Elon Musk presents underground LA tunnel project

LOS ANGELES - Agence France-Presse

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has given updated details of a project to build high-speed transport tunnels underneath Los Angeles in a bid to combat traffic and said he wanted to work with the city’s subway operator.

His firm behind the project -- “The Boring Company” -- wants to create tunnels that link up with existing subway lines to “complement the system”.

During the presentation in Los Angeles on May 17, Musk showed a video explaining the tunnels.

Passengers would embark at ground-level into an 16-person shuttle -- an elevator of sorts, which then joins a high-speed, electricity-powered network that travels at up to 125 miles per hour (200 kilometers per hour.)    

The idea is for the vehicles to offer a service somewhere between riding a subway and traveling in a private car -- and for just $1, passengers could reach downtown LA from its international airport in under 10 minutes.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s long term vision is for the tunnels to also serve his Hyperloop ultra high-speed pod project -- which he says would cut the six hour drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles to just 30 minutes.

“We’re aiming to go over 300 miles an hour in a vacuum tunnel,” Musk said.