Transportation - VEGAS INC

First commercial spacecraft docks with space station

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft, top, after Dragon was grappled by the Canadarm2 robotic arm and connected to the International Space Station, Friday, May 25, 2012. Dragon is scheduled to spend about a week docked with the station before returning to Earth on May 31 for retrieval.

The first commercial supply ship is now part of the International Space Station. Space station astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon capsule and then docked it to the orbiting complex Friday, gladly taking part in the historic event.

25 May 2012

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

Las Vegas airport traffic up 2.7 percent in April

Airport officials in Las Vegas say McCarran International Airport handled nearly 3.6 million passengers in April.

24 May 2012

Associated Press

Fuel surcharge boosts cab companies' profits

Taxis wait at "the pit" for fares at McCarran International Airport. At any time, there are about 2,000 cabs on Las Vegas streets.

Southern Nevada taxis made fewer trips but made more money in April, the Nevada Taxicab Authority reported.

23 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Extra cabs OK'd for Electric Daisy Carnival visitors

A taxi cab drives down the Strip Thursday, April 28, 2011.

When tens of thousands of visitors arrive in Las Vegas for June’s Electric Daisy Carnival, the taxi industry should be ready.

22 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Virgin Atlantic, British airways to do battle over Las Vegas

The storied rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways will have a new battleground — Las Vegas.

21 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Travel business rebounding as agents adapt to tech-savvy generation

A WestJet airplane takes off from McCarran International Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.

The Internet has become a game-changer for the travel industry. But it was also a job-killer. Thousands of travel agency professionals lost their jobs, and small mom-and-pop agencies either were absorbed by giant travel companies or disappeared.

21 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Cement truck drops 8-ton load, closing stretch of U.S. 95

Nevada Highway Patrol shut down a stretch of U.S. 95 for 2 1/2 hours after a cement mixing truck dumped about 8 tons of cement gravel Friday on the roadway.

18 May 2012

By Gregan Wingert

Construction to detour U.S. 95 drivers this weekend

Traffic on a portion of Rainbow Boulevard will be closed and vehicles on U.S. 95 southbound will be detoured this weekend while crews pour concrete for the Summerlin flyover bridge currently under construction.

18 May 2012

By Conor Shine

Sun Country Airlines' proposal denied for flights from D.C. to Las Vegas

The U.S. Department of Transportation has rejected a proposal by Sun Country Airlines to offer daily nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport.

15 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Allegiant Air adds routes to Hawaii

An Allegiant Air jet takes off from McCarran International Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.

Allegiant Air, which last month announced plans to offer nonstop flights between McCarran International Airport and Honolulu beginning June 29, has filled out its Hawaii schedule with routes beginning next fall from Santa Maria and Stockton, Calif., Bellingham, Wash., and Eugene, Ore.

15 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

Legendary racer, car designer Carroll Shelby dies

Carroll Shelby at the 2nd Annual Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction at Mandalay Bay in 2009.

Carroll Shelby, the legendary auto racer and car designer who built the fabled Shelby Cobra sports car and injected testosterone into Ford's Mustang and Chrysler's Viper, has died. He was 89. Shelby's company, Carroll Shelby International, said Friday that Shelby died a day earlier at a Dallas hospital.

11 May 2012

By Jeff Wilson and Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press

US: CIA thwarts new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot

The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned.

7 May 2012

By Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press

Nevada issues Google first license for self-driving car

Gov. Brian Sandoval takes a spin in a driverless car Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in Carson City. Sandoval described the experience as "amazing"; he took the test run with a Google engineer and DMV Director Bruce Breslow. They started their trip at the DMV offices in Carson City and went north to Washoe Valley, where they turned around.

Nevadans will soon see driverless cars being tested on streets and highways. Google received the first license Monday from the state Department of Motor Vehicles to test the autonomous vehicles.

7 May 2012

By Cy Ryan

McCarran scores high in magazine's reader survey

Terminal 3 construction is seen at McCarran Airport during sunrise in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 1, 2012.

Travel + Leisure magazine asked its readers to weigh in on the nation’s best airports based on seven categories: flight timeliness, design, amenities, food and drink, check-in and security, service, and transportation and location. Not surprisingly, McCarran International Airport fared well.

7 May 2012

By Richard N. Velotta

3 international airlines ready to begin nonstop flights to Las Vegas

The “international” in McCarran International Airport will be highlighted three times in the next two months, beginning with next week’s inaugural arrival of nonstop flights on Air Berlin from Dusseldorf, Germany.