Elon Musk’s Boring Company has unveiled its Vegas Loop at the Las Vegas Convention. The Loop is now operational and will cut journey times through the convention from 25 minutes to two minutes.

The $52.5 million system is intended to serve as a quick way to move convention attendees throughout the more than 200-acre campus, all 40 feet beneath the ground in all-electric Tesla vehicles. 

The launch was met with disappointed reviews. The Vegas Loop had been expected to be a futuristic transportation system. Instead the Boring Company revealed a tunnel system with people driving Teslas at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. Reviewers had expected a fully automated transport system operating at speeds of up to 155 miles per hour.

Last October, Musk had tried to dampen expectations of the Vegas Loop, tweeting “We simplified this a lot. It’s basically just Teslas in tunnels at this point, which is way more profound than it sounds.”

The company constructed two one-way, 1400 yard tunnels for cars and three passenger stations to connect the existing convention centre campus to the 1.4 million square foot West Hall expansion. The system will allow up to 4,400 convention attendees per hour to travel across the campus in just under two minutes. The ride is free. By foot, the walk would take approximately 25 minutes. 

Passengers are carried in all-electric Tesla vehicles to their destination. The cars used for the trips can go up to 150 mph but are restricted to speeds of 35-40 mph due to the short distance of the tunnels. 

According to Boring Company, the system will be staffed with drivers initially with the plan to operate them autonomously in the future.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCA) plans to develop an expanded system throughout the resort corridor to ease traffic congestion and offer a new transportation option for visitors from as far north as Downtown Las Vegas, throughout the Strip and as far south as Allegiant Stadium, a distance of around seven miles.

The LVCVA moved from board approval to the excavation of both tunnels in less than one year, and fully developing the system in a year and a half. The tunnels measure 13.5 feet outer diameter and 12 feet inner diameter. The Loop system includes a command centre to monitor the system.

The authority also operates the Las Vegas Monorail, a four mile elevated track which will begin carrying customers when the convention centre reopens to customers.

“We are excited to have partnered with Elon’s company to bring this transportation ‘first’ to our valued convention customers,” said Steve Hill, LVCVA president and CEO. “The expanded Loop system, when developed, will be a game-changer and a new ‘must experience’ attraction for our visitors.”