Photographer: Bridget Bennett / Bloomberg
Photographer: Bridget Bennett / Bloomberg
Nate Calabrese almost missed the “wanted driver” ad on the job search site Indeed.com because it offered so little detail. It turned out that the display was for Boring Co., the tunnel business owned by Elon Musk. That’s how 27-year-old Calabrese got to lead people under the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday in one of the first public throws of the so-called “Loop” that Musk built there.
The company’s first major commercial project was set to be unveiled at the annual glitter show at the January Consumer Electronics Show, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented it. Now, it is ready for its first big event at the World of Concrete event on June 8-10, city tourism officials said on Friday.
The loop ride itself is short, it matches the tunnels – about 0.4 miles long for each of the four sections, making a total of about 1.7 miles of tunnel. But it makes up for the fun, with enough pulsating colored light that staff nicknamed the “Rainbow Road”.
The Boring Co. Convention Center Loop in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photographer: Bridget Bennett / Bloomberg
Consisting of a fleet of modified Tesla sedans that travel – as their name suggests – between three stations, the system can carry passengers up to 40 miles per hour. The idea is to move people through pre-Covid shows that usually attracted tens of thousands of people in a large space that includes four different exhibition halls. The cost will be free for conference attendees, according to the Las Vegas Convention and the Visitors Authority.
Riders going up to the south or west stations will wait outside for their Tesla and enter tunnels that lean through entrances lined with gray-painted rocks, in the style of the amusement park. Riders ascending to the central station stop 40 feet by means of an escalator to a large open room, with space for Teslas to enter so that passengers can enter or exit. Each car can accommodate three people at this time due to Covid restrictions, but could hold up to five.
Drivers had to pass tests, including a driving test, Calabrese said – and a surprising number of applicants could not catch the portion that required them to safely reverse from one place, he said. The group had to carry out a series of emergency scenarios, including bomb threats, active shooters and the collapse of the tunnel.
Tesla vehicles parked at Boring Co. Convention Center Loop.
Photographer: Bridget Bennett / Bloomberg
Vegas Loop was approved in May 2019 and built at a cost of $ 52.5 million, paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association. Most of the funds come from hotel taxes. Boring also said he would like to build a Loop at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles from a nearby subway station. This potential project is still under environmental review. Its only existing project is a test tunnel in Hawthorne, California, which was completed in 2018.
The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop could one day become part of a larger network designed to connect more parts of the city, including the Strip, and potentially, to the airport. These plans are in the land use authorization and approval stage, according to a spokesman for Clark County, Nevada, where much of the route will go.
Calabrese really enjoys his job so far and, at $ 17 an hour plus benefits, said he is doing much better financially compared to his old life as a taxi driver in Vegas. However, he will still have to find a new job. The executive director of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors, Steve Hill, said Friday that once the cars are certified for driverless transportation and passengers feel comfortable with the idea, they will drive alone. “We will work for autonomy,” he told reporters.