Tesla CyberTruck to play key role in Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop airport trips
When The Boring Company's Vegas Loop eventually hauls passengers to and from Harry Reid International Airport, Tesla's Cybertrucks will play a big role in the operation.
"As we look at going to the airport dealing with luggage matters," Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the Road Warrior, "Cybertrucks are huge inside. They've got a great bed, with basically a shutter, that closes over the bed of the truck. So it makes it really easy for families and groups that are traveling together."
The Cybertruck promises to be a great option for airport trips, but other Tesla model cars will be used in the system too, Hill said.
"But because that Cybertruck is available, it just expands the options and makes it much more convenient for those who need that luggage space," Hill said.
Just one Cybertruck is available for use in the already-operating convention center loop. With plans to connect to the airport still a ways out, Hill didn't have a timeline for when more Cybertrucks could be added to the system.
"I don't know exactly what they have in mind in an addition standpoint," Hill said. "It won't be important from a functional standpoint until we get ready to go to the airport. That's a little ways off in the future."
Riders on the system will likely first be able to reach the airport aboveground, to and from a station being built between Paradise Road and University Center Drive. Eventually a station at Reid airport is planned, with early core-sampling work already having been carried out tied to that station.
A "shoebox" tunnel is being dug underneath a portion of the convention center to allow cars in the system to be able to head in different directions, as more tunnels outside of the convention center loop are built.
"Those shoeboxes are basically underground traffic circles, but they're square and not circular," Hill said. "You can drive into one and drive around that square and turn. That's important so you don't have to go from one system to another just to change directions."
The shoebox being constructed now will allow vehicles to travel to and from the convention center, the under-construction Encore station and eventually down the University Center Drive and up and down Paradise Road.
Along Paradise, work continues on the Virgin Hotel station and one located down the street from the resort, located at 4300 Paradise Road.
"That's a shoebox as well," Hill said. "So you'll be able to turn and go down Harmon, and go north and south on Paradise. And maybe potentially at some point, over to the east on Harmon and over to UNLV."
The shoebox configurations will become a regular feature through the Vegas Loop system as it continues to expand throughout the area.
"You just need to be able to turn like you do on a street," Hill said.
At full build-out, the Vegas Loop system will include 93 stations spread across 68 miles of tunnel spanning portions of the Strip, downtown Las Vegas and neighboring areas, according to the Boring Co.
The Vegas Loop uses Tesla model vehicles, transporting passengers between stations via a point-to-point tunnel system.
No timeline has been set for when full build-out will be reached on the Vegas Loop project.
