Musk claims that the Loop technology will be the new wave in public transit but experts are unsure
By Jack Siciliano
Public transportation has never been very accessible in Las Vegas, with no subway system and a monorail that only services 3.9 miles. But Elon Musk’s Boring Company is aiming to fix that with an underground tunnel system where customers are driven from point to point in Tesla cars at their leisure.
The Boring Company's Vegas Loop recently opened its newest station at the Westgate Hotel on January 10th in Las Vegas. The underground tunnel transportation system plans to have 68 miles of tunnels and 55 stops by the time the project is done. There are safety concerns behind the project as the Boring Company was issued eight violations and a fine of $112,000 by OSHA in 2024. Projects such as these could begin to crop up more often as Musk wields an unknown amount of power within President Donald Trump's administration.
The Vegas Loop first opened in 2021, with service underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Jasmine Belanger, who works in guest experiences at the LVCC said that the Loop is usually only open during conventions at the moment, despite its recent expansion.
“Vegas does not have a huge mass transit so this can help eliminate congestion”, Belanger said.
Musk, the owner of the Boring Company along with many other tech related startups, agrees with Belanger that the Loop could be the answer to traffic in Las Vegas.
Musk claimed on the social media platform X, which he owns, that “The throughput in the Vegas tunnels is already better than an average subway btw. It’s a myth that subways are super efficient.”
Sevgi Erdogan, a transit expert and professor of information studies at Syracuse University, was more skeptical about the project. She questioned why there was a lack of feasibility study publicly available for the project when bold claims are being made about its efficiency.
Erdogan also pushed back on Musk’s statement that subways are not efficient saying, “There are hundreds of people waiting in the subway station, and they can get on one train. In Tesla‘s case, there needs to be space for those people in many different cars…How is it going to solve the congestion problem underground, when it is more limited, and more rigid than a subway?”
Safety was also one of her concerns as the tunnels are very long and narrow, which puts drivers and passengers at risk in the case of a fire. The Boring Company was fined by OSHA during the construction of the tunnels for not providing safe methods of entry and exit to the system for the workers.
Freddy Atraveras, a concierge at Resorts World Hotel, which was the first hotel with a stop on the Loop, is excited about the prospects of this project for Las Vegas.
“It’s fantastic to be able to jump in the Vegas loop and get to the airport right underground, and when it’s 115 degrees outside in the summer, you can be in a controlled environment,” he said.
Atraveras noted that customers have been extremely happy with the service provided by the Loop, and that business at the hotel is booming when it is in action. With the current lack of a public transportation system, it appears that the Vegas Loop has filled some needs.
As the project continues to go on, and Musk holds power in the White House, it is unknown what the future holds for underground car transportation.
Musk seems to see it as the future of public transportation but Erdogan is not so sure. She summed up her thoughts in one sentence, “It is just an amusement park for Tesla riders”.