Elon Musk's Boring Company gets OK for Las Vegas underground tunnel project
A smaller-scale version of the plan already operates at the Las Vegas Convention Center
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Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s vision for underground transit has received a green light in Las Vegas.
Commissioners in Clark County, Nevada, which includes the gambling and tourism mecca, have given unanimous approval for Musk’s Boring Company to create Vegas Loop, an underground transportation network.
The plan as proposed will take Tesla vehicles to destinations such as the Las Vegas Strip, the stadium home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and the campus of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, FOX 5 of Las Vegas reported.
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A smaller-scale version of the plan already operates at the Las Vegas Convention Center and has been well received by users, according to FOX 5. A tunnel to the Resorts World hotel in Las Vegas is now under construction with plans for completion in early 2022, the report said.
"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," Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the station.
When completed, about 700 Tesla vehicles will be able to travel through the system simultaneously, with about 57,000 people transported per hour, Hill said.
Use of the Vegas Loop will be based on fares, which he estimated to be between $5 and $20 per trip, depending on destination, Hill continued. He said most trips would likely cost more than riding on public transit but less than using a ride-hailing service.
The initial Vegas Loop could later be expanded to other parts of the region, the company said, according to FOX 5.
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The advantages of the Boring Company’s plan are that travelers will be able to reach their destination without traffic lights, stop signs or other impediments along the way, Hill told the station.
The Musk company’s plan is not using tax dollars, and will rely on local contractors and local workers, Clark County officials told FOX 5.
The Boring Company previously announced plans for other transit loops in Florida in July and in Texas in August.