Elon Musk's The Boring Company Finishes Las Vegas Loop, Will Be The First Operational Project

Elon Musk¡¯s dream of connecting two points in a city via an underground tunnel seems to be close to fruition as The Boring Company announces the completion of the first phase of the system. As a closure to its $52.5 million project, the company has finished digging a second tunnel underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The roundup of the project comes after The Boring Company finished building the first tunnel back in February. The only construction work to be done now is for the above-ground passenger stations on either end of the tunnels. There will also be a third station located underground in the middle of the system.

The company is targeting the completion and kick-off of the underground commuter service by January next year, in time for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that takes place in Las Vegas every year.

Upon completion, the people mover, as the project is called, will be The Boring Company¡¯s first commercial transportation project in operation. The company provided a glimpse of its working through a test tunnel it built next to SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

The Boring Company - Vegas Loop

Once in operation, the first-ever Loop will be able to transport up to 4,000 passengers within an hour across campuses. The tunnel will be able to reduce a 15-minutes walk to a ride that lasts approximately one minute.

As per a report by The Verge, the Loop will use vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, and purpose-built tram that can accommodate 12 to 16 passengers to enable the commute.

The Boring Company imagines the in-tunnel rides to be completely autonomous eventually but for now, the operations will start with driver controlled vehicles zipping through the tunnels. When the transition will take place is unclear as of now. The Loop, however, has been fitted with sensors to enable the same.

An interesting point to note is that despite its huge infrastructural demands, the system will not serve as a public transport system. Instead, it is meant for convention-goers and for prospective customers. Till the time the convention takes place, the Loop will be tested internally and might be used to ferry the employees at the convention. Going forward, it might be extended to connect more points across Las Vegas.

The Boring Company - Vegas Loop Tunnel

With the conventions and events in Las Vegas under serious doubt due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the Loop might not get to be used for a considerable time to come. Till the time it is not, The Boring Company will hold off its launch.

But as and when it does, the Loop will be the first of its kind operational loop in practice. A fragment of the ¡°Hyperloop¡± idea of Elon Musk that enables fast transportation in vacuum-filled tubes, the Loop in Las Vegas Convention Centre will reduce the mobility burden on the surface and enable a weather-proof, fast commute to the attendees of the convention.