If the planets align and regulators approve, Elon Musk’s Boring company will begin drilling more and more tunnels under America’s cities. The goal of all that boring activity is to make public transportation fast, cheap and reliable.
On Thursday, for the first time in ages, the billionaire sat down and for about an hour or so tried to explain the Hyperloop’s hows and whys. The rather long presentation clarified little of the unknowns and was more focused on assiguring Americans their lives won't be turned upside down by all that underground activity.
Last week, the Boring Company announced the completion of a section of the L.A. tunnel linking SpaceX’s parking lot in Hawthorne and the Los Angeles International Airport.
Through it, as it will happen through all the tunnels the company will dig, pods carrying up to 16 people would whoosh by at speeds high enough to allow a ride between downtown Los Angeles and the airport in as little as 8 minutes.
And it will be a lot cheaper than a regular subway ticket, or any other means of transportation known to man. According to Musk, travelers will have to pay even as low as 1 dollar per trip. People will also be able to use the tunnel on bikes or foot.
But before getting to that, Boring will begin testing of the system in the 2.7 miles tunnel already constructed. Musk promises to offer free rides to all passengers for a short time once the system has proved it’s worth.
The Boring Company is currently trying to secure tunneling work in Chicago, for the route that would link downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport. Back in February, the billionaire announced Boring had received a permit from the Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation to start preparatory and excavation work at a site in the U.S. capital.
Below is the presentation Elon Musk and other Boring executives gave on Thursday.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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