The current Vegas loop is a fun little novelty, like a roller coaster, but it’s so bad as a model for transportation. If we’re already digging the tunnels PLEASE just make a subway. The teslas are so awkward, have to be steered in this small and curved space, require a driver, only fit a few passengers, and on and on. Vegas is in desperate need of higher volume train transportation between the airport, the Strip, and downtown—but I’m afraid this isn’t going to cut it.
These are Tesla Loop tunnels.<p>I honestly cannot believe that a city would give permission to build such a pyrrhic public transportation system, even if it is privately owned. From the article:<p>"The convention center loop has been operational for about two years and has seen 1.2 million passengers over that span. The highest daily capacity of the system during that time is 32,000 riders."<p>The similarly planned Austin MetroRail has a yearly passenger volume of ~500,000, but at least it is more useful than this.
This is what you get when ideologies of hyperindividualism are presumed as natural law. It sounds like something out of some 80s lampooning cyberpunk movie.<p>The whole premise of cities is efficiency through collaborative infrastructure. It's really wild how badly we do it.
Elon's superpower is extremely on display here.<p>He's starting from the other way around, sell snake oil to corpos and politicians, get all the bureaucracy out of the way, and then take his sweet ass time to actually deliver.<p>In our current system, this is the best way. Example, in Toronto our politicians literally spent a decade and half debating, approving, then disallowing, then commissioned studies for a ~10 mile long subway line.
As a privately-funded attraction, AKA "silly thing to do in Vegas" this seems fine, no worse than visiting the Ice Bar or climbing a reproduction of the Eiffel Tower. Hopefully none of those Teslas catch fire in the little tunnels.
The crazy thing is that a high-schooler with a back of envelope calculation can show this is significantly less efficient than metro.<p>That's even before taking into account safety issues they have had. Consider all the idiots you see on the highway, now think about what would happen if there was no way to go around them
As The Boring Company put it,<p>> As a point of reference, less than 20 miles of underground subway tunnel has been constructed in the United States in the last 20 years.<p>The most important point of their design should not be thought of as it being express transport, though it is, nor anything special about their throughput, though it's competitive — it's just that underground transit is good, the regulatory environment is bad, and Teslas-in-tunnels is about the least encumbered way of making it happen.
On a related note, Tesla announced it wants to make commercial vans and buses, which would significantly increase the efficiency and throughput of these tunnels.[a]<p>[a] <a href="https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/Tesla-Master-Plan-Part-3.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/Tesla-Master-Plan-Part-3.pdf</a>
Here is some more good info and sharp commentary including how fast this is getting built...<p><a href="https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/vegas-loop-experiences-multiple-borgasms-at-westgate-and-encore/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/vegas-loop-experiences-mul...</a>
The most important question is: is this funded by taxpayer funds or The Boring Company/Tesla?<p>If it’s privately funded, I don’t think the foolishness of this plan can do a lot of long-term damage to the city.
Quotes like this really make me wonder about the people who say them in the moment. Do they realize how ridiculous the words they are saying sound when put in this order?<p>“It’s not like a subway where you stop at a bunch of stops along the way,” said attorney Stephanie Allen, of law firm Kaempfer Crowell, who spoke on Boring Company’s behalf. “It goes directly from Point A to Point B and saves a lot of time in doing so.”
I was curious what the current status of what's been built is, this review I found informative: <a href="https://youtu.be/XnWL-iZFlSM" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/XnWL-iZFlSM</a>.<p>Maybe it could work in Vegas, given how unwalkable it is, and how many people are there without cars, looking to move from a specific resort to a specific resort for shows/dining etc.
32k daily? So if they are evenly spaced in 24h (I don't believe it's remotely possible), it means 22.2 passengers per minute (or 7. 4 per station per minute, if they are evenly distributed).<p>First reaction: it isn't that high, but it's interesting.<p>Second reaction, after looking at the pictures and where the cars can stop and take passengers: filthy liars.<p>I cannot take this seriously.
So I haven't ridden the Loop in Vegas, but have seen the videos of people riding it. My first thought was what happens when one of those lithium-ion batteries malfunctions in such a small space? Did they install fire suppressant? How is the ventilation? The idea of being trapped inside while a battery cooks off would be my nightmare...
I was just talking to my wife about this yesterday and wondering why Vegas didn’t have a subway like transit system. I know they have the monorail but it’s really not a comprehensive solution. This will be cool to see unfold. The strip can be tedious to navigate if you’re on foot.
Can't wait for the Adam something video. If you do not know him, he is a youtuber that like trains a lot and make good criticism to a lot of new "hypes". I do not agree with everything he says, and he tend to be a bit extreme, but good content.
They basically chose the least effective, most expensive option. The option they’ve already proven is a failure on a small scale with convention center.
what a crazy stupid idea... thunderf00t [1] already outlined why all of this is a horrible idea.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ezF7NmwQZs&ab_channel=Thunderf00t">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ezF7NmwQZs&ab_channel=Thund...</a>
The permission from the city should be contingent on 24/7 operation.<p>Novelty services that serve tourists going to the convention center don't move the needle on daily users being able to get rid of cars and the car lifestyle unless they can rely on the system at all hours.<p>Even 20/6 means you still need a car.
This is embarrassing. Americans hate choo choo trains.<p>Can we please invent cost effective low-speed maglev trains.<p>China is moving in the right direction:
<a href="https://youtu.be/9u4lG0HuICg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/9u4lG0HuICg</a>