Elon Musk unveils Los Angeles tunnel plan

Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, has opened the first tunnel in a planned network under Los Angeles to help ease congestion in the US city. The world’s media was invited this week to travel in the mile-long tunnel – built by Musk’s Boring Company under the Hawthorne district - in an electric Tesla vehicle. The trip was described as “almost a white knuckle ride” by the BBC: “A bumpy two-minute journey in a modified Model X through a concrete tunnel with a blue neon light in the ceiling.” A C
December 19, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Elon Musk, the boss of 8534 Tesla and SpaceX, has opened the first tunnel in a planned network under Los Angeles to help ease congestion in the US city.


The world’s media was invited this week to travel in the mile-long tunnel – built by Musk’s Boring Company under the Hawthorne district - in an electric Tesla vehicle.

The trip was described as “almost a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external white knuckle false https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46616902 false false%> ride” by the BBC: “A bumpy two-minute journey in a modified Model X through a concrete tunnel with a blue neon light in the ceiling.”

A CNN %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external video false https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/19/tech/boring-company-tunnel-elon-musk/index.html false false%> shows how vehicles are lowered in lifts into the tunnel system before travelling on modified tracking wheels: “The narrow space made the low speeds — we travelled mostly at 35 mph — feel faster. It felt like an amusement park ride.”

Musk says that vehicles could eventually travel at 150mph and he has plans for other tunnelling projects in Washington, DC and Chicago.

But Musk, whose SpaceX brand is also working on a separate Hyperloop initiative, does not deny that there is a long road ahead. “We’re obviously at the early stages here. This is a prototype. We're figuring things out,” he told reporters.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Presentations from 2012 Connected Vehicle Safety Workshop now available online
    October 4, 2012
    PowerPoint presentations from September’s Connected Vehicle public meeting in Chicago are now available for viewing on the internet. The meeting, which was organised by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO), focused on vehicle-to-vehicle safety, the current safety pilot model deployment, development of a robust vehicle-to-infrastructure environment, connected vehicle deployment strategies, and preparation for NHTSA's 2013 decision. In addition, participants had an opportunit
    Read More
  • British Safety Council launches app for measuring air pollution in London
    March 11, 2019
    The British Safety Council (BSC) and Kings College London have launched an app for outdoor workers to measure exposure to air pollution – an increasing preoccupation for the ITS industry. The Canairy app could help improve workzone safety by providing employees, and their bosses, with information to help them reduce exposure to air pollution. The app is being launched as part of the BSC’s ‘Time to Breathe’ campaign, which seeks to encourage companies, policymakers and regulators to take the risks of
    Read More
  • Flir webinar training in January
    January 13, 2017
    Flir Intelligent Transportation Systems is offering a 45-minute webinar 19 January, Make your traffic run smoother, more efficient and safer with Flir ITS, which discusses its solutions help to keep vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles moving safely and smoothly. More information and registration is available on the Flir website.
    Read More
  • Registration now open for ITS America 2016
    February 23, 2016
    Registration is now open for ITS America, 12-15 June 12 2016 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. It’s a new event with an exhibition, conferences, papers and demonstrations, where companies, public agencies, academics, engineers, researchers, regulators, lawmakers, app developers, infrastructure security agents, financiers and the media will meet to make new contacts, transfer knowledge and generate new ideas about what is next in a world where transportation is at the centre of the IOT. More
    Read More

Highlighted Content