Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Friday May 15 2020, @04:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the First-Passenger:-Leeloominaï-Lekatariba-Lamina-Tchaï-Ekbat-De-Sebat? dept.

Elon Musk'S Boring Company Finishes Digging Las Vegas Tunnels:

Elon Musk's Boring Company has completed digging a second tunnel underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, marking the end of the first phase of the $52.5 million project to build a "people-mover" system to shuttle visitors from one side of the venue to the other. The first of the two tunnels was finished in February.

Workers will now turn their attention to completing the above-ground passenger stations on either end of the tunnels, as well as a third underground station in the middle of the system. The people-mover, which is being formally called the Convention Center Loop, is still scheduled to open to the public in January 2021 in time for the next Consumer Electronics Show — if CES happens, that is.

[...] The Loop is supposed to be able to move more than 4,000 people per hour through the tunnels in a variety of Tesla vehicles, taking a cross-campus walk that normally takes at least 15 minutes and turning it into a ride that lasts less than two minutes.

[...] The Loop will pack those passengers into Model 3s, Model Xs, and a "tram" built on the Model 3 platform that can fit between 12 and 16 passengers, according to Steve Hill, the CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, who spoke to The Verge this week.

[...] Those vehicles will eventually zip through the tunnels autonomously, but they will start off with drivers, Hill said. After that, the vehicles will follow "conduit" and sensors that are being laid in the tunnels — so they'll appear to be autonomous but won't actually be driving themselves. "Whenever we get to the point where we know that [it's safe to let the vehicles drive themselves]," Hill said, "that's when we'll take that step. But there is not a deadline for making that happen."

[...] The Loop is not really meant to serve as public transportation. Instead, Hill says, it's an amenity for convention-goers, and for prospective customers.

[...] "It's here for the benefit of the [trade] shows, so it'll ramp up capability while [they're] here," he said. "Between those times, it'll ramp way back down to a car or two available if somebody needs one."

Hill said the LVCVA and The Boring Company will use the time between when the tunnels are completed and when they open to the public to test out the technology. ("We certainly would not have attendees of the shows be a part of a test process," he said.

Previously:
(2020-02-23) Elon Musk's Boring Company Finishes First Tunnel for 155mph Vegas Loop
(2019-03-13) Elon Musk Startup Picked to Build Las Vegas 'People Mover'


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 15 2020, @05:00PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 15 2020, @05:00PM (#994697) Journal

    When I was a kid the Las Vegas convention center looked like a giant flying saucer. That would have made an underground tunnel seem more exciting.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2