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- Elon Musk imagines a future where tunnels will solve all of our car-centric problems.
- Due to space limitations and cost, it is not possible to fill cars with tunnels.
- According to a journalist, Musk's The Boring Company could be used to reduce the cost of public transport.
Elon Musk’s long-term quest to solve traffic problems by getting cars underground may be a pipedream, but it could lead to one positive outcome: cheap tunnels.
Daniel Knowles is an Economist writer and author of the book "Carmageddon" (How Cars Make Life Worse: How Cars Fuel Climate Crisis) which was released in March. He argues that Musk can reduce the cost for tunneling subways. This process adds billions of dollars to the development of subways in the United States.
Musk, he says, doesn't care about that. The billionaire CEO has a vision of his own for transportation. The billionaire CEO has his own vision for improving transportation. The ambitious project to move people in tubes at high speeds across large distances has not yet been successful.
Knowles said in an interview that "he is a car executive who wants to sell cars and believes in them, and lives in the world of cars."
"I think he is as car-brained" as anyone else, Knowles said, referring to one of his key premises, that America and the rest of the world are addicted to car culture.
I think public transport is painful
Musk's The Boring Company – a construction firm dedicated to underground automobile transportation – has touted tunnels as a solution to all of the problems cars cause: noise pollution and endless traffic jams.
Musk has made it clear that traditional public transport options like subways will not be part of his vision. Musk once called an expert in public transportation an idiot.
"I find public transportation painful." Musk, speaking at a Tesla event in Long Beach, California in 2017, said that he preferred individualized transportation. Why would you want to ride on a bus with other people if it doesn't go where you'd like it to? It doesn't begin where you'd like it to begin, and it doesn't finish where you'd want it end? It doesn't always go."
Musk's complaints about public transportation are not entirely unfounded. Knowles' book explains how the US system is in decline today because of underinvestment.
In contrast, Knowles notes that car ownership in Japan is expensive, and parking spaces are scarce in busy cities like Tokyo. Public transport planning has been put at the forefront.
The Boring Company's foundation was built on a disdain of public transportation, which is a necessity for cities. This dislike of traffic and the cities that rely upon it formed its basis. Musk's tunnels would allow Teslas to be tucked into tunnels, as well as the hyperloop. Multiple startups would compete for the development of this futuristic technology. "Traffic drives me crazy." Musk tweeted on December 16, 2016, the day after the company's founding, that he was going to build a machine for digging tunnels.
Elon Musk December 17, 2016
Musk revealed the first proof of concept Tesla tunnel in Hawthorne – a Los Angeles neighbourhood – in 2018. Musk claimed at the time, that the drilling tools his engineers had fine-tuned are faster and cheaper than conventional drills.
Musk's plans were not viewed positively by all engineers.
"His machines for building tunnels are pretty standard." Herbert Einstein, an expert in tunneling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told Forbes that he had not seen anything different from other people's work except for the smaller size. This looks more like a vehicle than a tunnel.
Years later, The Boring Company's proof-of concept became a reality. In 2021, The Boring Company will open its first car tunnel, a loop of 4,500 feet under the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Traffic jam and failed plans
After the Consumer Electronics Show, there was a traffic jam in the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop.
"His way of thinking about how to solve traffic is truly barmy. He sees it as an engineering issue, but he's assuming that everyone will be driving a car. Knowles stated, "I don't believe it makes sense." The math doesn't add up. It's impossible."
Since its founding, The Boring Company's plans have been hampered by a number of obstacles. Musk's grandiose ideas have not been realized as planned, and several loop projects have been abandoned in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore. The company also pulled out of contract after promising to solve traffic problems in other cities.
Critics have called the projects "scams", designed to increase Tesla's business.
Knowles, who told Insider that he had driven a Tesla and thought it was "kind of cool", said he would "rather drive a Tesla rather than a gasoline-powered F-250", but he also stated that tunnels are not a solution to traffic. Cars in tunnels can never transport as many passengers as subway trains.
Knowles said: "I should have been more cynical when I wrote my book. I think that a lot what he did, with his hyperloops, and autonomy, is an attempt to literally stop cities from directly investing in public transportation by promising a fake alternative."
The Boring Company convinced officials of the city of Fort Lauderdale in Florida to accept the 2 1/2 mile loop of cars connecting the downtown area to the beach.
Musk's tunnel plans are still going ahead despite the criticisms. In March, the city of Las Vegas submitted a proposal to add 65 miles to the underground commuter system. The Boring Company also put aside its controversial hyperloop plan.
Knowles stated, "I am in favor of tunneling." "I'm in favor of tunneling if you have trains."
Insider's comment to The Boring Company was not immediately responded by the company.
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By: hgetahun@insider.com (Hannah Getahun)
Title: Elon Musk’s Tesla tunnels are a ‘fake alternative’ to solve traffic but if he made them for subways we’d all be better off, expert says
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnels-could-make-public-transportation-cheaper-2023-5
Published Date: Mon, 08 May 2023 00:18:07 +0000
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