About two years ago, The Boring Company’s transport loop beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) was approved. A year later, they finished the construction of the tunnel. Now, they’ve finally started transporting passengers.
The $52.5 million underground system shuttles convention attendees between three stations spread across the 200-acre campus in all-electric Tesla vehicles. The LVCC and Elon Musk’s company hope The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop will be the first section of a city-wide transport network.
The Vegas Loop consists of two one-way tunnels built around 40 ft (12 m) beneath ground level. It takes under two minutes to complete the entire end-to-end 1.7-mile (2.7-km) journey. A walk would take 20 minutes or more.
According to Fast Company, the vehicle, navigated by a human driver, reaches top speeds of about 40 mph (64 km/h). The three stops include the LVCC’s North and South Halls and the West Hall. The Vegas Loop can transport up to 4,400 passengers per hour.
They plan to expand the system throughout the resort corridor to ease traffic congestion and offer a new transportation option for visitors. The system would go as far south as Allegiant Stadium and as far north as Downtown Las Vegas, with stations located throughout the Strip. Eventually, the Vegas Loop could include 43 stations, moving 51,000 passengers an hour.
While this is a monumental vision, it’s not the Boring Company’s original plans. Founder Elon Musk imagined the Vegas Loop consisting of elevators lowering vehicles down on skates from the street level before deploying them onto tracks in an underground tunnel network. The car would then travel autonomously at speeds up to 150 mph (240 km/h).
