A Tesla electric vehicle heads from the Las Vegas Convention Center toward Resorts World through the Vegas Loop.
Friday, June 9, 2023 | 4:14 p.m.
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company is looking to further expand its Vegas Loop system across the city.
The Las Vegas City Council in a planning meeting Tuesday will consider a proposal calling for the underground transportation system to expand with stops near the Smith Center, Palace Station, Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street, according to documents provided to city council members.
In a letter to the city council, The Boring Company explained the expansion is part of an ongoing effort to connect Las Vegas to Harry Reid International Airport.
“This will provide benefits to the surrounding community by increasing the ease in which the public move between key destinations within the City of Las Vegas and beyond, while alleviating surface traffic,” The Boring Company said in their letter. “The Project will be harmonious and compatible with existing and planned development in the area, and will provide Las Vegas visitors with an innovative transportation system worthy of their expectations.
City officials noted that the Vision 2045 Downtown Las Vegas Master Plan does “encourage the implementation of transportation systems that can move people with higher efficiency and lower economic and environmental costs.”
They suggested that the project should be approved with a set of conditions.
Last month, Clark County commissioners approved another 18 stations for the Vegas Loop, bringing the total to 69 stops and extending the underground tunnels another 29 miles. Additional stations and track expansions in Las Vegas city limits were already planned at that time.
The Boring Company was allowed for the first time in December 2020 to build around 4.6 miles of the Vegas Loop within city limits, according to county officials.
In June 2022, the Las Vegas and The Boring Company entered into an official agreement granting the business rights to install and operate the Vegas Loop within city limits.
UNLV in March also gained approval from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents to complete the sale of a 1.3-acre parcel near the Thomas & Mack Center used for parking to the Boring Company for a station on campus.
Rides will cost $6 to $12 and connect students to Allegiant Stadium in its initial stage, but the university is negotiating with the Boring Company to secure reduced rates for UNLV students, faculty and staff, UNLV President Keith Whitfield said in March.
The UNLV station is expected to be finished by late 2023, said Tyler Fairbanks, head of project development for the Boring Company.
Stephanie Allen, an attorney for the Boring Company, stressed to commissioners the intention to keep rates reasonable, noting a ride from downtown Las Vegas to the convention center would be $5 for the 2.8-mile trip.
From downtown Las Vegas to the airport, it would be $12 for an eight-minute ride, said a representative from the Boring Company during the county commissioner meeting in May.
“These are sample fares because the system is not yet operational to this extent, but these are an idea of what is contemplated to ensure these fares remain low, and obviously are quick and efficient for the passengers, and safe,” Allen said.
Only two loop systems currently exist in Las Vegas, an almost 2-mile track with four stations at the Las Vegas Convention Center and a connector from the convention center to Resorts World. The Boring Company is in the process of fully connecting the two tracks.
The original $52.5 million tunnel system at the convention center features 12-foot-wide tunnels with colorful LED lights and a fleet of 62 Teslas circulating. The system is designed to transport up to 4,400 people per hour in more than 60 cars between buildings under the 200-acre campus.
