Boring Co. looks to hire staff to ‘rapidly scale’ Vegas Loop
Elon Musk’s Boring Co. is hosting an open house next week aiming to grow its Vegas Loop staff as it eyes expanding its tunnel system.
The Boring Co. in a post last weekend on X, which is owned by Musk, announced it is looking to hire engineers, supply chain specialists and project developers to “rapidly scale” the Vegas Loop project.
“Join our open house to learn more about how TBC is solving traffic and transforming Vegas,” the X post read.
The post includes a link that interested parties can fill out to be approved to attend the open house. The form asks applicants their current employment status, which team they would be interested in learning more about, and questions about their interest in joining the team. Optional questions also ask for links to applicants’ X profile and LinkedIn accounts.
Optimistic sign
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO and President Steve Hill said the hiring push could signal that Boring Co. is hopeful that permits to allow other stations and tunnels to be constructed could be approved in the near future.
At full buildout of the Vegas Loop is expected to have 104 miles of tunnels and 68 stations, located up and down the Strip, to Allegiant Stadium, downtown Las Vegas and other points of interest.
The Vegas Loop has been in operation since 2021 at the convention center, transporting 3 million people in that time, between three stations via Tesla model vehicles located near different expo halls. An offshoot tunnel to Resorts World’s station opened in 2022 and the latest station at Westgate opened last month.
Smoothing out concerns
The Westgate station was ready to be opened several months before it eventually was, but it was held up as the Clark County Fire Department and Boring Co. worked out fire safety measures in the tunnels, as the system expands, according to Hill.
The additional fire safety measures proposed by the county included placing response vehicles in passageways inside the tunnels, upgrading camera software for an enhanced layer of fire and smoke detection and ongoing monitoring of the tunnel sprinkler system and monitoring of drivers and their training, the county told the Review-Journal last month.
With conversations with Clark County and the city of Las Vegas continuing, Hill said progress is being made.
“We’re hopeful that we’re making progress to where we’re going to be able to unlock permits in the conversations with the fire departments,” Hill told the Review-Journal on Tuesday after an LVCVA board meeting.
Current work
Tunneling is underway up Paradise Road from near UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The line — dubbed the University Center Loop — will have four stations: one station on a parcel sandwiched between Paradise and University Center Drive near UNLV; another at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas; a third on Paradise just north of Virgin Hotels; and the fourth at the convention center.
Tunneling also continues between the convention center and Wynn, where a Vegas Loop station is planned.
Growth capacity
Boring Co. now uses three boring machines in its tunneling operations, but crews have to jump around to different areas to operate those. The Boring Co. has the ability to use six machines, with a seventh likely to be made available in the summer.
Having more employees will allow Boring Co. to use all seven boring machines concurrently, with a crew dedicated to each one, Hill said. Having the capability would allow for the system to be rapidly expanded, once that opportunity presents itself.
“If that gets resolved (fire safety negotiations) and is resolved in a way that permits can come more quickly, then the Boring Company has the capacity to implement all those machines and to really push this system out to the resort corridor,” Hill said. “They want to be ready.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
