Never short of a wacky idea, tech mogul Elon Musk has developed a revolutionary new way of skirting traffic.
Musk’s latest brainwave involves building a network of underground tunnels that could be used to reduce congestion on the world’s increasingly crammed roads. To make this vision a reality, the PayPal and Tesla mastermind set up a new venture called The Boring Company that plans to, well, bore.
We don’t mean bore in the sense of making you fall asleep, but rather the activity of digging out tunnels using giant machinery – as we’re seeing used in London for the ongoing Crossrail project.
The Boring Company has even released a teaser video for the tunnel-tastic future Musk has envisioned:
So how does it work? Well according to the video, you’ll be driving along during your commute when you decide that traffic just isn’t for you. You then pull into a docking bay at the side of the road, which then takes you down to underground tunnels.
This docking bay then acts like a mining cart, and drags along said tunnels on a dedicated track at high speeds of up to 200km/h (124mph). The video even showcases a taxi-style docking bay that comes with its own enclosure, allowing pedestrians to be shuttled around Musk’s labyrinthine transport network.
We’ve even seen an image of one of Musk’s boring machines, which was posted to Instagram by a SpaceX (another Musk venture) employee. It was eventually removed, although Business Insider managed to grab a snap:
We’re guessing that if the tunnel concept actually panned out and became a reality, it would probably be a paid for service – a bit like a toll road. Alternatively, it could be a perk only accessible to Tesla owners, although it’s likely there aren’t enough of those to warrant building significant underground infrastructure.
Unfortunately, there’s no telling whether Musk’s latest moonshot will come to fruition, but at least one traffic-loathing journalist has his fingers crossed…
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What do you think of Elon Musk’s boring idea? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
