Passengers leaving what appears to be a normal bus station to disappear into an underground tunnel system that aims to connect the Las Vegas Convention Center with other commercial properties will soon have more options to get on board.
Two new stations are expected to open soon for the rapid transit network known as the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop that zips conference attendees around in Tesla electric cars by drivers through an enclosed, one-lane track glittering with neon lights.
The Boring Co., founded by billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, operates the tunnel system that plans to add two new stations and eventually reach the city's airport, offering people another option to travel up and down the Las Vegas Strip and to their hotels.
A station at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino plans to open within weeks, and another station at the Encore Las Vegas is slated to open in the coming months, according to Matthew Weber, an operations manager for the Boring Co.
“Is it New York City subway? No, not yet. But we’re slowly getting there,” Weber said during a tour last week of the transit network's stations that are already open, facilitated as a part of an annual conference by the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, also known as NAIOP.
The Boring Co., named after the tunneling machine that is digging the underground motorway, has also been carving a path toward Harry Reid International Airport, with plans to open a station near the Vegas airport “hopefully sometime early next year,” Weber said. It would offer trade show guests fast drop-offs and pickups from the airport, he added.
An exact date of when the newest stations will open was not disclosed. Weber and the Boring Co. did not respond to a follow-up interview request via email.
Loop-the-loop
The multistation transit system first opened in 2021, reducing a timely walk around the convention center campus to a matter of minutes.
In addition to its three initial stations, a fourth called Riviera and a fifth at the hotel Resorts World Las Vegas are currently operational with 104 cars in use, Weber said.
The Boring Co. manager sees integration into the loop system as a win for commercial properties throughout Las Vegas.
“For every 100 people we take from Resorts World to the convention center in the morning ... we send back 120 to 130 in the evening,” Weber added.
The Boring Co. has bought properties throughout Las Vegas, including near the Chinatown neighborhood, CoStar News previously reported, as it seeks to expand its transportation network.
The entire system currently operates only during conventions, Weber noted. As the new stations open, travel between the resorts will be possible, but it remains unclear what the operating hours could be.
“When you get in your car, you don’t stop until you get to your destination,” Weber said.
Convention center attendees pay nothing to ride, Weber said, though those going to and from the resort currently pay $5 for a day pass or less for a single ride. How that will change as new luxury hotels and other locations are added to the network remains to be seen.
Steve Hill, the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a tourism agency for the city, sees the project as a way to connect the entire town.
“It’s going to make getting around Las Vegas not only really quick, but it’s going to be an attraction in and of itself. It already is,” Hill said during a panel at the NAIOP conference.