Why Elon Musk's Boring Company isn't fixing traffic anytime soon

Name: Why Elon Musk's Boring Company isn't fixing traffic anytime soon
Uploaded: 2021-07-20T15:36:57.000Z
Duration: 13 min 5 s
Description: In 2017, Elon Musk launched the Boring Company with the goal of solving "soul destroying" traffic. Four years later, the Boring Company finally opened its first underground tunnel loop to the public in Las Vegas. But a number of its other projects seem to be stalled.

In 2017, Elon Musk launched the Boring Company with the goal of solving "soul destroying" traffic. Four years later, the Boring Company finally opened its first underground tunnel loop to the public in Las Vegas. But a number of its other projects seem to be stalled.

13:05

Tue, Jul 20 202111:36 AM EDT

Magdalena Petrova

Founded in 2017 by Elon Musk, the Boring Company set out with the lofty goal of solving traffic congestion by building a system of underground tunnels that cars could zoom through at speeds of over 100 mph. But what the company has showed off so far has been much less futuristic.

The Boring Company's first public project, the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop, opened to the public in June. The 1.7-mile stretch of underground road cost the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority $52 million and took The Boring Company about 18 months to complete. The eventual goal is for a fleet of 62 Teslas to be able to autonomously shuttle up to 4,400 passengers an hour from across the convention center's three stations. Currently, the cars are still driven by humans.

Many other of the company's proposed projects, including in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Baltimore, seem to have stalled.

"Many construction professionals will tell you that, you know, it's not the speed of the tunnel boring that you need to worry about. It's the environmental review. It's the bureaucratic procedure. It's the permits," says NBC News' Cyrus Farivar.

Watch the video above to find out some of the challenges facing The Boring Company as it tries to disrupt transportation.