The Boring Company Coming Up Short of Expectations in Las Vegas

Mark Harris provides on an investigative report into shortcomings in the people mover planned by Elon Musk's The Boring Company (TBC) for the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Planning files reviewed by TechCrunch "seem to show that the Loop system will not be able to move anywhere near the number of people LVCC wants, and that TBC agreed to."

The LVCC wanted a system that could move up to 4,400 attendees every hour between exhibition halls and parking lots, according to Harris. But: "Fire regulations peg the occupant capacity in the load and unload zones of one of the Loop’s three stations at just 800 passengers an hour. If the other stations have similar limitations, the system might only be able to transport 1,200 people an hour — around a quarter of its promised capacity."

Failing to hit the targets laid out in the agreement would cost The Boring Company a lot of money—more than $13 million of the construction budget and millions more in penalties, reports Harris.

Harris provides more analysis of the project, as planned by The Boring Company, and notes that the LVCC anticipated the gamble it was taking on this untested application of Musk's ideas about transportation infrastructure. So when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority wrote its contract with The Boring Company, "it did its best to incentivize Musk to deliver on his promises," according to Harris.

Harris updates the expected timeline for the project, which was tied to payments, noting that one big milestone, the completion of the entire working system, already passed on October 1.

Previous Planetizen coverage of the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop project:

• The Boring Company Gets Paid (May 2019)
• Conflicts With the Las Vegas Monorail Complicating Elon Musk's Tunnel Plans (August 2019)
• Public Underwhelmed by Latest Look at the Boring Company's Work in Las Vegas (July 2020)