The Las Vegas Convention Center is undergoing a major overhaul, and one of the most innovative features of the new-look facility will be the high-speed transport system that will circle beneath the surface. The Boring Company has now completed the excavation phase of this forward-thinking tunnel, with public rides slated to kick off early next year.
Since CEO Elon Musk first raised the idea of a new venture to solve traffic woes at ground level a few years ago, The Boring Company has made some impressive progress on this vision of subterranean travel. It first completed a test tunnel in LA to demonstrate how Teslas can shuttle passengers from one point to another free of stop lights and bottlenecks. It then earned a contract from the Las Vegas' tourism authority to construct a transport system for the city’s convention center.
While tunnels are of course nothing new, The Boring Company hopes to improve on current methods in a few ways, primarily by building them far more cheaply and efficiently. One of the key ways it hopes to achieve this is by making its tunnels around half the width of standard tunnels, while automating the machines and upgrading cooling systems are also integral to its strategy.
The US$52.5 million contract with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was awarded last March, with The Boring Company promptly putting its tunneling machines to work beneath the center. The facility is being expanded to cover 200 acres in time for CES 2021, and to help visitors cover the two-mile (3.2 km) trip from end to end, The Boring Company has carved out the key structure for an innovative, all-electric people mover.
Last week it broke through the second of two one-way tunnels, finishing the excavation stage on what is known as the Convention Center Loop. This will involve three stations through which passengers can board and disembark Teslas for free, which will travel along tracks to complete the end-to-end journey in under two minutes.
“This milestone not only helps usher in the future of transportation in Las Vegas, but it signals the destination’s ability to push through during trying times and continue to meet the evolving needs of our visitors,” said Steve Hill, LVCVA CEO and president. “Las Vegas continues to break through boundaries, and we look forward to offering this first-of-its-kind transportation solution to our convention attendees.”
The Convention Center Loop is set to debut to the public in January 2021.