Elon Musk says first tunnel for proposed underground transportation network will open in December

[Zorro]

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Elon Musk announced Sunday that the first tunnel of a proposed underground transportation network across Los Angeles County would open Dec. 10.

“The first tunnel is almost done,” Musk wrote to his 23.1 million followers shortly after 5 p.m.

Musk’s Boring Co. is building the tunnel beneath the city of Hawthorne, part of his grand vision for a transportation network that whisks commuters across the county.

The company has said its technology could move drivers, as well as pods carrying passengers and bicyclists, through tunnels at speeds of up to 130 mph.

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/transportation/la-me-ln-musk-tunnel-20181021-story.html

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One thing you can say with certainty about Musk -- he is ambitious.

[greymattermom]

1. How about moving some trucks?

There are so many trucks on the road, and many of them are on their way somewhere else.

[LakeSuperiorView]

2. Which trucks aren't on their way somewhere else?

Just curious if you have abandoned trucks there, I could use one...

[Achilleaze]

6. Could "somewhere else" be "where it's at?"

Asking for a friend...

[MineralMan]

3. Almost all of those trucks are going somewhere other

than where that tunnel goes. Truck transportation goes everywhere, since that's how stuff gets to where you want it.

Trucks on the road are essential traffic. It's people in cars by themselves that clog the roads, really.

[hibbing]

4. I don't get this

How did he gain the rights to be able to bore underneath wherever he is doing this at? Any time a community decides to invest in light rail it seems to take decades to even get the right of way approved. I guess I answered my own question, it goes underground, but still, all the utilities and everything else, just seems weird to me.

Peace

[DetlefK]

5. European-style train-system won't work in the US bc US-cities are arranged differently.

European cities have a well-defined city-center: Go there and you can find every single important building just a short walk away.

Example: Cologne.
Get off the train and you are right in the tourist-quarter. The business-quarter, where all the big companies have their offices, is about 15 minutes by foot away, the university 30 minutes by foot. It's all very dense and concentrated.

US-cities are big, broad and dispersed. If you go to a US-city by train, you still need a car to get around. Unless you go all the way and give the city a good public transportation, this single high-speed train won't help.

[BannonsLiver]

16. Yes, and there are problems beyond thR

We have a lot of people, particularly RWNJ’s (of which we have an inexhaustible supply) who view mass transit in any form as fundamentally un american.

[2naSalit]

7. What a stupid F'ing idea!

A tunnel for rapid transit in a heavy earthquake zone!?!

I worked in all of SoCal driving semis and gas tankers - truck and trailer - and every time there was even a mild rumble, the refineries all had to shut down for an 8 hour inspection of facilities because a lot of the works are underground.. If you were on the rack loading or next in line, your were instantly trapped in place for that time albeit on the clock. Still was a pain as it messed up the rest of the work week.

So I can't imagine how a tunnel in close proximity to one of the world's largest subduction zone structures is even a remotely good idea.

[Power 2 the People]

8. +1000

That's some scary shit.

[RandiFan1290]

10. Elon Musk "Where's the safest place to be during an Earthquake?"

[2naSalit]

14. Not buyin' it....nt

[maveric]

9. Los Angeles already has a subway.

If I’m not mistaken.

[LisaM]

11. I can't imagine being dropped underground in a pod with my bike

and travelling 130 miles in a tunnel. It sounds horrible and claustrophobic.

Elon Musk and I sure envision different ways we want to live.

[brooklynite]

12. as opposed to getting into a subway car with your bike?

The concept isn't individual pods, it's more like the people movers you find at the airport.

[LisaM]

15. Well, I ride the link rail in Seattle and some of it's underground

but a lot of it isn't. It also doesn't go 130 MPH.

The larger point is that Elon Musk and I seem to really want to live in different worlds. He doesn't strike me as a nature lover - just bigger, stronger, faster, more underground, more underwater, outer space, go go go. Drones everywhere. Space ships.

His vision of what's enjoyable just sounds like dystopia to me!

[ROB-ROX]

13. WHERE IS Hawthorne???

I guess this is a start. Many people were panicked when the bay area built BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) under the bay. This was over 40 years ago. Th last big quake affect the Bay Bridge, but not the tube under the bay. There may be a BIG quake in the future, but building today will be better then waiting for a BIG shake..........HAPPY TUBING.....So who would want to go to a town at the edge of the Mohave Desert?