Loop Scoop: First Look at Vegas Loop’s Encore Connection

By Scott Roeben, on June 15 2022
4 min read 7 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas

Elon Musk’s underground transportation system in Las Vegas, the Vegas Loop, got a big thumbs up from the City of Las Vegas on June 15, 2022.

The City Council approved the expansion of the privately-funded Vegas Loop to downtown Las Vegas. Read more.

Beyond that big win, we got our hands on a document labeled “Proprietary and Confidential” that provides a first look at the Loop’s proposed connection between the Las Vegas Convention Center and Encore hotel.

We love anything labeled “confidential.” It’s sexy AF.

In time, there will be 55-plus Vegas Loop stations, but this one at the Las Vegas Convention Center is expected to remain the most badass.

Here’s the route the tunnel between the convention center and Encore will take.

Underground, you’ll miss seeing the Wynn golf course, but no system is perfect.

Musk’s Boring Co. keeps things simple with these tunnels. You depart from a station, zip along the tunnel and end up at another station. In Teslas, of course.

The cars “porpoise” on a ramp, circle around and head back to the original station.

This rendering gives us hope that we, too, could someday do renderings for the Boring Co.

In the case of Resorts World, it seems there’s just the one tunnel, so cars can’t go in both directions at the same time as they do at the convention center. Cars must wait for the tunnel to be clear to go, but another tunnel is expected in the future. We’ve heard the Resorts World connector could open July 1, 2022.

Here’s the moment when Boring broke through at Resorts World. They didn’t even invite us. Rude.

Boring’s drill recently got a fresh coat of paint, so it’s ready to start work on the next leg of the project.

Ultimately, the plan is for the Vegas Loop to run 34 miles. The Loop will have more than 55 stations.

There will be five miles of tunnels and more than five stations downtown (within the City of Las Vegas). Stops will include stations at Strat, the SlotZilla zipline, Fremont Street Experience, Garage Mahal at Circa and Plaza.

The Vegas Loop is expected to stretch from downtown to the airport, and will go to Allegiant Stadium, mainly so people can attend BTS concerts after a lukewarm reception to their solo projects.

This is the Las Vegas Convention Center part of the Encore connector.

The “confidential” document submitted to Clark County about the Encore connector shows the no-frills station on the convention center side that looks a lot like one of those old-timey submarines surfacing to swallow Teslas.

Pragmatism equals value.

Here’s an overhead look at the Encore station.

Define “confidential.”

The Encore’s Loop station will sit neatly in its porte cochere area.

We would be remiss if we didn’t highlight an Easter egg in Boring’s architectural rendering for the Encore station.

Feel free to grow up at any time.

Here’s another look at the Encore stop of the Vegas Loop. Again, simplicity reigns. Typically, Boring pays for the tunnel, resorts pay for their station. The cost of a typical station is about $26, labor included.

Elon Musk’s original vision for these stations was for them to blend in with the urban landscape.

Let’s let Todd-Avery Lenahan take a stab at this and it will be fabulous.

Boring sneakily included a higher-capacity vehicle in the rendering below. This 12 (or 18) passenger electric vehicle was floated when the project was originally announced, but Boring quickly changed course on that and hasn’t mentioned these vehicles since.

An electric minibus based on the Model X would sure come in handy right about now.

Also altered since the initial announcement: All the Teslas have drivers. Originally, it was hoped the cars would be autonomous, otherwise known as “self-driving.” Which will probably still happen at some point, but we’re good with human drivers for another 3-5 years, thanks.

Yes, there are critics of the Vegas Loop. These are mostly: 1) Elon Musk haters, 2) wannabe public transportation experts, 3) additional people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

Please feel free to review our story, Confirmed: Critics of Elon Musk’s Vegas Loop Are Clueless.

Some of the critics whine about a supposed lack of safety features in the Vegas Loop. This, in transportation jargon, is dumbassery.

Safety questions are addressed nicely in the presentation given to the Las Vegas City Council. You can check out video of the City Council meeting in case you are suffering from insomnia.

People have seriously lost the ability to assess risk. Just ride the damn thing, already.

Yes, the Vegas Loop is referred to as a “monorail,” despite the fact it isn’t a monorail.

The presentation to the City of Las Vegas included multiple slides related to safety, so everybody needs to get over it. All the relevant agencies and regulators have been involved from day one. Boring has got this.

Another concern: Is the Vegas Loop mass transit? Not really. That was an easy one! The Vegas Loop is a shuttle service at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and an underground rideshare everywhere else.

Again, no taxpayer dollars are being used to build this thing.

Ticket prices? A trip from the Las Vegas Convention Center to the airport will run about $10. From the convention center to downtown? About $5.

Plus gratuity.

You’re riding Elon Musk’s vision, don’t you dare stiff your driver or Elon will download your consciousness into a computer and the services of your physical self will no longer be required.

One final concern: The Teslas used in the Vegas Loop don’t appear to be equipped with bars. Now, there’s an actual concern! Come on, Elon, get to engineering that.

Here’s the latest station map for the Las Vegas Loop.

The Caesars Entertainment “loop within the Loop” is adorable.

A big thanks to our friend Peter Bijlsma for keeping us in the loop on the Vegas Loop. His research has been invaluable because we get to look like an expert about all this while perfecting our ability to navigate the hammock in our backyard.

You know we’ll be checking out the Vegas Loop station at Resorts World when it opens, and we’ll let you know when Boring’s drill breaks ground (literally) on the Encore connector.