On the end of the opening day of the 2021 SEMA Show, my iPhone reported I had taken more than 18,000 steps and covered 6.4 miles as I made my way from the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall, across the shortcut to the Central Hall, and then into the North Hall and finally all the way to the spectacular new West Hall. And then back again.
I covered the same territory on the second day, but this time I walked only 4 miles. I saved several thousand steps by starting the day with a trip through the Tesla Tunnel, or as it is officially known, the Las Vegas Loop.
Actually, this approximately 2-mile stretch is just the first section of the Loop, which recently was approved to extend some 29 miles — down The Strip, to the new football stadium and on to the airport, with around 50 new access stations.
The Loop is being built by The Boring Company, like SpaceX and Tesla, an Elon Musk enterprise.
The driver 
GPS tracks location
Reaching midpoint 
Central Hall station
The company takes its name not from the tiresome, dull or tedious definition of the root word, but from that part of the definition relating to excavating a tunnel with a revolving tool.
Speaking of which, at the South Hall entrance to the Loop, you can see one of those revolving tools used to cut the pair of one-way travel tunnels beneath the convention center complex.
As you might expect, Tesla electric vehicles are used for the trip through the tunnels, which are lit like a rainbow in varying colors along the route.
Using the least expensive parking option available — $10 a day in a lot just east of South Hall, I walked across the street, approached the Loop facility, and was instructed to head to the Car 4 sign. I waited only a few seconds before a Tesla pulled up.
I got into the front seat, a couple of fellows got into the back seat, and the driver reminded us to buckle our seatbelts and, since we were in Nevada, to follow local regulations and secure our masks over our noses and mouths. We made a smooth left turn and headed down a ramp.
The underground ride was smooth, quiet, colorful and serene. We chatted with the driver — the fellows in the back seat saying they wanted to exit at the Central Hall station — and enjoyed the light show as we traveled through the tunnel.
Awaiting the next passenger at West Hall 
The return trip begins
At Central Hall, the tunnel opened into more of a cavern, but again with lots of colorful lighting. We pulled over so the rear-seat passengers could exit. The driver and I were off again, on our way to the West Hall, where we went up a ramp to another above-ground station, located just to the west of the West Hall.
Total trip took maybe 2 minutes. And there was no charge, presumably because of underwriting by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
With its fleet of electric-powered Teslas, The Loop reportedly can handle around 4,400 people an hour. The end-to-end trip would take 20 to 25 minutes walking at a decent pace, but less than 2 minutes if you ride through the Tesla Tunnel.
