristic needs (again using 2030 as a target year) for train transportation
between Southern Nevada and Southern California (with the targeted destination of Orange County that has a heavy population with
nearby U.S. and Mexican Pacific ports).
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Nevada at Ivanpah can be crossroads for I-15 and I-11
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| A 21st Century I-15, between San Diego and Salt Lake City, will pass through Southern Nevada. |
Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, with the completion of the new Ivanpah Valley
Airport, can geographically benefit greatly from tomorrow's proposed Interstate 15 and Interstate 11 highways.
The new I-15 is described to run between San Diego and Northern Utah. I-11 can be constructed all the way between
the Mexican border and the Canadian border. Both highways will pass through Southern Nevada. And both
21st Century highways will be multimodal. The potential economic strength for Las Vegas and Southern Nevada is impressive.
Because of the inevitable conveyance of endless tons of freight all over the Western U.S., for Las Vegas to be in a crossroads
position, and for Ivanpah Valley Airport to be the site of constant, heavy cargo jet traffic, Southern Nevada will be a hub
of multimodal activity. It is certain that extremely significant jet freighters, a Nevada-California
maglev, and new multi-state highways will competently serve both domestic and international cargo.
Looking ahead to 2030, the futuristic picture can be both successfully surging and invigoratingly fun.
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