The goal of the processes and organization promoted by American Monorail is the integration of monorail system planning, production and operation into the main stream of communities and their local economic structures as primary economic engines; while the character and stability of these dynamic transportation entities can serve as a dependable foundation for local economic and community development.
The current state of transportation planning and development throughout the US is narrowly focused under the control of regional transportation authorities, with most planning and funding criteria prescribed by federal and state transportation and environmental regulatory agencies.
The most significant and far reaching potential of the coalitions formed under the guiding principles of the Organizational Forums will be the creation of independent, self-supporting entities that can implement the complete development process, from planning and design through construction and initiation of monorail service, while providing a stable funding and financing base that is integrated into the local economy and community.
Virtually all of the Forum participants will be able to form coalitions of the types proposed in the Forum diagrams, and will be further able to combine the resources of additional investors and partners in holding companies, banks and lending institutions specifically structured to provide construction funding, as well as, long-term financing for the full spectrum of monorail system development and operation. Financial structures and entities formed under these monorail development-funding coalitions and institutions will permit a wide range of heretofore nonparticipants in municipal, infrastructure or development finance to join as partners in the new institutions and monorail development ventures.
Newly formed coalitions and financial entities will permit local governments to commit land, rights of way and other valuable property to the deposits of lending institutions, while pension funds, public and private foundations, hotel, entertainment, convention, and theme park investment fund managers can contribute to building the deposits required as the basis for infrastructure and monorail development loans. Government budget managers and CFOs may find that their structural fiscal balances maintained and invested in short-term instruments can be committed as deposits in infrastructure lending institutions to generate greater interest income, while offering significant support to the lending institutions’ deposits and reserves. Major land owners and developers may adapt or shape their plans, or take initiatives in support of monorails as integral parts of community and regional development plans.
Example: Los Angeles
The multi-government, multi-agency, public-private joint venture Grand Avenue Authority, overseeing the $3 billion development of a civic mall and cultural arts district in the Los Angeles Civic Center, could buy-in, or become a venture partner in a monorail system that directly serves the Grand Avenue project in a variety of ways; ranging from integrating a monorail into the project’s design and development plan, to joining a coalition of public and private interests that underwrite, finance and possibly own a part of the monorail system through their participation in a financial institution formed to implement the monorail system and service. Playing either a leading or supporting role in forming a monorail development coalition, the Grand Avenue project’s general contractor could provide significant leadership and incentives toward integrating a monorail into the development’s overall design.
The Grand Avenue Project transportation coalition could be extended to include AEG’s Staples, Nokia, LA Live, Ritz Carlton, Marriott Hotel property development plans to build an NFL stadium and expand the Los Angeles Convention Center, and possibly the $1 billion Korean Airlines hotel development at Seventh Street and Figueroa, in a comprehensive joint-venture that could independently finance, build and operate the American Monorail–proposed four-mile Downtown Monorail; linking Union Station, City Hall, Civic Mall, Music Center, Bonnaventure Hotel, Korean Airlines Hotel, AEG properties and NFL stadium stations with several existing subway stations, and the Union Station nexus of regional and cross-town rail, subway and bus services.
While Universal Studios, Hollywood may underwrite or participate in a joint venture supporting the American Monorail-proposed monorail loop to its hilltop theme park and extensive planned multi-use development, Universal may offer additional support to the Los Angeles River commuter monorail from which the Universal loop would extend. The ability for venture partners, underwriters, builders and monorail companies to contribute to, and participate in development of monorail systems extending beyond their respective communities or spheres of influence broadens the foundations on which networks and extended monorail systems may be supported and developed.
Example: San Diego
Opportunities for venture partners, underwriters and builders also exist with regard to the American Monorail-proposed 2.5-mile Balboa Park monorail loop departs from a downtown San Diego monorail line linking existing recreational and commercial attractions to an airport area station feeding into a high-speed commuter monorail to Orange County’s planned ARTIC station. The Balboa Park monorail would link the vary attractive recreational and cultural venues of the San Diego Zoo, Air and Space Museum, Pan American Exhibition grounds and Natural History Museum via four nearby monorail stations.
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The independent, self-initiating and self-sustaining character of the coalitions proposed by the Organizational Forum, and the funding entities formed among them, can potentially break the cycle of perpetual competition and underfunding that characterize virtually all mass and public transportation environments and their governing authorities. Potential success of the proposed monorail development coalitions is based on monorails’ unique qualities and capabilities to address and serve the needs of specific urban transportation environments with fundamentally modern, adaptable and cost-effective transportation systems and services.
