Boring Company Proposes Miami Loop
News out of Miami from Elon Musk’s Boring Company, as the infrastructure group has submitted a proposal for a 6-mile (9.6km) tunnel under the city. This will be the second full-scale version of the system.
This comes not long after the city of Las Vegas announcing an expansion of their current 1.5-mile (2.4km) system in October; attempting to lengthen their Loop to 29-miles (46.6km) and 51 stations.
The Boring Company is looking ahead to a large system underneath the Florida coast with multiple stops.
“The North Miami Beach Loop would ferry Tesla vehicles between seven stations along State Road 826, between the Golden Glades Transit Center and Sunny Isles Beach at Newport Pier, according to the proposal, seen by Insider.”
Talks reportedly began last year; and the new proposal clarifies not just the route and stops, but the projected costs: about $185 million to $220 million. That is certainly much less than the average subway system.
North Miami Beach commissioner Michael Joseph is on board with the project, telling reporters, "We have a lot of traffic congestion and this would be a way of alleviating a great deal of that traffic."
He said the estimated cost per mile of the Loop would be "a fraction of what is seen in other types of mass transit projects proposed in South Florida, while the construction would not be as disruptive to the local economy."
Elon’s tunnel making operation suggests it can get the job done in about three years, provided the permitting process is expedited; and the city seems to intend just that, as they’re currently looking to multiple levels of government for funding.
This would be The Boring Company’s first major project outside of Las Vegas, where they’re currently trying to show off a proof of concept loop underneath the Vegas Convention Center that is being expanded to the city’s downtown.
Many people have argued that the Convention Center Loop is a bit underwhelming. And that’s fair to say right now, but it does kind of miss the point. The Boring Company is all about digging the holes and the construction of the tunnels and stations, which in this case has been done beautifully. The project was completed as expected, in a reasonable time frame given the pandemic complications, the costs were kept in check and there were no disasters or injuries involved in the construction. That is a win.
The actual user experience and the functionality is unfortunately a bit held back by the Tesla vehicles that power the transportation. For whatever reasons, there are still human beings driving the cars, and that is going to prevent the Loop from functioning at its true capacity. Those Teslas need to be fully autonomous in the tunnels to hit the speeds that would be required to avoid traffic jams. We don’t have that yet. But we’re still hopeful that it is coming sooner rather than later.