Elon Musk‘s The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company that aims to dig tunnels efficiently to facilitate an underground transportation network, has received an initial approval required to expand and move forward with building a network of vehicle tunnels underneath Las Vegas. Called “Vegas Loop,” this system will allow passengers to hitch rides in Teslas to and from places like the hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport.
Earlier this year, THe Boring Company has already opened a small version of this “Teslas in Tunnels” system underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, which involves two 0.8-mile tunnels. But the startup proposed a massive citywide expansion of the modest underground transportation system in December 2020.
Clark County officials approved Wednesday an agreement with The Boring Company to establish and maintain a transportation system that will go under the Las Vegas strip, which it says will include the 51 stations and 29 miles of tunnels. Clark County says the Vegas Loop will be able to handle as many as 57,000 passengers per hour.
The key is point-to-point transportation, which the company claims is more efficient because passengers don’t have to stop at every station on their way to their destination. According to the agreement with Clark county, the franchise agreement would last for 50 years.
