Dive Brief:
- The Boring Company, brainchild of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, has released a map of planned tunnels in Los Angeles where Musk would like to develop an underground transportation system, Quartz reported.
- When complete, the 6.5-mile-long tunnel would run between Los Angeles and Culver City, CA, and could eventually carry people — and their cars — at speeds of up to 130 mph. The first phase of the tunnel project will allow the company to test construction logistics, safety and operations.
- The map is still a working concept, the company noted, as it is still working with local government officials and the general public. Musk has already carved out a 500-foot portion of the tunnel near the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.
Dive Insight:
Musk received permission from Hawthorne in August to dig a 2-mile-long tunnel up to 44 feet deep under city streets, starting near the SpaceX parking garage. The entrepreneur said the technology developed by The Boring Company would be able to reduce tunneling costs by a "factor of 10 or more" and speed up the process. If Musk's statement holds true, his system could lead to an increase in the number of tunnels and help pave the way for future hyperloop expansion.
Musk jumped into the transit space shortly after challenging engineering teams around the world to come up with what he called a "hyperloop" system in 2013. Until recently, it seemed like Musk would sit back and watch as other researchers tried their hand at the Musk-inspired ultra-high-speed projects.
The serial entrepreneur, however, has recently made commitments to projects as varied as an express transit system from downtown Chicago to O'Hare International Airport and a hyperloop system that would connect Washington, DC, and New York City in just 29 minutes. A White House spokesperson has said the Trump administration has been in talks with Musk about the system and, in October, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan granted the Boring Company permission to dig 10 miles of tunnel beneath certain parts of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
