The Loop consists of passengers traveling in Tesla vehicles that are driven by humans at about 35 miles per hour, significantly a scaled-down version of founder Elon Musk’s original vision of high-occupancy vehicles traveling at 150 mph. The Boring Company described automating driving and traveling at higher speeds in the future.
The new Loop station at Resorts World will not connect underground to the three existing Loop stops at the Convention Center. The stations will be connected to other stops like Resorts World in the future as the Loop is built in Vegas, according to Lori Nelson-Kraft, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Resorts World guests can travel from the resort to a new station, Riviera, at the Convention Center. If their trip then connects to the three existing Convention Center stops, they will travel through a parking lot and re-enter the tunnels at a Convention Center stop called West Station.
The company plans to transport about 400 passengers per hour from Resorts World, and hours will vary depending on the Convention Center’s schedule.
Tesla vehicles do not depart on a fixed schedule like a typical bus or train. Until now, guests had to wait a few minutes at most for a ride, according to Resorts World spokeswoman Dana Rutkin.
After a passenger boards a Tesla at Resorts World, there may be a short wait again. Currently, there is only one tunnel connecting Resorts World to the convention center campus, so traffic will flow in one direction at a time.
“The journey is still very fast, but it will be, hey these five cars are going through this direction. When they are safe at the passenger station, she will change directions,” Nelson-Kraft said.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first announced in December 2016 that he planned to buy a tunnel boring machine and “just start digging” as a way to beat traffic. He called the venture “The Boring Company” and dug a tunnel in front of SpaceX’s headquarters in California.
Las Vegas is home to the Boring Company’s first Loop system, which is said to be a better subway because vehicles don’t have to stop short of their final destination. Critics say the Loop inefficiently uses tunnels because the Tesla Model Y SUVs in use don’t have the capacity of a bus or train.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which operates the convention center, told CNN Business that the Loop has carried more than 400,000 visitors and received an average satisfaction rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.
The Boring Company did not respond to a request for comment.