Photo by Matt Weissinger, Pexels
The Vegas Loop, the underground tunnelling project fronted by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, is poised to launch autonomous driving by the end of the year. The long-awaited update comes amidst extensive expansion work, which is set to see more than 68 miles of tunnels built under Las Vegas.
Las Vegas: Tesla’s Perfect Testing Ground
In 2021, the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop system was completed after roughly one year of construction. The three-station underground tunnelling system is 1.7 miles long and exclusive to Tesla’s electric vehicle fleet. As the first major project of Musk’s The Boring Company, Vegas is the perfect testing ground for this game-changing transportation experiment.
With more than 100,000 daily visitors, Vegas’ road network is routinely congested. Its casino resorts are the biggest attractions, so the tunnel is planned to connect to the largest complexes. Of course, UK residents can avoid the trip altogether, and instead join a quality online casino to play quality slots, table games, and live dealer titles.
The Current State of the Vegas Loop
According to the latest news from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, driving assistance tools should launch by the end of 2024. This is a major step toward full automation, which has been a goal of the project from the beginning. Rather than open to private vehicles, the Loop operates like the London Underground only with Tesla Model 3 shuttles.
Currently, the shuttles are human-assisted, with drivers trained to navigate the narrow routes. In addition to the three LVCC stations, a station at Resorts World opened in 2022. There are 93 stations in total planned, with tunnels to the Westgate and Encore resorts expected to be open by the end of November.
Future stops will include the Harry Reid International Airport, Allegiant Stadium, and central Las Vegas. According to The Boring Company, the system will be able to transport 90,000 passengers per hour when completed. It will also drastically cut travel times, with the 30-minute peak hour drive from the LVCC to Allegiant Stadium reduced to a mere 4 minutes on the Loop.
Comical Trespassing Issues Arise
One of the unexpected issues to arise from the Loop has been instances of trespassing by private vehicles and curious pedestrians. Roughly 67 incidences have been recorded since 2022, and while several unauthorised vehicles trespassed out of curiosity, most culprits have blamed confusion for their errors.
The ground-level entrance tunnels, which are unassuming, have been mistaken for parking garages or rideshare areas by trespassers, forcing authorities to come up with solutions. Licence plate readers have been installed at gates to prevent private vehicles, with safety and security primary concerns of LVCC officials.
This was not the first safety concern the Loop’s managers have needed to address. During the construction of the Loop in 2023, a digging error exposed support pillars for the Las Vegas Monorail. This resulted in a 24-hour shutdown of the Monorail.
The Loop’s Big Leap
With two new stations and driving-assisted tools set to launch in the coming months, the Vegas Loop is on track to revolutionise the city’s public transport infrastructure. Depending on the success of the project, this just may be the start of an all-electric, autonomous mass transit trend that could theoretically be embraced by major UK cities.