City of Las Vegas, NV

07/19/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/19/2023 17:23

The Boring Company's Vegas Loop Expands To DTLV

The Boring Company's application to expand the Vegas Loop into downtown Las Vegas was approved by the Las Vegas City Council on June 15, 2022. On July 19, 2023, they approved an expansion of tunnels through downtown Las Vegas, which would be funded and constructed by The Boring Company. This will help the company accomplish its plan of creating a 68-mile system for the Las Vegas valley.

While stations in the downtown area are not finalized at this time, proposed ones include downtown Las Vegas hotels, Area 15 and four civic stations.

What is the Vegas Loop?

The Vegas Loop is privately funded, express, underground, zero-emissions public transportation system. Passengers are transported in Tesla Model X and Ys.

Currently, it is a 2.2-mile tunnel transportation system with four surface stations and one subsurface station.

Vegas Loop Overview:

  • 50 year non-exclusive agreement; about 95 percent identical to Clark County's agreement approved on 10/20/21
  • Allows The Boring Company to use our right-of- way to construct, operate, and maintain a privately funded underground transportation system
  • No taxpayer funds requested or contributed: all funding is from The Boring Company and private properties
  • Vegas Loop is envisioned to be a 50+ mile tunnel network with 60+ stations including Harry Reid Airport, Allegiant Stadium, UNLV and downtown.
  • The Boring Company pays all standard plan check, permit. and inspection fees. We estimate this to be one to two million dollars in fees.
Here are the steps this project will go through before full approval is given by the City Council and city leaders.
  1. Secure Special Use Permit (approved by City Council on 12/16/20)
  2. Secure approval of a Monorail Agreement (approved by City Council on 06/15/22)
  3. Secure approval of design development studies (such as the Fire and Life Safety Plan, Geotechnical Report, Drainage Analysis)
  4. Secure approval of final design and construction plans and permits
  5. Construction Phase
  6. Operational Testing Phase
  7. Certificate of Operation issued (renewed annually)
  8. Vegas Loop service begins

Vegas Loop Safety Features

Vehicle

  • Loop vehicles (Tesla Models X and Y) are NHTSA 5-star rated

System

  • Real-time gas and smoke detection; ventilation system designed to NFPA standards
  • Direct communications within tunnel to Control Center via tunnel intercoms, cell service and WiFi
  • Emergency communications and regularly-scheduled practice drills with police and fire departments
    • We have also added a requirement that if any unique equipment is needed by Las Vegas Fire & Rescue to access these tunnels, that will be covered by Boring Company and not taxpayers

Drive Surface

  • Wide walkway for emergency egress; no third rail or touch-hazards

Security

  • Received the Department of Homeland Security TSA Gold Standard Award for achieving top scores in review of LVCC Loop's system security plans

Benefits to downtown Las Vegas

  • Every vehicle that Vegas Loop removes from city surface streets "frees up" traffic capacity that can be used to continue supporting downtown (re)development. This will help the city and other developers avoid costly roadway widening
  • Connectivity to/from key destinations throughout the resort corridor is greatly enhanced
  • An additional form of transportation to/from downtown is created with no public funding

Revenue Funding Model

  • City agreement provides a mechanism to generate additional funding that could be used to fund civic stations in support of our downtown districts and any other tunnel extensions/civic stations the city desires; E.g., a civic station could be constructed to serve the Arts District at Boulder Plaza
  • The Three Tier Civic Station Revenue Funding Model has the potential to generate an additional $1.35M per year over the county's Two Tier Revenue Funding Model for the same revenue. Therefore, The Boring Company could contribute an extra $13.5M every 10 years using the city model rather than the county one.
  • The Agreement allows the city or TBC the opportunity to convert the Three Tier Civic Station Revenue Funding Model to the Two Tier Revenue Funding Model after the 10th anniversary of the agreement's effective date for any reason.