It’s not just Tesla that’s zooming through Elon Musk’s tunnels under the Las Vegas Convention Center, picking up passengers as part of a public transit experiment that’s set to begin in 2021.
A skateboarder entered the tunnel through one of the passenger transfer stations, prompting staff to tell drivers to stand by while they threw the intruder out.
When the transit system was down, someone else entered through another station and began filming underground until security arrived.
Then there are the unauthorized cars that have repeatedly driven Teslas into tunnel stations, sometimes before the automated security gates have had a chance to close.
Encroachment into the tunnel system has become a problem for the Boring Company, which built and operates the 2.4-mile underground road network known as the Loop. People break the rules by going where they’re not supposed to, forcing the company or convention center to intervene and escort them out.
Since 2022, there have been at least 67 rape episodes. The Boring Company reports that since the beginning of last year, 22 Tesla vehicles have been chased into stations or tunnels. wealth It was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In monthly reports to the agency, Boring discloses problems such as property damage, theft, technical issues or injuries, near misses, and trespassing or intrusions. For trespassing, it provides a brief description of what happened, such as vehicles following a Tesla to get in and then a staff technician escorting the unauthorized vehicles out. The disclosures do not say whether the intruders tried to avoid arrest or what reasons they gave for being on the property. Some of the incidents appear to be random, and many of them have occurred in stations or buildings above ground, and not necessarily inside the tunnels themselves.
Of the cars that skidded onto the property, all did so “inadvertently,” according to a convention and visitors officials spokesman. Their drivers followed the Boring Company vehicles “believing they had access to a pickup location or parking lot entrance and were immediately directed outside.” Only one such incident “resulted in tunnel penetration,” the spokesman said.
To avoid problems, officials and the Boring Company have installed a license plate reading system that automatically closes the tunnel gate when it doesn’t recognize license plates at surface stations. The official also said that it is “actively working with it [the Boring Company] To eliminate the chance of inadvertent intrusion.”
None of the records provided reveal whether the Boring Company ever contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. with wealthA police spokesman said they were not aware of any incidents to which the agency had dispatched officers.
The Boring Company did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
The tunnel system is very similar to the lofty, high-speed, independent Hyperloop system that Musk originally hoped to build with his tunneling project. Musk envisioned sci-fi systems for cities around the world that would shoot pods carrying passengers through underground tubes at hundreds of miles per hour.
But while Boring continues to develop a new type of tunnel boring machine, it has yet to develop a hyperloop or new transportation technology. Instead, Boring has built its only operational transportation system in Las Vegas, which uses low-tech human Teslas to transport passengers underground, free of any traffic on surface roads. Boring has talked to officials about tunnel projects in many other cities, including Baltimore and Chicago, but all have come to nothing, and Boring is now focusing his attention on the Las Vegas project.
Behind the scenes, former employees who dug the original tunnels in Las Vegas raised serious concerns about their safety while doing so, and dozens were injured as the company moved quickly to expand its system. wealth It was reported earlier this year. In one snafu, Boring workers dug too close to a column for the Las Vegas Monorail, and convention center officials had to briefly shut down the monorail while they determined whether the column had become unstable.
According to June filings, Boring currently employs about 204 drivers to transport passengers in various Tesla models under the convention center. Between opening day in June 2021 and November 2023, more than 2 million passengers used the system, according to convention and visitors officials, and the agency reports high customer satisfaction scores.
According to reports, ordinary travelers have caused relatively few problems. These include the occasional carelessness or hitting your head on the trunk of the Tesla while reaching for your luggage.
Currently, the tunnel transportation system is only open to conference attendees and not the general public. Boring has begun opening and operating stations outside the convention center jurisdiction, but those routes are still connected to the existing tunnel system and are paid instead of free. The company is trying to get permission from the city of Las Vegas to begin building 68 miles of tunnels under the city and in other parts of the county, including the airport.
The system that Boring built in Las Vegas—small tunnels with funky pink, blue, and green lights—has attracted public attention nonetheless. This includes people who are not supposed to be there.
In one case, two people were found sleeping in one of the tunnel stations located near one of the convention center parking lots. They were eventually escorted off the property by Boring security. In another incident, a man tried to remove a license plate reader at one of the Boring stations, and the security forces of the convention center escorted him out of the property.
Remember, when riding the Loop, be sure to follow the rules. The riders carry the credentials of the conference participants. And no skateboarding or wandering the tunnels alone.
Have an insight to share? Do you have a tip? Contact Jessica Mathews at jessica.mathews@fortune.com or through the secure messaging app Signal at 479-715-9553.
More coverage from Fortune on the Boring Co.:
– “We have flirted with death constantly”: Elon Musk of the Boring Company wanted to build a tunnel system under Las Vegas. Former employees say they feared for their lives while working there
– Workers from Elon Musk’s Boring Company accidentally came close to a support column on the Las Vegas Monorail last year, forcing officials to briefly halt service.
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