Remember back in 2016 was Elon Musk was so fed up with traffic that he started his own subterranean tunnel-drilling enterprise? The goal was to avoid gridlock by taking a lot of the traffic underground. Simplify the transportation scene by taking high-tech vehicles or Tesla of course, on a one-way loop and delivering on-demand rides.
So the Boring Company has just opened up its first underground last Tuesday and has started transporting its first passengers. The loop has been constructed beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. The venture isn’t providing on the high-speed transport promise, it’s simpler, just a convenient ride. Get in at one end and get out the other side of the tunnel. The project showcases how transportation can become more convenient.
The loop itself is 1.7 miles long, consisting of three passenger stations. Two of them are above ground and one is below. The loop is connected by stretches of 12-foot-wide tunnels, all lit with color-changing LED lights. Inside the Loop around 62 Teslas circle, picking up and dropping off passengers.
The convenient part is that the loop can turn a 25-minute walk across the huge convention center into a mere 2min comfortable car ride. This isn’t the first tunnel by the Boring Company. The first one was revealed back in 2018. However, this is the first loop that is open to the public. I guess Tesla wanted a smaller use case to demonstrate how good the idea really was.
While the Vegas loop doesn’t really meet Musk’s visions of high-speed transport. No car is allowed to go over 35 mph in the loop and is stated to be able to handle 4,400 passengers an hour.
The Boring Company has plans to extend the loop from downtown Las Vegas, through the central tourist hub of the strip, and out to the city’s stadium and airport. According to Lori Nelson-Kraft from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, this could be a huge game-changer for transport in the city.
