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Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announces $55m Elon Musk tunnel

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Las Vegas Elon Musk tunnel

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has announced its support for Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build an underground tunnel system in the city.

If plans are approved by the LVCVA board of directors on March 12, The Boring Company would connect, via underground tunnels, downtown Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention Center, McCarran International Airport, and other areas.

It will potentially be extended to the city’s other busiest areas, including the Strip and downtown.

Passengers would be transported in autonomous electric vehicles at high speeds. The system would likely be linked to a smartphone app.

According to LVCVA CEO Steve Hill, it could have over 100 vehicles operating at one time, with a capacity to transport between 12,000 and 15,000 passengers per hour.

“It would be somewhere in the range of the cost of a bus ride and an Uber ride,” Hill confirmed (via Las Vegas Review-Journal).

“It’s really innovative. I think it will be an attraction in and of itself, frankly,” Hill told The Associated Press.

“Look at everything that we have built in Las Vegas, and this city and everybody who has built it found ways to make that happen,” Hill explained. “As long as this continues to make sense, I believe that we will figure out how to make it happen.”

“We do see it as a real opportunity and something we would like to pursue,” he added.

He also said that the fleet could include Tesla’s Model X and Model 3, as well as a vehicle with capacity for 16 people.

In a statement, The Boring Company’s president Steve Davis said that the tunnels planned for Las Vegas could be operational and transporting guests within a year.

“If the community likes it, and they come, they ride at the convention center and they say ‘This is great. It’s comfortable. It’s fast. It’s awesome.’ Well, there are other places it can go,” said Davis.

The Boring Company and LVCVA estimate a total cost of between $35 million and $55 million.

Founded by Elon Musk in 2016, The Boring Company aims to build these systems in cities around the world. The company uses huge boring machines that craft tunnels.

The Boring Company was met with opposition in Los Angeles and Chicago, by those questioning its safety and benefits.

Hyperloop at Expo 2020

Elsewhere, Pavilion USA 2020 recently announced an official partnership with California- based Virgin Hyperloop One, which will premiere its Hyperloop ride experience at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The recreation of a Hyperloop ride will feature the visuals, sounds and feel of an actual ride.

Greg Houston, CEO of Pavilion USA 2020, told Arabian Business: “It will be the first time anywhere in the world that you’re able to go through a Hyperloop pod.

“These things will be designed to have the look, the feel, the sounds and the vibrations – what little vibrations there are – of a real Hyperloop.”

In long run, Las Vegas underground transit could reach Strip, downtown

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Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

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