\n \n The Boring Company<\/a> has launched a way for customers to pay for rides on Loop<\/a>, its Las Vegas transit system, with the cryptocurrency Dogecoin<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Loop consists of passengers traveling in Tesla vehicles that are driven by humans at about 35 mph, a significantly <\/strong>scaled-down version of founder Elon Musk\u2019s original vision of high-occupancy vehicles moving at 150 mph. <\/strong>The Boring Company has described automating the driving and traveling at higher speeds in the future.\n <\/p>\n \n The new payment option surfaced Friday as the Boring Company opened its first Loop station outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, which already has three stops. It\u2019s also the latest example of Musk promoting Dogecoin<\/a>, the cryptocurrency whose value has fallen sharply in the last year. <\/strong>The Boring Company hopes to eventually expand to more than 50 stations on the Vegas Strip, including casinos, resorts and Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL\u2019s Las Vegas Raiders. Clarke County, Nevada, approved<\/a> the expansion plan last year, which won\u2019t use taxpayer dollars.\n <\/p>\n \n Rides are currently free on Loop, with plans to charge eventually, though the company has not disclosed specific timing. Single rides will cost $1.50 and day passes can be purchased for $2.50, according to the Vegas Loop\u2019s website<\/a>. Riders will be able to scan a large QR code on a wall at the new Resorts World station to purchase a ticket. People who don\u2019t wish to pay with Dogecoin can use a traditional credit card and US dollars.\n <\/p>\n \n Dogecoin <\/strong>began as a joke in 2013<\/a>, featuring a Shiba Inu dog that was a popular Internet meme. Cryptocurrencies have had many critics, including Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer, who quit the space and has said<\/a> he won\u2019t return given concerns about powerful cryptocurrency insiders becoming rich by exploiting the public.\n <\/p>\n \n Dogecoin rose to prominence as Musk spoke of it<\/a> in recent years, including on Saturday Night Live.<\/a> A single Dogecoin can be bought for about 7 cents, far below its peak of roughly 68 cents, <\/strong>which it hit <\/strong>last year. The cryptocurrency had soared about 4000% in 2021, but like all cryptocurrencies faced sharp declines this year. It\u2019s fallen 70% in the last 12 months.\n <\/p>\n \n The new Loop station at Resorts World will not connect underground with the three existing Loop stops at the Convention Center. The stations will be connected with other stops like Resorts World in the future as the Loop is built throughout Vegas, according to Lori Nelson-Kraft, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.\n <\/p>\n \n Resorts World guests can travel from the resort to a new station, Riviera, at the Convention Center. If their trip will then connect with the three existing Convention Center stops, they\u2019ll travel through a parking lot and re-enter the tunnels at a Convention Center stop called West Station.\n <\/p>\n \n The company plans to transport about 400 passengers an hour from Resorts World, and hours of operation will vary based on the Convention Center schedule.\n <\/p>\n \n The Tesla vehicles don\u2019t depart on a set schedule, like a typical bus or train. So far guests have only had to wait a few minutes at most for a ride, according to Resorts World spokesperson Dana Rutkin.\n <\/p>\n \n Once a passenger boards a Tesla at Resorts World, they may have to wait briefly again. There\u2019s currently only one tunnel connecting Resorts World to the Convention Center campus, so traffic will flow in one direction at a time.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s still a very swift trip, but it\u2019ll be, hey these five cars go through this direction. When they\u2019re safely at the passenger station, it will then switch directions,\u201d Nelson-Kraft said.\n <\/p>\n \n The Boring Company digs small, one-lane tunnels, which allow it to build tunnels at lower costs. Some tunneling projects can cost as much as $1 billion a mile. The Boring Company is also working on projects in Florida<\/a> and Texas.\n <\/p>\n \n Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first announced in December 2016 that he planned to buy a tunnel boring machine and \u201cjust start digging\u201d as a way to beat traffic. He called the venture, \u201cthe Boring Company,\u201d and dug a tunnel outside SpaceX\u2019s California headquarters.\n <\/p>\n \n Las Vegas is home to the Boring Company\u2019s first Loop system, which it argues is a better subway, as vehicles don\u2019t have to stop aside from their final destination. Critics have argued that Loop inefficiently uses tunnels as the Tesla Model Y SUVs that are being used lack the capacity of a bus or train.\n <\/p>\n \n The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which operates the Convention Center, told CNN Business that Loop has carried more than 400,000 attendees and had an average satisfaction of 4.9 out of 5 stars.\n <\/p>\n \n The Boring Company did not respond to a request for comment.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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