Las Vegas has near-permanent traffic that gridlocks when a major trade show hits town. The trip from Harry Reid International Airport to the various hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip is only a few miles, but that ride can become insufferable when any sort of event hits.
And while the Strip itself runs only for 4.2 miles, it can easily become impassable. That's further complicated by how difficult walking the Strip has become. You can't easily do it in a linear way: You're routed up and down escalators designed to flow people into the various casinos along the route.
Las Vegas does have a monorail system. That helps get people between the casinos it connects and the Las Vegas Convention Center. But it's limited and not a real solution for all the traffic, which can paralyze the city and make major conventions that take place across multiple venues very hard to navigate.
Enter Elon Musk's Boring Co.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
The Las Vegas Strip Loop Comes Together
Musk wants to build an ambitious tunnel system under Las Vegas, using technology from his Boring Co.
Currently, all that the company has built is a small loop under the LVCC. That arguably would have been better served by a series of moving walkways.
The current system uses a fleet of Tesla (TSLA) vehicles that require drivers. The system costs more than $4 million a year to operate, and the number is expected to increase as major conventions return. For now the LVCC loop does not charge people for the ride.
Boring Co. has a contract with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to operate the tunnels it created. That deal recently changed: It was shortened from a five-year extension to a one-year extension, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
That's not necessarily a vote of no-confidence in Boring Co., but the authority did imply that costs would have exceeded the allotted $4.25 million budget had there been a normal convention season.
Steve Hill, the authority's president and CEO, "said opportunities exist to reduce system costs if autonomous operations and contractual reductions in system overhead costs occur when Boring builds out the larger Vegas Loop," the paper reported.
"That will include 18 miles of tunnels and 51 planned stations with routes going throughout the resort corridor, to Allegiant Stadium, and to Harry Reid International Airport."
Musk Has Huge Plans Under Las Vegas
What the authority does not appear to question is the broad vision Musk has for a tunnel system under Las Vegas. That system will eventually be fully automated, though that is not expected in the coming year.
"The LVCC Loop system is designed for 4,400 passengers per hour with three stations, while the Las Vegas Loop is targeting 57,000 passengers an hour," the paper reported.
When the broader system begins operation, it will charge passengers to travel between stations all around the city.
Hill laid out the cost structure for the system in an earlier Review-Journal story.
“At Allegiant Stadium I think you could see ramps coming out of the ground into the surface parking lot and you’ll be able to get out of those cars right in that lot and walk right into the stadium,” Hill said. “Lots of different options. Each property will go through a process of figuring out what makes more sense for them.”
The next step in the process will be connecting the new Resorts World casino/hotel to the LVCC. Hill was very excited about how the tunnel system would make getting around the city easier.
“There aren’t traffic lights, there are no stop signs, there are no stations you have to stop at along the way,” Hill said.
“It makes the trip really convenient and really quick and will allow our guests and our visitors to experience everything Vegas has (to offer) in a really fun and efficient way.”
