Uber, Lyft are looking for their place on the Strip

By Daniel Rothberg

Monday, Oct. 19, 2015 | 2 a.m.

When Uber and Lyft returned to Las Vegas last month, the companies were fixed on one prize: passengers hailing rides to and from the Strip.

But hotels along Las Vegas Boulevard already had longstanding set-ups geared to taxis. Since launching, however, the companies appear to have ironed out plans with a majority of Strip resorts.

Request a ride from Lyft at Caesars Palace, and the app provides directions for how to do it. The staging area at Caesars is the Colosseum Valet. The app instructs: “Once you’re at the designated pick-up location, request your ride. Next, call your driver to confirm where you are.”

According to Strip valets, doormen and other employees, the system has not interfered with taxi lines, where they are prohibited, nor added congestion to already heavy front traffic at the properties.

Some Strip properties have loose protocols.

Take the Flamingo. The Lyft app does not provide directions for pick-ups. The Uber app instructs passengers to meet at the main driveway. Still, some Uber and Lyft drivers come through the valet and taxi lines, anyway.

“Because they don’t know,” an employee said.

Chelsea Wilson, a spokeswoman for Lyft, said drivers received an orientation specifically about picking up passengers on the Strip. Pick-ups are the main concern. Most drop-offs take place at casino entrances.

Like the Flamingo, the Trump Hotel also has no protocol for ride-hailing pick-ups. But an employee there said drop-offs and pick-ups haven’t added congestion: “They’re not out there for more than five minutes.”

Some properties, such as those owned by MGM Resorts International, have posted signs to make the process clear.

Each MGM properties has a drop-off plan for Uber and Lyft drivers. At MGM Grand, for instance, there’s an area for drop-offs by the east valet on the second level of the self-parking garage. At Mandalay Bay, the drop-off area is on the lower beach level across from the valet.

Rather than create new areas, properties like the Bellagio and the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas have reappropriated existing drop-off space for ride hailing. An employee at the Cosmopolitan said there had been some kinks, but most drivers knew not to enter the wrong line because they could be stuck there.

“It’s always been congested,” taxi driver Alan Morningstar said. “There are too many taxis.”

On the Strip, taxi rides still appear to outnumber Uber and Lyft rides. An employee at the Wynn said he counted about 100 taxis for every 10 Ubers.

“We’ve never even seen a Lyft,” he added.