SAN FRANCISCO GATE: "I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth"  In 1863, the world’s first underground railway opened in London. On its first day, nearly 40,000 thrilled Brits made the short, speedy journey between Paddington and Farringdon. The future of transportation had arrived.  One hundred and sixty-three years later, I was at my desk in San Francisco, clicking around the Vegas Loop map, trying to figure out where the world’s dumbest form of transportation could take me.  In 2016, billionaire Elon Musk decided he was sick of traffic. Because Musk believes every thought he’s ever had is the first of its kind, he decided to revolutionize transportation. His mission was to build underground highways, creating a tunnel system below surface streets that would zip people around in a way that congested, outdated freeways could not. Las Vegas, which has never seen a gimmick it didn’t love, signed on to become the first American city with a Loop.   The scale is ambitious to the point of stupidity. Once its 104 stations and 68 miles of tunnels are complete, the Vegas Loop site says it “will serve up to 90,000 passengers per hour.” About 642,000 people live in Las Vegas, plus an additional 110,000 tourists on any given day. That means every single resident and tourist need to ride the Loop multiple times per day to average 90,000 passengers an hour. For reference, the Tokyo Metro moves 6.5 million people a day around an area with 33 million residents.You do the math.  So far, the Vegas Loop has opened just nine stations, five of which connect the Las Vegas Convention Center. From a sixth station, Encore, travelers can go only to the convention center. Three more stations serve Westgate, Resorts World and Fontainebleau. As it turns out, the ground below cities is not a vast, empty space. It’s already full of infrastructure like sewer systems, electrical lines, gas pipelines, flood-control tunnels — there’s a reason you call 811 before you start digging around in your yard. Musk, who’s no fan of regulation, holds the stance that it’s better to pay for penalties than follow the rules. As a result, the Loop has been plagued by issues, including allegations of worker injuries, chemical burns and “ankle-deep” water in the tunnels.  To supplement this sad little system, the Loop added $12.50 rides to the airport. But because there’s no tunnel there yet, it’s just a regular route on regular surface streets. Oh sorry, were you imagining a train? Autonomous cars? Nope. The Loop is operated by human drivers in Teslas. Elon Musk is creating a race of mole people driving endless circles below Las Vegas....  sfgate.com/travel/article/ve…  FILED UNDER:  #VegasLoop, #ElonMusk, #VegasLoopFail, #BoringCompany, #LasVegasTransit, #MuskTunnel, #WorstTransit, #VegasLoopCritic, #SFgate, #ElonMuskCriticism, #TunnelTransportation, #VegasConventionCenter, #TeslasUnderground, #MolePeople, #BadTransit, #LasVegasTraffic, #BoringCompanyLoop, #ElonTransit, #VegasInfrastructure, #HyperloopFail, #MuskGimmick, #UndergroundHighway, #LasVegasLoop, #TransitDisaster, #ElonCritics, #VegasTourism, #TunnelProblems, #HumanDriversTesla, #MuskVisionFail, #VegasTransportation, #BoringCompanyCritic, #SFgateArticle, #ElonMuskVegas, #LoopSystem, #BadEngineering, #TransitReality, #VegasMoleTunnels, #MuskTransportation, #LasVegasFail, #OverhypedProject, #TunnelSafety, #ElonLoop, #VegasLoopReview, #PublicTransitFail, #MuskProjects, #LasVegasNews, #BoringCompanyVegas, #TransitCriticism, #ElonHype, #VegasLoopDisaster