Elon Musk's Boring Co. Receives Okay to Expand the Loop Transit System in Vegas

The Boring Company, one of billionaire Elon Musk’s flagship entities, has secured permission to continue with the expansion of the acclaimed Loop transportation system under the Vegas Strip in Sin City. It is part of a futuristic transit network that will be moving passengers around Las Vegas in Tesla electric vehicles via underground tunnels. Some of the stops on this complex transport system will include casinos such as the Resorts World Las Vegas.

This long-awaited green light by Clark County official came last Wednesday, permitting The Boring Co. to further construct the Loop past the existing 1.7-mile stretch. Thanks to the new approval, the Vegas Loop will also be running past the famed Allegiant Stadium and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Following the approval, the Clark County Commission released a press briefing saying:

Quote

“Expanding and moving forward with plans for the Vegas Loop, Clark County Commissioners just approved an agreement with The Boring Company to establish and maintain a transportation system that will go under the Las Vegas Strip.”

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. expressed its appreciation for the county’s approval in an official statement, citing the Commissioners’ great partnership for awarding the project unanimous approval. The Boring Company also indicated that the Vegas Loop will now be expanding to 29 miles and a total of 51 stations in the transit tunnels.

With the special permits that have been awarded, The Boring Company is now free to make applications for land usage and construction for the tunnels and each station. In addition, plans are already in place to extend the Loop’s transit to the McCarran International Airport.

A Five Decade Deal in Play

Based on the agreement penned between Clark County and the Elon Musk-backed company, the latter will fund the tunnel’s construction with a 50-year franchise agreement. Still, before carrying on with the project, The Boring Company is required to seek another agreement for approval from Sin City.

In an interview with Fox 5 Vegas, Steve Hill, the President, and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, shared his optimism of the project as follows:

Quote

“You don’t have to stop at every station along the way, you can get in the car here, you can go straight to where you want to go without stopping. There aren’t traffic lights, there aren’t stop signs, there aren’t stations that you have to stop at along the way. Within a year, I would hope that we would be under construction with portions of the main system, and then we can continue to expand from there,”

The Loop transportation network is expected to be ready in a few years, and it’s projected that about 700 Tesla electric vehicles will be ferrying around passengers at any given moment. From preliminary estimates, the transit system will be moving about 57,000 individuals every hour.

Earlier in April, The Boring Company released approximate fare prices that passengers will likely be paying to move around Sin City using the Loop. With costs between $5 and $20, the express rides will be a little pricier than using the regional tsarist system but lower than rideshares for vehicle hailing applications.

A Work in Progress

Like any other project of such magnitude from any part of the globe, the Las Vegas Loop has been in the works for a couple of years now. Initially, The Boring Company had considered transporting visitors via sleds to shuttle cars from above ground to the underground tunnels, but the idea was later shelved. Pods had also initially been mauled over as an option to target cyclists and pedestrians, but that was also taken off the table.

Finally, The Boring Company’s team decided to use electric Tesla vehicles with human drivers in the early stages of launching the tunnel transportation network. After a while, the Musk-backed company plans to introduce autonomous vehicles that won’t require drivers to move passengers around the Loop.  

The first 1.7 miles section of the Loop network was unveiled earlier in June, below the Las Vegas Convention Canter (LVCC), with three stations – the LVCC South Station, LVCC Central Station, and the LVCC Central station. After this ambitious project is complete, the transportation network will eliminate the need for tourists in Sin City to suffer through traffic jams. Better yet, it will be an emission-free mode of transportation that will easily facilitate movement to and from any hotel or casino within the network.