Convention center’s underground transportation system design tweaked

The design is still being tweaked for the 2020 underground point-to-point on-demand transportation system under the Las Vegas Convention Center.

One station on the west side of the convention center is set to be built above ground instead of below, and another station moved from a lot on the far east side of the campus to a location near the east entrance of the convention center’s south hall, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill said Tuesday.

“It is a lot that we do not lease to customers, which makes it more appealing,” Hill said.

In May, the LVCVA’s board voted to approve a $48.7 million contract with California-based The Boring Company, a spinoff of Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture.

The system would use autonomous electric vehicles, or AEVs, on three types of Tesla Model X chassis with rubber tires, operated in automatic pilot mode.

Boring Co. is expected to develop less than a mile of twin vehicular tunnels, one pedestrian tunnel, three stations, elevators and escalators to access the stations. Additionally, the company is slated to develop all of the back-of-the-house features for lighting, power, video surveillance, ventilation and life safety, cell phone and WiFi systems, intercom and public address systems, and a control room.

Hill said the LVCVA has almost finalized the design for a transit system underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center that would shuttle people across the campus.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.