A proposed $55 million one-mile long underground tunnel transit that would be built by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk’s the Boring Company to serve the expanded Las Vegas Convention Center could itself expand to include the Strip and other popular stops if it is successful.
The Boring Company and officials of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority last week gave the public the first look at the plans for a transit loop with autonomous electric cars at a press conference.
LVCVA officials envision the people mover expanding to the McCarran International Airport, or conceivably anywhere in the city’s core. It could do so without competing with the planned extension of the Las Vegas Monorail or a proposed light rail, they say.
LVCVA CEO Steve Hill told the Las Vegas Sun, “We think there is great demand and we have long talked about congestion,” adding, “The Monorail provides a great service for us and is an important mode of transportation. We certainly don’t think The Boring Company system would crowd out others if it were to expand out into the community.”
The Boring Company, which has created a prototype of the tunnel in Los Angeles, says it can build a Las Vegas segment within about a year, Hill said. That would put it in place just in time for the opening of the convention center’s $935 million expansion in early 2021—which will increase it to a total of 200 acres.
Hill added, “We see this as an additional means of transportation and another option for our visitors. There’s a need to be able to respond to increased visitation and interest in Las Vegas.”
Without such a rail, visitors would need to walk two miles from one end of the center to the other.
The LVCVA issued an RFP for the proposal and Musk’s company was one of two to respond. The other was the Austrian Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group.
