Elon Musk's Boring Company Finishes First Tunnel for 155mph Vegas Loop
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:
Elon Musk's Boring Company Finishes First Tunnel for 155mph Vegas Loop:
Last week, Musk's Boring Company finished excavating the first of two tunnels for a new transportation system that will run underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). The second tunnel will run parallel to the first, creating a loop to carry people back and forth in modified Tesla Model 3 and Model X cars.
There will be one station at the convention center's south hall, another between the central and north halls, and a third at the west hall, which is currently under construction. It takes about 15 minutes to walk from one hall to another (more if there are super-cool things like Avatar concept cars to see along the way). According to Musk, the underground cars will move at speeds up to 155 miles per hour, taking people between stations in just one minute.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority awarded a $48.7 million contract to the Boring Company last year; it's the company's first commercial contract, and they're required to test the system for three months before opening it for public use. Their goal is to move a whopping 4,000 vehicles per hour.
It took three months to excavate the first tunnel, with work taking place 40 feet underground. Musk hopes to eventually expand the transit system to other parts of Las Vegas, including the Strip and the airport, and even to have a connecting tunnel running all the way to Los Angeles; LA residents may one day be able to hop over to Vegas for an afternoon (or Vegas residents go catch a glimpse of the ocean for a few hours).
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.