Elon Musk Prepares to Launch Vegas Loop Airport Tunnel by Early 2026

LAS VEGAS — Elon Musk’s tunneling company, The Boring Company (TBC), is preparing to open a major expansion of its Vegas Loop system, including the long-anticipated tunnel connection to Harry Reid International Airport, in the first quarter of 2026, according to recent disclosures and commentary from industry watchers. The development marks the most significant step yet toward turning the Las Vegas metro area into the world’s first full-scale commercial transportation network based entirely on underground, high-capacity electric tunnels.

The new airport segment—one of the most strategically important links within the broader Vegas Loop master plan—is expected to reshape visitor mobility, reduce road congestion, and further position Las Vegas as a testbed for next-generation transit technologies. Blogger Sawyer Merritt, known for closely tracking Musk-related ventures, stated that internal projections show the system could “swallow” up to 20,000 passengers per hour, while also maintaining fares that are “80% cheaper than Uber.”

While TBC has not publicly confirmed all of these figures, the company has continued construction at a rapid pace throughout 2024 and 2025. Permitting documents, progress reports, and visible site activity collectively suggest that the airport connection is entering its final construction phases.

A Turning Point for the Vegas Loop

First proposed in 2019, the Vegas Loop is designed as a network of underground tunnels linking major destinations across the Las Vegas Strip, downtown areas, the Convention Center, and now—most critically—the city’s international airport. The system is built around electric Tesla vehicles traveling through narrow, cost-efficient tunnels bored by TBC’s proprietary machines.

The Convention Center Loop, completed in 2021, became the system’s first operational segment and served as a proof of concept. It demonstrated both the feasibility and the potential demand for such a system, transporting tens of thousands of conference attendees on peak days.

The addition of the airport connection would be a transformational milestone, enabling tourists—who make up the bulk of the region’s transit demand—to bypass surface traffic entirely. With more than 52 million passengers passing through Harry Reid International Airport annually, the tunnel represents a new, high-capacity gateway for one of the country’s most visited cities.

Transportation researcher Michael Ortega of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, describes the airport link as “the missing piece” necessary for the loop to transition from a limited-scope mobility experiment into a fully functional urban transport network.

How the Airport Tunnel Will Work

According to planning documents and commentary from sources familiar with the project, the airport connection will function as a dedicated route branching directly from the Strip corridor. The line is expected to operate as follows:

Passengers descend via escalators or elevators from inside the airport terminal to the underground station.

Tesla vehicles—likely a mix of Model X, Model Y, and potentially the upcoming high-capacity Robovan—will ferry passengers through the tunnel at moderate but efficient speeds.

Travel time from the airport to the Convention Center or mid-Strip area is projected to be under 10 minutes, compared to 20–40 minutes during peak surface traffic.

Vehicles will operate on a continuous on-demand basis rather than fixed schedules, allowing throughput to scale with real-time passenger volume.

The system’s projected ability to handle up to 20,000 passengers per hour, as cited by Merritt, would place it among the highest-capacity people-moving systems in the United States. By comparison, Las Vegas’s current road-based taxi and ride-sharing infrastructure—despite thousands of vehicles—is often strained during major conventions, holiday weekends, and sporting events.

TBC’s tunnels are designed to maximize efficiency by eliminating surface-level variables such as weather, traffic lights, and multiple merging lanes. The system’s tight confines—optimized for electric vehicles rather than large buses or trains—also dramatically reduce construction costs, enabling more rapid network expansion.

Cost Advantage: “80% Cheaper Than Uber”

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing claim surrounding the airport link is its projected affordability. Merritt noted that internal benchmarks indicate the Vegas Loop could operate at fares 80% cheaper than standard Uber rides between the Strip and the airport.

A typical UberX ride from Harry Reid International Airport to central Strip hotels often ranges from $18 to $40, depending on time of day and surge pricing. An 80% reduction would place tunnel fares in the $3 to $8 range, making the service competitive not only with rideshare but also traditional shuttles and taxis.

TBC has long emphasized that reducing cost barriers is essential to making the Vegas Loop a viable mass-market transportation system. With millions of tourists visiting Las Vegas annually—and many of them unfamiliar with the city’s transportation options—an affordable, fast, and predictable system could quickly become the default choice for newcomers.

Local officials have previously stated that they expect the Vegas Loop to reduce heavy taxi flows around the airport, particularly during large-scale events such as CES, the F1 Grand Prix, and NFL gamedays.

Construction Progress and 2026 Timeline

The timeline of Q1 2026 represents an ambitious but plausible target. Construction records show that several tunnel boring phases toward the airport are either completed or nearing completion. Station construction at the airport is in active development, with utility routing, structural reinforcement, and passenger-flow design being implemented in parallel.

Sources close to TBC describe the company as being “ahead of schedule” on certain phases owing to faster-than-expected performance from its next-generation boring machines.

Critics, however, caution that large-scale infrastructure projects often face unexpected delays, particularly those involving airport property, where security and federal oversight add layers of complexity. Despite this, city officials have repeatedly expressed optimism about the Vegas Loop’s progress, and no major regulatory barriers have been reported.

If TBC meets its Q1 2026 goal, the airport link would open in time for the early-spring surge in city traffic, including multiple large conventions and sporting events that traditionally strain Las Vegas’s transit systems.

Impact on Las Vegas Tourism and Economy

The introduction of a seamless airport-to-Strip underground transit line is expected to influence both the visitor experience and the broader Las Vegas economy in several key ways:

1. Reduced Congestion on Roads

The airport is one of the city’s most congested zones, with thousands of daily ride-share pickups. Removing a sizable portion of those trips could ease pressure on Paradise Road, Tropicana Avenue, and surrounding arterials.

2. Improved Convention Traffic Flow

Major convention events—especially CES—often witness intense transportation bottlenecks. A high-capacity underground system connecting the airport, Strip, and Convention Center could become a major competitive advantage for the city’s already-dominant events industry.

3. Enhanced Tourist Mobility

For tourists unfamiliar with Las Vegas road layouts, the Vegas Loop provides a simplified option: descend into a station, input your destination, and arrive minutes later.

4. Economic Stimulus

Construction and operation of the loop create additional jobs, raise the region’s tech profile, and may attract more advanced mobility startups to the area.

Critics and Questions Ahead

Despite its promise, the Vegas Loop continues to attract scrutiny from transportation planners and skeptics. Common concerns include:

Scalability: Can Tesla vehicles truly process 20,000 passengers per hour without delays or vehicle bottlenecks?

Automation: When will the system shift from human-driven to fully autonomous operations, a key milestone for maximizing throughput?

Emergency Response: How will TBC manage incidents inside narrow tunnels?

Long-Term Integration: Will the system integrate with regional transit networks, or remain a standalone service?

TBC has responded by highlighting the system’s inherent safety features—such as fire-resistant materials, ventilation systems, and multiple emergency egress points—but acknowledges that real-world operation will be the ultimate measure of performance and safety.

Looking Ahead to 2026

If the airport tunnel opens as planned in Q1 2026, it will represent a new chapter not only for the Vegas Loop but for urban transportation worldwide. Las Vegas has long been a city of experimentation, and the introduction of a high-capacity, cost-efficient underground system aligns with its history of adopting bold infrastructure innovations.

For Musk and The Boring Company, the airport connection serves as a crucial test: if successful, it could unlock opportunities to deploy similar networks in other cities around the world. For Las Vegas, it could become a defining infrastructure upgrade of the decade.

As construction continues and more details emerge, both supporters and skeptics alike will be watching closely. But for now, momentum is on the side of the Vegas Loop—moving rapidly beneath the surface toward a 2026 debut.