AfterDawn: Tech news

VIDEO: Elon Musk's vision for avoiding traffic with tunnels

Written by James Delahunty @ 01 May 2017 5:05 User comments (4)

VIDEO: Elon Musk's vision for avoiding traffic with tunnels

Mr Musk's 'Boring Company' has shown a concept video for a subterranean network of tunnels that zips cars from place to place.
If you have spent time listening to Elon Musk opine, then you probably have heard him passionately complaining about traffic. The SpaceX & Tesla Motors CEO had tweeted last year that he was going to avoid traffic by getting a tunnel boring machine.

Apparently, it wasn't just a passing thought that Elon decided to tweet to the world, but a statement of intent. A SpaceX employee recently leaked a picture of a tunnel boring machine with a company logo for "The Boring Company" painted on. The photo was taken down but not before Business Insider grabbed and re-posted it.

Last week, 'The Boring Company' released a concept video. In the mock up, cars are seen parking on a street-level platform before being lowered into a tunnel and whisked off at high speed to a location and being elevated to the street.

Here is that video:


The reaction to the video has been mixed, with some claiming such a solution would be plagued by problems, while others ask what the benefit is over a subway (well, besides the fact that you can't take your car on the subway!).



Whether it becomes reality and solves a problem, or is a colossal failure, it should be interesting to witness it progress. Happy Boring, Elon!

Previous Next  

4 user comments

12.5.2017 09:31

Is this what happens to visionary minds? ...that at some point they go off on some folly blowing all the cash they made on previous successes :)

22.5.2017 11:47

This would be insanely dangerous and expensive to create. It could not be implemented into any city currently with a dedicated underground rail. It would conflict with current transit option, and leave the poor, working poor with no vehicle of their own stranded (if they intended to replace current subway tunnels).

32.5.2017 13:18

I'm all for pneumatic tubes ah la Futurama.

43.5.2017 08:26

Anyone who has driven in LA traffic has had that moment...usually it passes before buying a boring company. Maybe he will end up using the machines to make some tunnels under the parts of I5 where there are tall hills that make a Tesla say the remaining charge is only good for 5 miles.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31)
VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times.
2 user comments
Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09)
Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier.
8 user comments
Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments

News archive