Las Vegas lacks a good-working underground transport system and that is why The Boring Company is coming to the rescue. This venture founded by Elon Musk is currently planning to build a huge, 10-mile sub-surface loop that connects the famous casino hotels with the downtown areas as well as the McCarran International Airport.
These tunnels will work only for Tesla vehicles, which is a limitation, but the loop enables people to go from the Las Vegas Convention Center to Mandalay Bay in only 3 minutes while the traffic is at its peak. Right now, the same route at the same time of the day takes 30 minutes!
The activity of The Boring Company has been noticeable since the Las Vegas Monorail filed for bankruptcy. The monorail was bought by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) which made the temporary agreement not to allow The Boring Company to dig tunnels in areas of the monorail.
That is why the Elon Musk’s venture decided to expand at a different location and build a Tesla-powered people-mover based under the Convention Center. It was claimed that this smaller-scale loop will be introduced while the next big trade show event.
The loop is said to be able to shuttle up to 4 000 passengers per hour and the vehicles used to do so will be Tesla Model 3s, Model Xs, and a bigger tram-like car built on the Model 3 platform fitting maximum 16 people.
This first project only will cost LVCVA $48.6 million, but the forecasts say that the investment will make convention fans commuting to events much easier and the convention itself is likely to attract more people. The extended, city-wide project however, will be funded mainly by The Boring Company and only the stations near certain buildings will require extra funding from the property owners.
I think that the first project is a great introduction to show the quality of The Boring Company and such sample of their work could be beneficial for the future expansion in Las Vegas. Although there is a chance that the monorail will open again, it is not expected to launch till May 2021. Because of that, there is a high chance that the further development of the Elon Musk’s venture will eventually succeed.
Bibliography:
O’Kane, Sean. “Boring Company Proposes Massive Vegas Expansion Following Monorail Bankruptcy.” The Verge, The Verge, 15 Dec. 2020, www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176596/elon-musk-boring-company-las-vegas-strip-tesla-tunnels.
Akers, Mick. “Las Vegas Monorail Extension Plans Balloon to $172M.” Journal, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8 May 2019, www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/clark-county/las-vegas-monorail-extension-plans-balloon-to-172m-1658567/.
I think that this article needs a littlebit of specification. At first I understood that only Tesla car owners would be able to use the tunnels but it seemed so limitating, unreal and weird that I could not imagine Musk doing something so ridiculous.
But then I read about this tunnel system and I understood that Tesla vehicles would be used as shuttles for people. And the idea is great.
I think that the very important thing to mention is that the electric car here will not have any contact with human-driven car, which will reduce the risks of accidents caused by machines inability to predict human actions. I see it as a great way of introducing automatic cars to people on daily basis.
Yes Oriana, now that you emphasized this part I can see how it could be misleading. Thank you very much for claryfing thit fact.