The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnels are getting closer to opening as the city prepares to ease COVID restrictions in the coming weeks. In preparation, the first capacity test was completed at the underground tunnels yesterday.
According to images and videos shared online, all three stops along the 0.8 mile route were active with a fleet of Tesla Model 3, Model X, and Model Y vehicles. Testers, who had signed up for the event last week, were given the change to ride in any of the vehicles by simply walking up and getting in to an empty Tesla.
Went for a ride today on the Vegas Loop. Fun getting to ride in a tunnel in Model 3, Model Y and Model X. pic.twitter.com/5X4ydDxruE
— Tesla Owners Club Las Vegas (@TeslaLV) May 25, 2021
The car would then drive through the tunnel, with a driver behind the wheel for now, at speeds of up to 40mph, before dropping the riders off at the next station. Testers were told to find another car and complete another ride, with each one taking less than one minute.
Eventually after enough testing has been completed, the vehicles will reach speeds much higher than 40mph, and also be driverless. In a previous drive through a test tunnel in Los Angeles, a Model 3 reached a top speed of 116mph (186km/h).
https://twitter.com/BoringPrufrock/status/1397194560653209605
When the system is fully up and running, riders will be able to travel underground across the Las Vegas Convention Center grounds in under 2 minutes. It would take more than 20 minutes to walk the same route.
As many as 4,400 people per hour will be able to travel through the tunnels at full capacity. There were reportedly some kinks in the testing yesterday with fewer people than that, including some congestion at the stations, but that’s why testing happens before it goes live.
You can check out some videos of the testing below.
