At the start of 2023, I had the chance to return to Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, this huge techno trade fair. Leaving the conference centers a bit, you can come across amazing projects like the Vegas Loop.
So what is this Vegas Loop? It is a tunnel project that connects the West Wing of the Las Vegas Convention Center to the South Wing. It’s not a very long tunnel: 2.74 km. Behind this project, Elon Musk and his Boring Company, a company that specializes in the rapid construction of tunnels.
The tunnel was inaugurated in April 2021. It is teeming with Tesla vehicles with drivers that transport passengers from one end to the other. Like a subway, but without the carriages or the rails! This route that could take 45 minutes to walk now takes two minutes!
Photo: Boring Company
First impressions
After this experience, the Vegas Loop project seemed incomplete to me. This type of tunnel must be accessible to motorists or even automate the transport of people. It’s not a very innovative concept, it’s very “ordinary”… but it’s effective. Top speed is 64 km/h (40 mph). In a tunnel, the conditions are easily controllable, and it is obvious that we will eventually move towards shuttles, totally autonomous wagons, faster and obviously which will transport us over longer distances.
The idea of digging tunnels to eliminate part of the road traffic is interesting.
Photo: Boring Company
The Boring Company has what it takes to take this concept further and to the cutting edge of travel technology: fast and autonomous.