The board of directors for the Las Vegas Convention Center has approved a recommendation to enter into exclusive negotiations with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to construct a proposed loop of underground tunnels with high-speed electric people carriers to whisk convention attendees and workers around the facility.
The LVCC is currently in the middle of an ambitious expansion set to be completed in 2021. The campus will then cover more than 200 acres and require a two-mile walk from one end of the convention center to the other. To help visitors use the convention center more efficiently, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had been exploring options for people movers to carry passengers around. The Boring Company’s proposal does not specify the type of electric vehicles that will be used in the tunnels, but renderings show electric cars with seating for up to 16.
When the committee exploring options recommended The Boring Company, the firm's president, Steve Davis, said in a statement, “It can be in use by Las Vegas Convention Center guests within one year, supporting the LVCVA's expansion timeline.” This would mean the system would be available for visitors to the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2021.
The Convention Center is currently accessible from several points on the Strip via monorail, but if the proposed underground transportation system is successful, tunnels and additional vehicles could be expanded out to McCarron International Airport and to certain downtown Las Vegas destinations.
The project is expected to require a financial investment of between $35 and $55 million, depending on the length of the tunnel systems and the number of pick-up/drop-off points. The convention center hosts more than a million people every year, meaning the new transportation system will create substantial savings for attendees in both time and shoe leather.
