Elon Musk’s Boring Company has been working hard on its Vegas Loop transit system for years, and it now operates 10 stations — including two at the city’s Harry Reid International Airport.
Well, kind of in practice. While the Loop operates a system of tunnels that connect the Las Vegas Convention Center to many hotels, its tunnel to the airport has not yet opened. So the Loop service to Harry Reid … is a human-driven Tesla, driving on roads rather than tunnels.
YouTuber Ray Delahanty, who goes by the moniker CityNerd, recently visited the Loop – and the video that emerged highlighted what he called the “farce” of its air stations, and the lack of signage to guide passengers.
What is a Loop?
The Loop opened five years ago, moving people around the convention center in Teslas driven by people in a single-lane tunnel dug by the Boring Company (which, like Tesla, is owned by Elon Musk). The original three-station, $47 million Loop (that’s the cost quoted by the Boring Co.; some reports indicate it was closer to $52 million) was paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, funded by hotel bed taxes; LVCVA also covers $5 million in annual maintenance.
The stations are paid for by the casinos (and the airport), with future tunnels paid for by the Boring Company. Currently, the system uses five stations at the convention center, two at the airport, and stops at Encore, Westgate, and Fontainebleau, with tickets costing between $6 and $12.
When the Loop is completed, The Boring Company envisions traveling at 155 mph through 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations — with passengers driven by autonomous vehicles carrying 90,000 passengers an hour — a staggering number that would require every Vegas resident and visitor to use it multiple times a day. The system currently carries about one million passengers a year, or more than 114 people per hour.
What’s wrong with the Loop?
At stations like the one at the Fontainebleau resort, Teslas exit the tunnel at Boring and enter the Fontainebleau parking garage, just like any other car. The airports, which opened in December 2025, run along the outer roads along the entire five-kilometer route to the convention center.
The Boring Company is currently digging an underground tunnel to the airport and plans to open it before the end of the year, according to a Delahanty Loop pilot.
The biggest problem with channels? Not the inconsistency of the subways or the fact that the narrow tunnels only allow one-way travel. How difficult it is for passengers to even find stations (a problem that has plagued the Las Vegas Monorail).
Casinos or the airport do not provide signals to the stations. The stations themselves often lack amenities such as seating or, as Delahanty discovered, functional escalators.
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To make matters worse, some of the few riders using the Loop were confused about how to access cars (cars are requested through an app, such as Uber or Lyft), leading to poor experiences.
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After some trial and error, Delahanty hailed a car from the airport and hitched a ride to the convention center for an unbeatable $12 — half the price of an Uber, Lyft, or taxi. The drivers also appeared friendly and willing to help customers, at least in Delahanty’s video.
While Boring Company didn’t respond to our questions about Delahanty’s hustle, we tracked down the urban YouTuber for his Loop experience. Here is our discussion, edited for clarity and brevity.
It seemed that one of the biggest problems with the Loop was the lack of knowledge of how to ride and find channels. Did the riders seem confused or unfamiliar with the Loop’s terms?
My experience was that a few of the passengers seemed to be familiar with how the system works – as if they had used it before – but most seemed confused as to how they knew and which car to pick up. Some of the passengers seemed confused about how to buy a ticket and order a ride, although this seems pretty clear to me once you’ve managed to find the station.
There is no Boring tunnel connecting to the airport yet, why does the company offer a $12 airport service?
I really don’t know why they chose to start offering this service before the connecting tunnel, which should be completed by the end of 2026. It really works like a regular Uber/Lyft ride, only one has to go to an unmarked location on the sublevel of the airport you will be using.
The LVCVA funds procedures and maintenance. What do you think it should have used that money for?
When they first asked for proposals, it was because a people mover of some kind connected the halls far away on the Las Vegas Convention Center campus. Imagine an indoor airport tram at a major airport like Atlanta, Dallas, or Denver, or even Las Vegas! – maybe that’s what they should have been building.
Instead, the Boring Company came in with the lowest bid. I don’t know how the project gets out of the Boring Company. My guess is, at the project level they are way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way
He said that no one seems to be very critical of the Loop’s shortcomings. Do you expect its expansion to continue without opposition from officials?
Until now, all funding has come from hotel room taxes and private donations from resorts. When the time comes when a City or County spends public funds that could otherwise be spent on public transportation or any number of other public goods, the math will change. [Boring has made a deal with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for a station on campus, with costs covered by the company.]
What is it really like to ride in the Loop?
It’s like riding an Uber or Lyft that often uses a narrow, brightly colored tunnel. I’m not claustrophobic, but I wouldn’t wish the experience on someone who was.
