Elon Musk’s Boring Company Announces New ‘Loop’ Network in Las Vegas Convention Center
Elon Musk’s Boring Company announced today a new proposed ‘Loop’ system of tunnels for approval in Las Vegas.
If approved, the first leg of the system would be operational at the Las Vegas Convention Center as soon as 2021.
The project, supported by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), includes the design, construction and operation of a people mover for the Las Vegas Convention Center via a loop of underground express-route tunnels that could carry passengers in autonomous electric vehicles at high speeds. Upon approval by the LVCVA Board of Directors on March 12, the project would have the potential to connect Downtown, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Boulevard Resort Corridor, McCarran International Airport and beyond.
“The selection of The Boring Company for the Las Vegas Convention Center’s on-property, guest transportation solution leads the way to the evolution of transportation overall in Southern Nevada,” said LVCVA President and CEO, Steve Hill. “Our destination thrives on innovation and reinvention and The Boring Company’s concept allows us to continue providing the world-class experience our guests and clients have come to expect and move people in an efficient and cost-effective manner with advanced technology.” Hill said that the Boring Company’s was the least expensive of the projects submitted and he also noted the advantage of the system being built underground, which result in little to no disruption at the surface – or with the convention center regular operations.
Currently in the midst of an expansion, the Las Vegas Convention Center will span 200 acres when complete in time for CES in 2021. Conventioneers walking the facility will log approximately two miles from end-to-end hence the need for an on-property guest transportation solution. In 2018, Las Vegas had more than 42 million visitors. The Las Vegas Convention Center hosts more than 1 million convention attendees annually. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada carries approximately 12 million passengers per year within the Las Vegas Boulevard Resort Corridor.
LVCVA estimates that the fiscal impact of the potential project is $35 to $55 million.
TBC's existing projects include a Research and Development (R&D) Test Tunnel in Hawthorne, California. The R&D Test Tunnel represents a fully operational 1.14-mile Loop system that cost less than $10 million per mile including internal tunnel infrastructure.
With the launch of its test tunnel in Los Angeles last year, the Boring Company also unveiled Tesla vehicles on ‘tracking wheels’ as a transport system inside its ‘Loop’ tunnels.