Elon Musk's "Boring company" could ease traffic by taking cars underground

[midian182]

Elon Musk may be planning to start a new company that helps ease the country’s vehicle congestion problems. In a series of tweets on Saturday, the Tesla boss announced his frustration at being stuck in traffic and his intention to tackle the issue by building a tunnel boring machine.

“Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...,” wrote Musk. “It shall be called “The Boring Company,”” he added.

I am actually going to do this

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016

Musk has spoken about the advantages of tunnels in the past. As noted by GeekWire, he called them a “simple and obvious” way to fix excess traffic back in January.

Tunnels are great. It’s just a hole in the ground. It’s not that hard. But if you have tunnels in cities you would massively alleviate congestion, and you could have tunnels at all different levels. You could probably have 30 layers of tunnels and completely fix the congestion problem in high-density cities. So I strongly recommend tunnels.

Despite quipping that his “Boring Company” will have the slogan “Boring, it’s what we do,” Musk seems serious about the venture. He even updated his Twitter bio to show his new interest in the underground transportation business. It now read: “Tesla, SpaceX, Tunnels (yes, tunnels) & OpenAI.”

London-based company PLP Architecture recently revealed similar plans to ease the city’s notoriously heavy traffic. Its underground Cartube project uses autonomous electric vehicles controlled by a central AI control system to move people around the capital. The company says that cars traveling at 40mph beneath the roads could carry 40,000 passengers per hour.

Musk’s plans will no doubt involve digging traditional tunnels that regular cars can use, rather than filling them with self-driving Tesla’s. But creating tunnels is still a massive undertaking that's often impeded by governmental red tape. Perhaps the SpaceX CEO’s new position on Donald Trump’s advisory council will help speed up the process.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/67448-elon-musk-boring-company-could-ease-traffic-taking.html

 

[cliffordcooley]

And in the process weaken the foundation for which all the skyscrapers are standing. It's not perfect but a fair solution to over-population, create a domino effect in all the major cities.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It just might work but what on earth will they do with with all the earth excavated from all the tunneling? And if it ever comes to fruition, the risk of a fire in one those tunnels could be catastrophic but Musk is at least trying to be proactive, the traffic on all the roads worldwide is getting beyond ridiculous now.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

And in the process weaken the foundation for which all the skyscrapers are standing. It's not perfect but a fair solution to over-population, create a domino effect in all the major cities.

I'm sure they'll do all their sums right before burrowing under your feet... Unless you live in San Francisco and an earthquake strikes, then all bets are off.

 

[stewi0001]

Let's see, I think Elon needs to make a trip to the East for some wonderful examples. Boston made tunnels, traffic still sucks there. In Pittsburgh, traffic congestion is the worst near the tunnels.

Elon, STAPH!

 

[Kibaruk]

Let's see, I think Elon needs to make a trip to the East for some wonderful examples. Boston made tunnels, traffic still sucks there. In Pittsburgh, traffic congestion is the worst near the tunnels.

Elon, STAPH!

Oh they have 30 layers of tunnels? Wow it must be amazing!

 

[Trillionsin]

Let's see, I think Elon needs to make a trip to the East for some wonderful examples. Boston made tunnels, traffic still sucks there. In Pittsburgh, traffic congestion is the worst near the tunnels.

Elon, STAPH!

Oh they have 30 layers of tunnels? Wow it must be amazing!

lol

 

[wiyosaya]

Let's see, I think Elon needs to make a trip to the East for some wonderful examples. Boston made tunnels, traffic still sucks there. In Pittsburgh, traffic congestion is the worst near the tunnels.

Elon, STAPH!

Yet another example of how out of touch with reality and immature Musk is. Musk will have to learn the hard way that the world does not revolve around him.

 

[Kibaruk]

Yet another example of how people do not read the topics.

 

[Armanian]

I thought the reason tunnels weren't widely used for cars was due to the lack of ventilation for car fumes, heat & a fire. Is he assuming that only Electric cars would use them?

 

[Rippleman]

Through congested areas, I can see this being a solution.

 

[stewi0001]

Oh they have 30 layers of tunnels? Wow it must be amazing!

Just like Onions and Ogres.

 

[Rippleman]

Let's see, I think Elon needs to make a trip to the East for some wonderful examples. Boston made tunnels, traffic still sucks there. In Pittsburgh, traffic congestion is the worst near the tunnels.

Elon, STAPH!

This does not necessarily mean tunnels are ineffective. I assume one also needs a system to compliment it. The better the system, the better the results. The worse the system, the worse the results. Maybe the people in charge of it in Boston simply set up wrong/doing it wrong. Like a bridge, 1 support beam in the right area is stronger then 10 in the wrong area.

 

[GirlDownunder]

The issue is that roads are NEVER installed with any sort of forethought. They're always planned, "after-the-fact" when things are already congested. Then, by the time the road is done, it needs more lanes-- but in the meantime, houses & buildings have been constructed right up to it-- so no where to go. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I think that a train system, supported with ample parking & reasonable costs, would help. Perhaps express, only to the very most popular areas to free up the drivers going there?

As far as tunnels go-- if they can build one from UK to France, under the ocean....