Dazzled by Boring’s boasts that it had revolutionized tunneling, and the cachet of working with the billionaire head of EV maker Tesla Inc., TSLA -1.14%decrease; red down pointing triangle the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority dumped plans for a traditional light rail and embraced the futuristic tunnel.
When it came time to formalize the partnership and get to work, Boring itself went underground—just as it has done in Maryland, Chicago and Los Angeles. Boring didn’t submit a bid for Ontario by the January 2022 deadline.
The six-year-old company has repeatedly teased cities with a pledge to “solve soul-destroying traffic,” only to pull out when confronted with the realities of building public infrastructure, according to former executives and local, state and federal government officials who have worked with Mr. Musk’s Boring. The company has struggled with common bureaucratic hurdles like securing permits and conducting environmental reviews, the people said.
Remember when the Boring tunnel in Las Vegas opened with fanfare in a narrow sewer tunnel with night club rails of LED light? The fanboi analysts on Twitter pumped how many Americans would be stoked to buy a car driven by A/I through a tunnel. Except that hasn’t happened. Human drivers still drive the Teslas in the LV Boring tunnel. And there are still traffic jams, which the tunnel was supposed to alleviate:
(Obviously the poster of this tweet didn’t think about Tesla’s non ICE attributes before posting.)
Don’t be so sure. The Boring tunnels have far less ventilation than traditional tunnels do (this is easy, since they don’t have to contend with tailpipe emissions.) But what do they do when a car catches fire?
Expect headlines, as dozens die from smoke inhalation.
There are no emergency bypasses, nor even safe rooms along the route.
Also, the tunnel is exactly one lane wide. Plus a few inches on either side. Plus, driven by humans. So there could never be an accident and a consequent traffic back-up, right?
There was a sewer pipe, 3/4 mile long, near my old home when I was a child. That pipe, constructed in 1960, is bigger circumference than anything coming out of Boring today.
Yeah, one car fire and a load of people stuck in non-moving traffic are going to need a Plan B to get the hell out of what will become a raging inferno underground.
Another thought: you open a door of a stuck car. People trying to run by you in that tunnel will have to slow down, possibly close your door some, for their continued egress.
p.s. My wife is severely claustrophobic. She would never go through that LV tunnel.
Why should Musk pay for all the permits. Let the cities do that whilst cutting the red tape.
There is enough ‘hate musk’ going around that they would bury him with permit fees and lawsuit delays.
Sure, he can bore a tunnel… what you do with it is your business.
Permits exist for a reason, so half cocked ideas are nipped before they pose a detriment to society. We’ve decided we don’t want fireworks factories in the middle of the city, we don’t want refuse dumps in your backyard, and we want reasonable development with reasonable restrictions: building built soundly, septic installed, etc.
“Red tape” exists so things can be checked out. Frankly, this “one lane” tunnel idea is a disaster waiting to happen, and when it does there will be no more “one lane tunnels” built, no matter how hard Musk kicks and screams. But Libertarians always have to learn the hard way, it seems.
But Libertarians always have to learn the hard way, it seems.<<
Oh, so it is “Libertarians” fault? Think politics much?
Things haven’t change with this new layout. Trolls still abound.
Musk kicking and screaming? Gotta link for that?
Libertarians remind me of the old Blue Sparks from Hell t-shirt sold at their shows: “They Crash, They Burn, They Never learn.”
If you were to go back on Twitter and read over posts from when the Paypal Mafia reared its ugly hydra-heads, you would learn these rapacious sociopaths and psychopaths who move fast and break stuff, all in the name of Capitalism, are all Ayn Rand heroes in their own heads.