Elon Musk might be serious about creating tunnels in LA to solve the problem of traffic. He said that without tunnels people are going to be stuck in traffic forever. He announced via Twitter that he plans to start digging in a month or so.

Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, is definitely a visionary, but, like everybody else, he has to deal with LA traffic. Therefore his plan is to create a tunnel-boring machine to alleviate it. He announced it all via Twitter. He also said that the tunnel-digging company would be named the “The Boring Company.”

Elon Musk wants to create tunnels in LA to solve the problem of traffic. Image credit: Elon Musk Fans via Facebook / Entrepreneur
Elon Musk wants to create tunnels in LA to solve the problem of traffic. Image credit: Elon Musk Fans via Facebook / Entrepreneur

“This is really a very simple and obvious idea,” Musk tweeted. “You could have tunnels at all different levels. You could probably have 30 levels of tunnels and completely fix the congestion problem.”

Musk: ‘Traffic is driving me nuts’

Musk is the founder, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX. As well, he is the co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla Motors, the co-chairman of OpenAI, the co-founder, and chairman of SolarCity, the co-founder of Zip2, the founder or X.com, and as if it wasn’t enough, he is the father of five children. Therefore, it is obvious to realize that Musk is one busy man. His fortune is estimated to be  $11.5 billion, and he ranked in the 21st position on the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful People in 2016.

Musk started all his businesses with one vision: to change the world and humanity. He wants to fight global warming with zero-emission cars and sustainable energy, and he wants to create a human colony in Mars to make life multi-planetary. As well, he wants transportation to be simpler and safer by creating self-driving cars. Nonetheless, the latest news can make people think he wants transportation to be quicker too.

He has expressed in his Twitter account that traffic in LA was driving him nuts and that it was a soul-destroying situation, but the entrepreneur seems to have the solution to save people from traffic too.

As everybody else, Elon Musk does not enjoy traffic. Image credit: Via PC Mag / Entrepreneur
As everybody else, Elon Musk does not enjoy traffic. Image credit: Via PC Mag / Entrepreneur

The Boring Company

The announcement was made in mid-December, but no one took that very seriously at the moment. However, Musk kept on insisting about the matter via Twitter. He said that he would create a tunnel digging company and that it would be called The Boring Company. He tweeted that he would actually do that and then he updated his bio on Twitter to read “Tesla, SpaceX, Tunnels & OpenAI.” Today morning, he repeated the whole tunning-boring subject, and he answered a questioner that he was very serious about it.

“Without tunnels, we will all be in traffic hell forever,” Musk wrote via Twitter DM today. “I really do think tunnels are the key to solving urban gridlock. Being stuck in traffic is soul-destroying. Self-driving cars will actually make it worse by making vehicle travel more affordable.”

He said he is planning on creating an advanced tunnel-boring machine. No one knows if “The Boring Company” is a real thing now or if it would be part of his other firms, like Tesla or SpaceX.

Thinking about tunnels in LA is a crazy idea for many, given the costs of such a big infrastructure project, but it seems that for Musk nothing is impossible, and that is something he has proven with his other projects.

Musk also said that this is such a good idea because in the major cities such as LA, it is not possible to widen roadways and he said that elevated highways are ugly, so the answer is to dig. It is important to remember that the idea is not entirely new for Musk since he mentioned a year ago at a Hyperloop event at Texas A&M, that tunnels are an excellent way to alleviate traffic congestion.

Musk’ plans are not as boring as the name of the company

Musk also said he is planning to begin digging in a month or so, and that he would start from his desk at SpaceX in Los Angeles. He is very excited about the project. However, digging tunnels is way too expensive. It can cost hundreds of millions just to create a mile. Maybe Musk will find a way to make it a less expensive project, given the fact that his companies have reduced costs to pull off complex engineering projects in a dramatic way. In fact, SpaceX is acknowledged for its low prices.

As well, it is important to consider that President Trump has recently stated that he would fund infrastructure projects, which could make the Boring Company a lucrative idea. Musk is not the only businessman with interest on tunnels, as Amazon received a patent for a system that delivers packages via tunnels. It was granted earlier this month.

Source: The Verge