Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a vocal supporter of self-driving or autonomous vehicles and claims these are safer than conventional vehicles that have humans controlling the wheel. He has also in the past made a case for driving underground and his Boring Company is fast nearing completion on a tunnel project in Las Vegas which could cut down traffic times significantly. It is hardly surprising then that Musk has made a case for self-driving cars and tunnel transportation to come together in what he terms as a ‘warp drive.’
Musk took to Twitter on Tuesday (US time) to inform that the tunnel project under Las Vegas is nearing completion. “Tunnels under cities with self-driving electric cars will feel like warp drive. First operational tunnel under Vegas almost done,” he wrote on his handle on the micro-blogging site.
The tweet once again set off a wave of excitement among many of the millions who follow Musk on Twitter. Among them are people who believe that tunnel road transportation could indeed solve most of the traffic woes that global cities currently face.
The Strip in Las Vegas, for instance, required a transportation solution because of the high volume of tourists it handles. Musk’s Boring Company made a successful bid of $52.5 million to build a tunnel transport system which came to be known as the LVCC loop. The project was started in October of 2019 and is now nearing completion.
The twin 0.83-mile-long (1.33 kilometer), 14-foot-wide tunnels will cut down a travel time of 15 minutes to just under a minute. Musk has previously confirmed that the loop will make use of modified, on-rails electric sedans that will zip people at speeds of up to 150 mph (241 kmph).
Warp drive indeed!
Musk and Boring Company are reportedly eyeing more such projects which could ensure lightning quick transport solutions to cities currently grappling with choke points.
