Elon Musk’s Latest Plans for Useless Money Pits Target Miami and Texas

Poor performance and even poorer public notion have compelled Elon Musk’s Boring Company to largely pivot away from its most bold tasks and choose as a substitute to prioritize extra politically pleasant locals. Now, Musk reportedly has his sights set on Texas and Miami for the corporate’s close to future.

Boring has reportedly filed for permits to develop a brand new take a look at web site and compound in Bastrop Country close to Austin, based on 2021 paperwork obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek. The firm reportedly plans to construct a compound on the land outfitted with on-site housing the place they are going to construct “as many tunnels as necessary” to check out new strategies for growing underground tubes. Each of the tunnels on the take a look at web site could stretch round 300-600 toes lengthy.

Besides the tunnels, Boring’s Texas web site will reportedly function 10 prefabricated, 550 sq. toes one-bedroom properties for staff, and will in the future embody a restaurant and retail buildings.

Meanwhile, about 1,300 miles to the east, the corporate additionally just lately submitted a proposal for a brand new 6.2-mile loop tunnel in Miami. That proposal, Insider reports, claims the so-called “The North Miami Beach Loop” may doubtlessly transport greater than 7,500 passengers per hour. At scale, Boring believes that determine may soar as much as 15,000 per hour, although if Boring’s current shows are any information that’s nonetheless a protracted, great distance away.

Boring estimates its proposed Miami venture would value between $185 million to $220 million and will take lower than three years to construct. The firm additionally outlines methods it may increase upon the 6.2-mile route, doubtlessly including connections to Hard Rock Stadium and Florida International University’s Biscayne Campus. As with all Musk-related ventures, these timelines and estimates ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

Still, the proposals had been met with pleasure from no less than some Florida officers.

“We have a lot of traffic congestion and this would be a way of alleviating a great deal of that traffic,” North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph informed Insider. Joseph claims Musk’s tunnels may come at a fraction of the price of bigger infrastructure plans and will doubtlessly get began with comparatively few main disruptions to the native economic system.

The Miami proposal marks the second try by Boring to cave out the floor beneath Florida in as a few years. Last summer season, the Fort Lauderdale mayor stated the town had accepted a proposal to construct a tunnel connecting the town down towards the seaside, one thing he saw as a “truly innovative way to reduce traffic congestion.”

Both of those new tasks comply with a slew of reported pitfalls and strategic re-orientation on the firm. Though Boring as soon as had grand, years-long plans to construct tunnels connecting Washington and Baltimore and one other meant to shuttle Los Angeles residents to Dodger stadium, each of these endeavors stalled because of regulatory restrictions and environmental assessment, Bloomberg notes. In an indication of exasperation, the corporate reportedly eliminated any point out of the tasks from its web site.

“I think you can declare these dead,” Dena Belzer, President of Consultancy Strategic Economics, informed Bloomberg on the time.

Other nonetheless lively tasks then again have did not whip up the degrees of hype attained by Musk’s different aspect hustles. In Las Vegas, for instance, the place Boring at the moment operates a tunnel transporting drivers to the Las Vegas Convention Center, vehicles can nonetheless solely attain a prime velocity of round 35mph and need to drive one by one. Videos posted of commuters utilizing the tunnel to this point seem half-assed at finest.

From a purely sensible perspective although, Boring’s geographic reorientation is sensible, notably in Texas. Tesla, as an illustration, formally moved its headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin final 12 months, as did Musk himself. Both Texas and Austin additionally noticed a number of the largest inflow of tech staff migrating throughout the pandemic as effectively, although there are signs a few of that shakeup is no less than partially leveling out.

Metro areas in Texas and Florida, which largely lack subways and different types of public transportation, do legitimately want some main reimagining of their transportation infrastructure. Whether or not Boring to this point lackluster tubes can really make any significant distinction in that division, although, is one other factor completely.