While Elon Musk’s Boring Company is currently focused on developing its tunnel boring technology in order to improve traffic in Los Angeles, there are apparently other cities interested.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel revealed today that he has been talking with Musk about partnering with the Boring Company for a high-speed rail under the city.
Chicago Tribune reported on the talks:
“On Monday, Emanuel described the discussions as preliminary, but said he plans to have Musk’s team here to see if digging a rail line makes more sense than other possibilities like using an existing railroad right-of-way or double-decking the CTA Blue Line to speed travelers to and from the airport.”
In April, Musk’s new startup took delivery of their first boring machine and started digging in the parking lot of SpaceX’s headquarters.
Emanuel said that they sent a team to look at what they are doing:
“The other day, because of contact I’ve had with Elon Musk and his operation for a kind of a tunnel project rather than an existing rail project to be taken over, I sent a team out to look at his tunnel digger as part of this project. He has expressed an interest in what Chicago’s doing. And I think that it would be a tremendous investment and job creator, an economic engine for the city that will pay dividends for decades ahead. They have shown interest, and now I’ve asked them to come to the city of Chicago, after I sent my team out to California, Southern California to explore it and explore their interest. They are very interested, and we’re going to have them now out to the city to explore further what we are doing and planning, and too see if the tunnel approach is an alternative to the ones we’ve been discussing.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also showed interest in the project and considering Musk lives in LA and he has often complained about the traffic in the city, it makes sense for him to focus on the region.
But if they are successful in reducing the cost of tunnel boring, they could apply the vision for creating vast networks of tunnels with electric rails and reduce overall traffic in several major metropolitan areas.
Where else do you see horrible traffic that could benefit from Musk’s vision for networks of tunnels? Let us know in the comment section below.
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