Blog Boring Company Opens Vegas Loop

The Boring Company’s people-moving “Loop” be beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center started carrying passengers this week.

The $52.5 million tunnel is filled with Tesla vehicles that carry passengers around the 1.7-mile stretch.

The construction took about 18 months and was finished about two months ago. The system is ten-times faster than walking around the convention center.

“We’re grateful to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and all local stakeholders for providing us the opportunity to construct our first commercial project in one of the world’s most dynamic destinations,” Boring Co. President Steve Davis said in a statement reported by The Los Angeles Business Journal. “We are proud to have developed and delivered an exciting transportation solution to the Las Vegas Convention Center.”

The Loop currently consists of three passenger stations.  Passengers can travel the entire route in about two minutes at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. The company ultimately plans to use a fleet of 62 Tesla vehicles that can carry up to 4,400 people per hour.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Tesla will sell a lot of cars because of this. Every trip is a test drive. lol

 

[T3SLAROD]

When I saw the headline I was ready to drive down there just to go through the tunnel

 

[Brando]

Tesla will sell a lot of cars because of this. Every trip is a test drive. lol

small point: test RIDE = NOT test DRIVE (you don't drive - it is a Taxi ride) I do suspect it will put Tesla vehicles on to comparison shopping lists - this will be first time rides for many, right?

 

[T3SLAROD]

small point: test RIDE = NOT test DRIVE (you don't drive - it is a Taxi ride) I do suspect it will put Tesla vehicles on to comparison shopping lists - this will be first time rides for many, right?

Which is why I didn't go, I though I would be able to drive my Model 3 through the tunnel

 

[Stavinski]

How will the interior hold up to that sort of use? Even more ingress and egress cycles than an Uber. For Sale: tesla model S, low mileage, never driven on highway!

 

[Dan D.]

If the Vegas Convention Centre Loop is about moving people in an efficient autonomous way then what about this vehicle

Auto-Shuttle® - Aurrigo Autonomous Aviation Technology

The Auto-Shuttle is a ten-seat passenger vehicle with the ability to operate fully autonomously or driven manually as a conventional EV shuttle. It is the first

aurrigo.com

Or the smaller one

Auto-Pod® - Aurrigo Autonomous Aviation Technology

Airports, city centres, sporting stadiums and other transportation initiatives are all actively moving forward with the application of autonomous transport. Au

aurrigo.com

At least try a couple out?

 

[kaffine]

I rode on the loop today. I am very disappointed. They have drivers that are in manual control the entire time no FSD being used at all. I mean really it is a closed loop designed just for Tesla cars if they can't get it to work there then I don't see it working on streets with other cars.

The climbing into and out of a car to travel a short distance with the number of people at a large convention seems time consuming. Need larger easier to access vehicles that you can step onto and off of or roll onto and off of if in a wheel chair. Not sure how they deal with wheel chairs and scooters or if you just don't use the transport system at that point.

The placement of the terminals is not ideal and no signs indicating where they are. I walked right past one not realizing it was a terminal I thought it was a charge station. Really putting the terminal outside in Vegas in the brand new wing was stupid. They should of had it accessible from indoor. Granted this was likely not a Boring company decision.

The tunnels are small not going to get a fire truck in one. Maybe a tow truck that would be a tight fit even for a small truck.

On the plus side I did like the nice well labeled button on the model Y rear door indicating how to open it. I haven't been in the back of a Y before are they labeled or is this just for the Boring tunnel cars?

 

[youscott]

I rode on the loop today. I am very disappointed. They have drivers that are in manual control the entire time no FSD being used at all. I mean really it is a closed loop designed just for Tesla cars if they can't get it to work there then I don't see it working on streets with other cars.

The climbing into and out of a car to travel a short distance with the number of people at a large convention seems time consuming. Need larger easier to access vehicles that you can step onto and off of or roll onto and off of if in a wheel chair. Not sure how they deal with wheel chairs and scooters or if you just don't use the transport system at that point.

The placement of the terminals is not ideal and no signs indicating where they are. I walked right past one not realizing it was a terminal I thought it was a charge station. Really putting the terminal outside in Vegas in the brand new wing was stupid. They should of had it accessible from indoor. Granted this was likely not a Boring company decision.

The tunnels are small not going to get a fire truck in one. Maybe a tow truck that would be a tight fit even for a small truck.

On the plus side I did like the nice well labeled button on the model Y rear door indicating how to open it. I haven't been in the back of a Y before are they labeled or is this just for the Boring tunnel cars?

Going to Vegas this weekend. Can anyone ride it or is it only for those attending the convention? Any cost? Thanks.

 

[kaffine]

Going to Vegas this weekend. Can anyone ride it or is it only for those attending the convention? Any cost? Thanks.

They wanted to see my convention badge, I had it around my neck already. Not sure what they would do if I said I am heading to registration to get my badge. There was no cost. The convention center normally does charge for parking though. I would only expect the cars to be running if there is a convention going on and then only during the actual show hours. It looks like there is a convention there this weekend. Could see if you can get free tickets to the convention or try and see if they will let you ride it if you say you are going to the registration desk, might want to check which hall has the registration desk and not start at that station.

The station by the new West hall is outdoors and has a ring section of the tunnel on display. I understand one of the stations has the head of the boring machine on display.

They were using both Model Y and X when you walked up they would tell you which spot to go to. They were not busy when I was there. When you get in the car they ask what station you want. I said I just want to go around the loop by the drivers reaction I wasn't the first to do that.

 

[kaffine]

Going to Vegas this weekend. Can anyone ride it or is it only for those attending the convention? Any cost? Thanks.

Did you make it by the loop?

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://www.plainsite.org/profiles/tbc--the-boring-company/

Some highlights:

• They didn't get anywhere near claimed capacity
• The system was started up with no queue management procedures/facilities in place or considerations for driver meal/bathroom breaks
• Boring was unable to provide As Built drawings as late as June 2021
• Initial charger capacity was insufficient
• Able bodied passengers were complaining about ease of access, forget ADA compliance (no mention of ADA at all)
• Lots of redactions regarding access/egress compliance.
• Soil contamination and air quality sampling returned high readings for TPH, which has been blamed on the cleaning products used in the tunnels.
• For a 10 hour period on June 3, 21 drivers drove 17 vehicles for 37.5 hours...to move 102 passengers. Not a typo. According to TBC's math, that's 2.7 passengers per hour driven per vehicle.
• Security Department radios didn't work in the tunnels
• June 30th, three conventions going on...max throughput 1232 per hour
• At the World of Concrete Event, there were 15,000 people at this event, and they peaked at 734 passengers per hour. More interesting - 11,772 total passenger trips over 3 days, and 1,600 driver hours. Using Nevada's minimum wage ($9.75), labor was $1.32 per passenger.

Boring had promised in its contract that it would deliver 4,400 passengers an hour.

 

[Knightshade]

Apparently either little to none of that FUD was actually true- or Las Vegas was still happy with the results, since they just voted to give TBC a 50 year franchise agreement and vastly expand the system.

Weird huh?

Vegas Doubles Down on Tesla Transit

Also: San Diego starts down the path toward totally free transit, and more in this week’s Mobile City.

nextcity.org

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

https://www.plainsite.org/profiles/tbc--the-boring-company/

Some highlights:

• They didn't get anywhere near claimed capacity
• The system was started up with no queue management procedures/facilities in place or considerations for driver meal/bathroom breaks
• Boring was unable to provide As Built drawings as late as June 2021
• Initial charger capacity was insufficient
• Able bodied passengers were complaining about ease of access, forget ADA compliance (no mention of ADA at all)
• Lots of redactions regarding access/egress compliance.
• Soil contamination and air quality sampling returned high readings for TPH, which has been blamed on the cleaning products used in the tunnels.
• For a 10 hour period on June 3, 21 drivers drove 17 vehicles for 37.5 hours...to move 102 passengers. Not a typo. According to TBC's math, that's 2.7 passengers per hour driven per vehicle.
• Security Department radios didn't work in the tunnels
• June 30th, three conventions going on...max throughput 1232 per hour
• At the World of Concrete Event, there were 15,000 people at this event, and they peaked at 734 passengers per hour. More interesting - 11,772 total passenger trips over 3 days, and 1,600 driver hours. Using Nevada's minimum wage ($9.75), labor was $1.32 per passenger.

Boring had promised in its contract that it would deliver 4,400 passengers an hour.

Correction to that: the contract was to deliver a system _able_ to move 4,400 passengers per hour.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Apparently either little to none of that FUD was actually true- or Las Vegas was still happy with the results, since they just voted to give TBC a 50 year franchise agreement and vastly expand the system.

Weird huh?

Vegas Doubles Down on Tesla Transit

Also: San Diego starts down the path toward totally free transit, and more in this week’s Mobile City.

nextcity.org

Well, Boring would pay _them_. If Boring gets shut down, the likely worst they have is some tunnels under Vegas.

 

[Skiingmav]

When I saw the headline I was ready to drive down there just to go through the tunnel

I know, me too. Ha

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I rode on the loop today. I am very disappointed. They have drivers that are in manual control the entire time no FSD being used at all. I mean really it is a closed loop designed just for Tesla cars if they can't get it to work there then I don't see it working on streets with other cars.

The climbing into and out of a car to travel a short distance with the number of people at a large convention seems time consuming. Need larger easier to access vehicles that you can step onto and off of or roll onto and off of if in a wheel chair. Not sure how they deal with wheel chairs and scooters or if you just don't use the transport system at that point.

The placement of the terminals is not ideal and no signs indicating where they are. I walked right past one not realizing it was a terminal I thought it was a charge station. Really putting the terminal outside in Vegas in the brand new wing was stupid. They should of had it accessible from indoor. Granted this was likely not a Boring company decision.

The tunnels are small not going to get a fire truck in one. Maybe a tow truck that would be a tight fit even for a small truck.

On the plus side I did like the nice well labeled button on the model Y rear door indicating how to open it. I haven't been in the back of a Y before are they labeled or is this just for the Boring tunnel cars?

Not sure how they plan to deal with towing in the event of a failure that means a vehicle can't roll?

They wouldn't take a fire truck into it. They'd run hoses in. Emergency exits would be the obvious locations if fire suppression systems don't work.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Apparently either little to none of that FUD was actually true- or Las Vegas was still happy with the results, since they just voted to give TBC a 50 year franchise agreement and vastly expand the system.

Weird huh?

Vegas Doubles Down on Tesla Transit

Also: San Diego starts down the path toward totally free transit, and more in this week’s Mobile City.

nextcity.org

What in the files that I shared was not true? Please be specific.

Las Vegas doubling down on a shitty, less efficient subway doesn't mean the original promises were met or that TBC has demonstrated anything close to moving 4,400 people per hour at large conventions.

But either way, I eagerly await to hear what in those files were not actually true, as you say. I would hate to post bad information, so please help me out.

 

[Knightshade]

Someone already corrected it on at least one point- 4400 is rated capacity it needs to be capable of.

Which is did when tested (exceeded in fact).

Vegas Boring Loop Surpasses 4400 Passengers Per Hour Target in Testing | NextBigFuture.com

The Boring Company Vegas Loop capacity testing exceeded 4400 passengers per hour on Tuesday.

www.nextbigfuture.com

It doesn't need to actually move that many people at each event (the event with only 15k people for example, it'd be a little weird if almost 1/3rd of the entire attendence was switching buildings EVERY hour- certainly really bad planning for the schedulers if they were doing that.


That said- Is the word "or" foreign to you? You seem to have missed, or not understood, its presence in what I wrote.


Also you shouldn't link to plainsite- the guy who runs it is nuts and has been known to use IP info from the site to dox tesla supporters.

 

[Beltsbear]

What in the files that I shared was not true? Please be specific.

Las Vegas doubling down on a shitty, less efficient subway doesn't mean the original promises were met or that TBC has demonstrated anything close to moving 4,400 people per hour at large conventions.

But either way, I eagerly await to hear what in those files were not actually true, as you say. I would hate to post bad information, so please help me out.

"That Tesla transit tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center just barely met the passenger-carrying thresholds set for it, but that apparently hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for Elon Musk’s modest-capacity, Tesla-powered subway in Vegas. "

Talk about moving the goalposts. There where specs set. Boring met them ALREADY. They will be improving capacity in stages beyond the stated goal.