Elon Musk's Boring Company to start digging citywide Las Vegas tunnel system

Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has received approval from officials to build a network of vehicle tunnels underneath Las Vegas.

Called the Vegas Loop, the system will allow passengers to ride in Teslas to get to Sin City's airport, hotel-casinos on the strip, football stadium, and convention center. Keep in mind The Boring Company already operates a preview version of the Vegas Loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center. It opened in 2021 and consists of two 0.8-mile tunnels. Now, with approval from Clark County officials, The Boring Company can get started on a city-wide expansion.

The Boring Company's proposal for the Vegas Loop includes 29 miles of tunnels and 51 stations serving as many as 57,000 passengers per hour.

Vegas Loop is expanding - 29 miles and 51 stations!
Thanks to the Clark County team for the great partnership and to the Commissioners for unanimous approval. https://t.co/KrfF5SUsxq

— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) October 20, 2021

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Boring Company will get hotels and casinos to pay for stations at their respective businesses. Each of those stops will have to go through a permitting process, too. Ultimately, the plan is for no taxpayer dollars to be used on building the Vegas Loop. 

All that said, The Boring Company's vision for a tunnel-based transportation system has changed a lot over the years, and its efforts to build a network of tunnels in other US cities - like Chicago and Los Angeles - have never panned out nor lived up to the company's promises. For instance, instead of pods in tunnels, The Boring Company has scaled back to just "Teslas in Tunnels". But, eventually, the goal is to let the Teslas drive themselves.

The Boring Company believes tunnels can lower transportation costs and alleviate traffic congestion in any city.

In Las Vegas, specifically, it expects a 5-mile trip from the airport to the convention center to take about five minutes and cost $10, while a 3.6-mile ride from the convention center to the football stadium could be done in just 4 minutes and should cost around $6 per traveler. 

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