Elon Musk's Boring Company has already tunneled a half mile under Vegas
A new Loop system could be slingshotting people under Sin City relatively soon.
- Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
A Tesla inside the Boring Company test tunnel near Los Angeles.
The Las Vegas Convention Center is in the midst of a major makeover, but some of the most interesting work is going on underground. There, Elon Musk's Boring Company is playing a speed round of 21st century Dig Dug to install a new Loop system.
Musk's side project started the boring work in November, and this week KSNV-TV reported that 2,900 feet of tunnel, or more than half a mile, has already been cleared out beneath the convention center complex. That's also over half the final 4,300 foot length of the tunnel, which the company says will cut the 15 minute walk from a new exhibit hall to the central hall down to just a minute-long ride.
According to the Boring Company, passengers will be whisked through the tunnel at 155 mph aboard Tesla vehicles modified to hold up to 16 people, with both sitting and standing room -- a bit like a small electric bus or shuttle.
The Loop route at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The project seems to be moving forward with urgency, perhaps because of the nearly $50 million contract the company received to put in the futuristic people mover. The hope is that the Loop will be ready to shuttle the masses between halls by CES 2021 next January.
Though other Loops are planned for Los Angeles, Chicago and the East Coast, the only Boring Company tunnel we've seen so far is the rather underwhelming demo track below SpaceX headquarters in California.
In the long run, the Boring Company proposes connecting the convention center Loop to a larger Vegas Loop that'll service the Strip, McCarran International Airport, Allegiant Stadium and downtown, and eventually head to Los Angeles.
But first Musk's company has to prove it can help us skip the long walk through countless booths at CES.
