Elon Musk's Boring Company Gets Contract To Build Underground Commercial Tunnel Network In Las Vegas

Underground tunnels in Las Vegas. (photo: twitter)

JAKARTA – Elon Musk's The Boring Company has received preliminary approval to expand its first underground commercial tunnel network in Las Vegas. A small portion of the proposed network is already operational in Sin City and includes two small 0.8-mile tunnels beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center.

However, this latest development means that the company can now build a complete tunnel system for commercial use.

Founded by Elon Musk in 2016 as a subsidiary of SpaceX, The Boring Company plans to use a proposed network of underground tunnels to transport passengers to and from hotels, casinos and other points of interest on the Las Vegas Strip.

Expanding and moving forward with plans for the "Vegas Loop." #ClarkCounty Commissioners just approved an agreement with the @boringcompany to establish and maintain a transportation system that will go under the Las Vegas Strip. It will also go to @AllegiantStadm and @UNLV. pic.twitter.com/2ju3xcFq7O

— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) October 20, 2021

Called the 'Vegas Loop', the tunnel is also expected to connect the city's new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport. In addition to Las Vegas, The Boring Company has also built a 1.1-mile test tunnel in Hawthorne, California and is said to be in talks to start a new project in Miami, Florida.

The Boring Company on Wednesday October 20 received unanimous approval from Commissioner Clark County for the proposed expansion of the Vegas Loop. The approved network will reportedly include 29 miles of tunnels and 51 stations that will require additional permits before they can be developed.

Speaking with the Las Vegas Review Journal about the upcoming project, The Boring Company President, Steve Davis, said that the entire project would be completed in stages over three years. The company plans to build five to ten stations in the first six months of the project, and then between fifteen and twenty stations each year thereafter.

Davis further claims that the network will be able to serve around 57,000 passengers per hour, but it remains to be seen how much of that proposed capacity will translate into reality. The existing network was originally supposed to carry several thousand passengers per hour in autonomous Tesla vehicles, but is currently said to be moving only a few hundred people per hour.

What's more, the Tesla operating in existing tunnels is not the fast, driverless futuristic type that was originally promised, but a slow-moving, manually driven vehicle whose drivers are asked not to chat with customers.

Once the project is complete, The Boring Company says it will be able to transport passengers at very competitive fares that almost rival the cost of public transport. According to an earlier estimate from Musk, the five-mile trip from the airport to the Convention Center would cost $10. A 3.6-mile trip from the Convention Center to the football stadium will only cost you $6.

The company also claims that a network of underground tunnels will significantly reduce travel times by avoiding bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads above.