Eat

Boring Company to expand tunnel system in Las Vegas

By Shane McGlaun/

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is a busy man, and in addition to running those two companies, he also is at the head of a company called the Boring Company. The Boring Company builds tunnels underground to help to alleviate traffic in heavily congested city areas. All the tunnels are similar to subway track systems; these tunnels are meant to allow electric vehicles to commute underground bypassing traffic.

Earlier this year, the Boring Company revealed the first part of its Las Vegas loop. The company has now announced that it has been approved for expansion throughout the city in Las Vegas. The first full-scale loop project that is in commercial use is the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. The $50 million project to create that first section of the loop was completed in a year.

The loop will use Tesla vehicles that can travel at high speeds between stations to transport people inside the city. The ultimate goal is to have tunnel systems under entire cities. Currently, the Las Vegas loop is only 1.5 miles long and has three stops. The Boring Company plans to connect the convention center loop to a larger system under Las Vegas, particularly to the Strip and the airport.

Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, has approved project expansion. The Boring Company confirmed via a tweet that the Vegas Loop would expand to a total of 29 miles long and 51 stations. The expanded system will cover a large portion of the city. Judging by the map, virtually all of the major casinos would have a stop and other important locations within the city.

With the expanded system, the trip to McCarran Airport from the convention center would be 4.9 miles and take five minutes. That's significantly quicker than traveling via surface streets. The planned capacity is 57,000 passengers per hour.

Recommended