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Great info. The video at the that demonstrated cars sitting on “pods” was a great idea without many issues to solve. The idea to engage cars on a track located on a freeway has been around since the 60’s shown in Popular Mechanic’s.
The most important factor to a tunnel in the San Antonio area is the water table. San Antonio sits on a huge aquifer that is basically a cave system with rain water recharging the aquifer. The city guards the purity of that water and they know where all the cave openings are located that recharge the aquifer. In fact the aquifer is around fifty feet below the ground. If a tunnel is misplaced, irreparable damage would be done to San Antonio’s water system.
No matter where the tunnels go, if they require a toll, please don't let the same company run them that currently run the toll roads in the Austin area. It's ridiculous. I received multiple bills for multiple accounts for tolls on vehicles that I didn't even own.
Underground high-speed rail would make more sense in my opinion. One, it's available to everyone and not just people who own a Tesla, and two, it can traverse ground at a higher speed while carrying more people. It can also accomplish the same goal of reducing traffic, more people travelling by rail means less people travelling by car. And while the Tesla has proved its autonomous capabilities fairly well so far, rail is still much safer in comparison. If onboard systems fail the vehicle won't smash into the wall, it's on a fixed rail (obviously).
One point of order; this isn't for people who own Tesla's. It's a tunnel specifically for cars already down there that you rent. It's effectively a paid tram car for 30 miles, using cars exclusively owned by the company building it. It's a money making scheme to sell Tesla's, since people have stopped buying them in the last few years.
Trains have to be run with signifiant time gaps between trains. Computer controlled cars co-operate to get the job done and can run a continuous stream. People riding them don't drives human error is not an issue. Things can fail, but rail is not perfect by any means.
@@lepidoptera9337 well when you charge 22 thousand for two thousand dollar batteries, witj no alternitive one makes lots of cash. People are realising Musk is a con. ain't no way i ever buy a car that i cant work on or that can be taken over by the company that sold it to me. No fing way!!
@@davidelliott5843 using individual cars makes no sense still, it’s more complicated than it has to be for absolutely no reason. Each car has its own service intervals and costs associated with it, tires and brakes for example. Each car will also have a certain amount of downtime for charging, cleaning, or servicing, which means needing even more cars to make up for the ones that aren’t in use and making money. Building EV’s is not a clean process either and can lead to even more environmental challenges in the future. High speed trains are not propelled the same way electric cars are, they are propelled by the power lines suspended above the tracks, not lithium ion batteries powering an electric motor. One train would have much less of an impact than the amount of cars it would take to carry the same amount of people. So that being said it makes sense in more than just one area, cost of manufacturing financially and environmentally.
@@davidelliott5843 if cars on a single lane road underground were really better, then 4 lane highways would have better bandwidth than passenger trains on a single rail, but they do not. Also, in places like Tokyo there's a train every couple minutes (literally) during rush hour, so it's not like you're making a huge inconvenience for travelers.
Either that or Deep Ellum, depending on which direction people go. What would be more interesting is Houston to Dallas with a layover in Austin. That could compete with the business flight route of DFW/IAH or DAL/HOU. It would be faster than driving and probably faster than flying, while being cheaper than both. Unfortunately, trying to drill tunnels near Houston will end up inadvertently drilling wells...
Autonomous navigation through a tunnel system is about as simple as you can get. The vehicles can be super simple too. Style isn't important. No concerns about side impacts, potholes, or even protection from rollovers. Rails are the best choice. The current system of driving cars through the tunnels seems like a huge waste. One good thing, is that once you have the tunnels in place, they'll likely be there for thousands of years and are a good investment.
nothing is simple, when I bought my house in San Antonio they made it clear, I did not own the mineral rights (under ground) also San Antonio has a massive under ground aquifer which was the main source of water for the area, then there is what about escape system and having enough air pumped under ground, nope nothing is simple lastly most of these big companies have great ideas but they always want someone else to pay for it, San Antonio is/was a decentralized city that means there is no reason to go downtown at all (I grew up in San Antonio), A high speed system between the cities would be a good idea (key words being high speed) but TX has plenty of land so it could be built above the highways JMTCW
Rails are a very primitive, limited, and semi permanent algorithm. They are well chosen for mass drivers on well established trunk lines however are not well suited and overly robust for point to point delivery systems. Not impossible however unnecessarily complex and robust for transport of large numbers of small volumes to a large variety of destinations.
@@markharmon4963 sell the las Vegas tunnel is so small it's not that useable in general. And rail can easily be automated in such a closed tunnel system. Just look at the Copenhagen metro it's had automated line for 10 years or so now.
Tunnels have more uses than vehicle movement. They offer security for pipelines, power cables, vault storage, nuke shelter, etc. In an age of conflict and sabotage, the importance of security is likely to go skyward.
Tunnels bored at t he base of a mountain to the top can create convection air currents (energy) that can be captured with wind turbines installed in the tunnels. Not sure of the cost per kw but it can be done.
@@goferizer That's how a chimney works, if a heat source makes the 'tube' lighter than ambient. Another program going the other way... deep mines are hot at depth, a spiral tunnel going down 2 miles, then back to surface could send water down to get hot, which at surface again do low-energy tasks like desalination. Pumping energy input is modest with a closed circuit.
I hope they get it together or a least put electric trolleys down there. Or maybe move freight like a train. Other that, it won’t help relieve traffic issues. Just doing normal projects would be good enough.
normal subway is just way more efficient.... It works very well in Europe. - I think giving nearly each person a special car is the most silly part. Electric underground trains are just sensible, already exist, and don't even need batteries. - Transferring from one line to another is really not that bad. - However, if they can make digging tunnels way cheaper and faster, that would be incredibly useful.
Trains need to make frequent stops, reducing the average speed and are confined to their rails. They can't climb steep grades so need stations so massive they account for most of the construction cost.
One of things that people seem to continually overlook is Musk approach to development. He doesn’t use a traditional approach, which to plan completely from start to finish. He works with concept and iteration. Develop, test, break, fix, iterate and test again. By implementation time most every bug is worked out. And still he iterates. Don’t forget about that process. It maybe an uncomfortable process for we mortals to attempt to use but not him.
@@jwhdesign that only works with already existing concepts and technologies. Elon is usually at the cutting edge, where there is Elon's process, and there is the Blue Origin/Boeing process. I'll take Elon's.
Lmaoo, as a native Texan, it wasn’t till watching comedians, and meeting folks from the north, till I realized folks unfamiliar with Texas really think we’re all yeehaw, beer can shootin, stay off my land folks 😂. That stuff’s definitely here, but we also are a super diverse state (las Colinas being the most diverse community, nationally) and have great colleges, business hubs, and much more going on. Ttyl gotta go put on my boots and shoot beer cans 🤣.
@@madlad1. I'm quite chilled, comfortable and content. There is so much misinformation and FUDI especially when dealing with things Tesla and EV, sometimes it is cathartic to point it out.
@@The_DuMont_Network fair, although my comment wasn’t regarding EV’s at all, the “Jesus” felt mildly aggressive, and I don’t equate aggressiveness with being chill
As long as they are not using public money and not contaminating the underground water and not destroying the environment, why should anyone - mayor or plumber - be upset !! Sure, keep a watch on what they are doing and have honest public officials oversee their activities, but as an Elon company, one can be sure they have their values straight and their heart in the right place !
Agreed! Can't say the same about all the workings and effects of fracking in parts of Texas. Also traffic continues to get worse in this area it's should be about planning for the future.
First they have to get through the solid rock surface, I know this area, they should not let anyone tunnel here there is the huge Edwards aquifer under Austin. Musk is in for a surprise…lol. I think this is more Musk hype, there is so much musk hype these days he is even selling a man in a robot suit as an actual humanoid robot.
If only we had vehicles that ran in tunnels, could carry an enormous amount of people, be powered remotely, and run on a consistent schedule making public transportation much more efficient!
I was involved with public transportation projects some years ago. What I learned is that you have to visibly go past commuters (perhaps, in traffic) at an obviously greater velocity to get them out of their cars and into public transit. Further, you have to provide means of concentration and distribution at each station. From your report, this has none of those attributes,
"Don't let the best be the enemy of good enough." Waiting for perfection is the reason Europe and Asia have modern ground transportation systems while the United States has not even seriously started. Yes, it will take several years for the system to be implemented and it will not be perfect. Failure to start means it will never happen.
No, that's not the reason. The culture is different, the places are much much more spread out, and we're not as interested in mass transportation or adding to our taxes, to begin with.
Both Asia and Europe emphasize good rail infastructure and mass transit. It's very easy to get around most of Europe or Asia without a car. These boring projects are more expensive and less efficient than a bus lane...
No, the reason is that America has a conservative, individualistic bent which is against the concept of public transportation, and social good projects in general (because they help "those" people)
@@jcen1918 WOW, that didn't take long for ad hominem tactics to be applied. ”Because they help those people”, really? What a racist or classist comment that is never the real reason for the opposition. But yes, other parts of your part are an explanation of the comment. Being individualistic is what has made this country so gloriously unlike the places folks who settled here were escaping.
@@IronBand4 In St Louis, the metrolink has been opposed by suburban folks because it would disproportionately help the minority city dwellers. It's a pretty well established dynamic in fight after fight over public transportation expansions across the country.
I find the concept very interesting ...and you gotta start somewhere ... so why not some proof of concept tunnels in perfect conditions ... full fledged versions in harder soils can come later...makes great sense to me
Meanwhile China has a national network of working high speed trains that are cheaper and more efficient but let’s try this failed idea that’s worse than a subway system. Makes sense to this guy…
On the contrary, the stations themselves are closer than the emergency exits on a subway which are spaced 750m apart. Subways are actually far more dangerous considering evacuating 1,000 panicking people from a crashed or disabled or burning subway train is far more difficult and dangerous than getting the couple of occupants to jump into the next EV in the tunnel. The NYC subway kills 70 people per year, only half of which are suicides with 2% being people murdered by being pushed off a platform in front of a train and the rest being accidents. The London Underground kills 50 people annually and has 4,000 serious injuries every year.
Actually, they’ve invented a tunnel that moves more people through the turnstiles than most of the subway station platform-pairs in Europe at a cost 100x lower than those subways. There will be about 8 Loop stations for every subway station per mile through the busier parts of Vegas, yet even just the three current LVCC Loop stations moved 25,000 - 27,000 passengers per day during SEMA in November which beats BRT and Light Rail stations and is very competitive with subway stations. 27,000 people per day is: - greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION. - more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines. - more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations. - about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms. - more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily. And that is ignoring the fact that most of the subway figures above were from pre-pandemic times. Now, most subways are running at half of those capacities so the performance of the pandemic-affected Loop is even more impressive.
@@selbalamir hi Selbalamir, you do realise the 3 station, LVCC Loop does actually exist? And the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported earlier this year that: “The Boring Company’s tunnel system successfully moved 25,000 to 27,000 passengers daily around the Las Vegas Convention Center campus during SEMA in November. SEMA was the Convention Center and the LVCC Loop’s first full-facility show with 114,000 attendees.” What exactly are you referring to when say what I’ve said doesn’t exist?
Ground water is a funny thing and a seemingly innocent unrelated act could cause someone's well to go dry. Making tunnels has to be able to protect the environment and drinking water everywhere they go. It is time do learn that from the start. Can't believe they would build without a permit. Isn't that the first step a construction company have to do as a habit? Just because you in the middle of your nowhere, it is in the middle of someone's community also.
Pflugerville is booming. It's not some sleepy little burg like it was 25 years ago. The entire Austin-San Antonio region of 5 million+ is booming with population and business growth. A measly little tunnel between to the two metros ain't gonna cut it. I think the robo-taxis are a better idea. Faster and more flexible means of transportation.
@@richardcogbill6791 "robo taxis" that's laughable. U ever search up tesla auto drive errors? Shit is so far off still, just more of Tony starks nonsense. Dude is a massive charlatan, biggest I've seen.
Most of Texas is "non-permitted" area. It's only around metropolitan areas that government infestation has taken place. If you really like government infestation, try California or the USA north east. Stay away from Texas. We like it just fine the way it was...before Austin became contaminated by government.
Because they are building underground, they don't need the permits. They need mineral rights! There is much more to gain from going underground then there is for going above ground, such as the transportation of oil on the rail system. What happens to all those barrels of oil being transported by a train if the train gets derailed? Underground would be much safer, as it would be far away from your drinking water, a fire could be quickly and easily extinguished by closing off the tunnel and suffocating the fire. You should really think things through before you start commenting in an area you're unprepared for in a state you have no reason to question. You must realize these tunnels are very deep. They go under mountains and valleys, and they have far more benefits than not.
@@AudieCollinsSoftHeartPC I have seen a newly drilled well dry up a spring well that supplied it's owners for over 100 years. You do not know where the under ground water is flowing and the fear of it getting contaminated or rerouted is legitimate. I am sure they can work around the water issue.
What they need to do is partner with ERCOT to get all electric under ground. That saves a ton of money in vegetation management and storm related outages.
As a Texan I can tell you right now that the boring company is needed. It may not be useful in a city like San Antonio but I live in Dallas and the traffic is ridiculous. You can spend 2 hours moving at 5mph just to drive 10 miles simply because of congestion on the roads. Idc how slow those tunnels would be, any type of movement is better than what we have now. And I think Dallas is the perfect place to implement because of how wide the city and roads are designed. Cities in Texas like Dallas or Houston have no subway system and people literally only use cars so a secondary underground road system would be so useful and efficient in taking down the number of cars on the highways
Wow. There is no other way to get around any city except the freeways? Nuts. When I lived in LA, I stayed off the freeways, used the side streets (laid out in X-Y, easy to navigate), and had no issues. Here in the Dallas area I avoid Stemmons Freeway and 635 like the plague, and can make it from the house to the office downtown in half the time. OK, so there are a few stoplights. Most are speed timed, and if you get in sync, you just breeze along.
Tesla has been testing model 3s in the Las Vegas tunnels with a version of FSD. I would say, that is the beginning of a transportation vehicle that transfers people autonomously. The problem is that Elan thinks in 4 to 5 years while people live in 1 to 2. I'm sure having an "Elon" translator would help everyone get on board with his ideas for the future. He is creating all the parts of a whole seperately. Give him time and he will put them together. We just need a realistic timeline
His Boring Company work is hampered by his desire to only build TBMs that could fit in a rocket to Mars. The resulting narrow tunnel bores are useless for digging vehicular tunnels.
Hi, now that FSD beta has come to Canada, get a friend or subscriber in your area to take you on the highway section with no complications with FSD engaged. Certainly in a complex city street environment like Vancouver or Toronto, FSD is not fully ready. But I suspect that it is good to go in a Boring tunnel environment where visibility is going to be constant 24/7. GM and Ford autonomous systems could probably also handle the tunnels. The only limitation would be the size of vehicle, and they would need to be electric with advanced driver assistance software. Elon made a tweet this week about no weather in the tunnels and took a lot of flack from the hate mob that were quick to pounce with comments of "Stupid Elon, haven't you heard of flooding?" I am sure he has, but in the context of weather that limits visibility, he has a point. He may be crypticaly hinting in his inimitable style that FSD is indeed ready to handle simple environments where visibility challenges from weather are not an issue. In which case the throughput could start climbing in the tunnels
Thank you for actually reporting the negatives along with the positives that come with any technology or company. Too many Tesla fanboy CZcamsrs that just shout about all the amazing things Elon will do without pointing out the huge costs/problems involved. Tesla & Elon fanboys are just as annoying as haters.
If there are high costs and problems it is just that Elon hasn't gotten around to sorting those bits out yet. He has a good track record when it comes to things like that.
@@davefarmery8180 Are you insane 60mph in a tunnel that has almost no clearance, yet on wide open roads a Tesla cannot even stay in it's own lane at city speeds! Those Tesla's would be ping ponging off the walls! There has been zero video of even a test Tesla driving though the tunnels! Under controlled conditions with the tunnel closed off to the public they could easily do that demo showing how well it would drive at 60mph! But nope zero video of anything!
The tunnels are great if we put light rail or trains in them, you can move massive amounts of people, a San Antonio - Austin commuter line is sorely needed. Making small tunnels just for individual cars makes no sense.
A line of vehicles like cars/taxi/uber atonomisly driving together is a train no other expensive things like iron track or electronic cables or anything other than exit points and tunnels and the land above is free from road in food farming areas so makes know sense seems a stretch and there is a lot of Chinese and other electric vehicles U can buy and conversion kits for other cars that are getting cheeper the more they make Alibaba look it Up
I've been saying this for ages. Using rail, even for smaller shuttles, greatly simplifies things. Now all you need is a simple vehicle that only needs to go forward and possibly reverse. You no longer need autopilot, steering, tires, batteries/charging, etc., just switches in the rail line. It should also be able to move faster. We've had an electric rail system that goes through tunnels in my area (BART) for over 50 years.
@@Bennie32831 You're right that a group of cars connected to each other is like a train. It's just far less useful than a real train which can take far more people more efficiently. If the tunnel is permanent, then go ahead and add tracks and stations and you have a much better system than individual cars, even connected together. This video is a good explanation: czcams.com/video/R6RaoGHZC3A/video.html
Investigation should be spent on Traffic Control and the systems we have in place today. To lesson traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, drive times and improve fuel economy, we need an updated traffic control system throughout America (if not the world). We are stuck in the dark ages with timed signal lights. Millions of vehicles are needlessly stopped, for no opposing traffic, totaling hours a day. A network of signals could be programmed to adjust to traffic needs and allow the greatest number of travelers to reach their distention's most efficiently. It is silly and detrimental to stop at every intersection for no reason. Only a few modern upgrades to the signal lights would render great benefits. With modern technology, I believe sensors, controllers and programming being used on Tesla cars/ Starlink/ SpaceX (or the like) could be implemented in the system to make it exponentially more efficient and even safer. If a car can drive itself, why can't the same tech direct them as well?
Also, probably the use of modern roundabouts (no longer red lights where you have to stop even if there's no opposing traffic, instead you can slow down and yield to traffic and stop if necessary and wait for an opening, and you're your own judge - not a system somewhere else telling you what to do) might immensely help in many small to medium intersections
@@bugaboo9442 Get over yourself already. Not every country needs to build itself around public transport. Americans have decided that they prefer private transport so we should focus on ways to improve it.
@@MrNote-lz7lh cool, here's a great way to improve it, stop making cars and make more busses. America is a sh*t hole and its your kind of mentality that makes it that way, among other things.
Another use for underground tunnels, Utility Maintenance Access Tunnels, have all the gas, water, sewage, communications, electric, any and all utilities running through these UMAT. Less chance of extreme weather interrupting power or comms. Easier for crews to upgrade and maintain. And why not run a bullet train next to the utility tunnels?
Yeah right, people who idolize musk are so delusional. So in 9 years you believe he'll build enough tunnels with no environmental problems to cut down travel by x10ish. Sure thing. I gotta beach house in Oklahoma to sell ya too
@@jonnies haha first are you suggesting that people from Nova Scotia can’t know how to pronounce this word correctly? Second why would I lie about how to pronounce the name of a city? Lol
Well I am from Waxahachie Texas and all I know is the last time someone came and dug a huge tunnel in Texas they abandoned the project halfway through when the funding was cut off. But then it was too late, they had already moved people off their land that had been there for generations. Now who knows what they’re storing in that tunnel and they built monstrosity urban suburbs where generations of farmers lived. Progress just for the sake of progress is not always good!
@@oldhardrock2542 It was called the super conductor supercollider. I live 3 miles from the building that we’re supposed to be all laboratories. It’s ugly as hell and as I already stated they just wrecked land and moved everybody who had been there for generations!
@@johnnyp628 that was an unfortunate government boondoggle. I have friends who sold everything, packed and moved only to have their jobs end. I guess these transportation tunnels being proposed could be similar. Although without the need to expropriate land over the tunnels. I can't imagine how long it would take after seeing how long it has taken to "upgrade" the I-35 between New Braunfels and San Marcos.
I have lived in Austin for 18 years and just moved to San Antonio. The population and infrastructure here needs these tunnels with a hyperloop system desperately. I sure hope they are able to pull this off quickly without destroying the watershed. 🙏
I think the mayor has an political ideological reason for not wanting any of Musk's business in "his" city. Its sad, but thats the latest in political ideological puritanism.
Dude we don't need a fucking tunnel. We need another highway besides 35. We need bullet trains From Dallas to San Antonio. Digging a tunnel makes 0 sense. I live in corpus and Austin.
Tunnels for individual cars will do less than nothing to help Austin. You're talking about a system that is inferior to subway trains by literal orders of magnitude.
@@MindForgedManacle I hate when elon says order of magnitude. Really 10 100 1000 times better. Dude just says these words to get the idiots interested and amazed. I know you didn't meant it how he does , or maybe your did don't know, but it's worthless when musk says it
Nice feature, actually interesting enough to see to the end. Keep doing that. You are to be excused, being a Canuck, eh, I was too, eh, now an American, eh, not knowing that Yosemite Sam is a Californian, eh, not from Texas, eh! BTW never mess with Texas!! You know, he, Sam, was from near Yosemite, in California, therefore he's a cartoon character conceived as a cantankerous old guy from back in the day when many of these folks in the American west had "nick names", like "Sun Dance Kid", "Doc Holliday", "Wild Bill Hickok", "Buffalo Bill", etc. Get it? :D I like the idea of the tunnels and anything for auto-transport; they remind me of "Logan's Run", one of my fave sci fi movies, with people movers. But not a fan of the dome city, or the death by thirty theme though; I'd be dead more than twice over by now. Really nifty idea for Mars though, can't wait to see it, or have granddaughters learn of it, more likely. Cheers, eh? :D
They should build tunnel network dedicated for goods deliveries to remove delivery vans and trucks from entering the city and with fast mass transit network and encouraging converting more streets into walkable spaces they will easily solve the heavy traffic issues
The fact that the tunnels aren't big enough for a standard shipping container makes them a huge waste of time, effort, and money IMO. The same goes for "hyper loop" systems. People are not the only thing that needs to move from A to B and we already have a standard size for shipping containers. This is a massive swing and a miss. They are trying to monetize R and D which isn't bad but definitely comes across as a solution in search of a problem to fix.
Can't FSD be used to navigate the tunnels in a regular Tesla? All the car has to do is stay between some lines. If FSD works, it should be accident-free even in a tunnel, and at any speed. I don't get what the problem is. Heck, even the regular Autopilot should be able to cope with that.
I've heard that the close tunnel walls generated false positives for traffic. But it does seem to be an easily solvable problem. The real issue I think is safely navigating the stations. And the really real issue is getting the authorities to allow them to operate autonomous vehicles with passengers.
Problem could be how would FSD handle on boarding passengers or know where to park when waiting for passengers etc. FSD can't handle parking lots or interact with people directly.
I watch the expansion of high speed rail connecting China, Laos, Thailand, etc. Very cool to travel from one place to the other far more quickly than current possibilities; plus the movement of raw products and materials to market or factories. Tunnels seems a good way to address the decade long building time line of above ground level to a more reasonable completion date.
Nicely balanced video. However, I would point out that the current non-robotaxi LVCC Loop is extremely successful moving 25,000 - 27,000 people per day during large conventions like SEMA in November so robotaxis are actually NOT needed to make these Boring Co tunnels very successful. 27,000 passengers per day is: - greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION. - more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines. - more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations. - about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms. - more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily.
The M1 Metro in Budapest that was constructed in 1896 and about 5 km long (so it is comparable to LVCC loop) serves around 100 000 people a day. I fail to see how moving 25 000 people a day is a success in 2022.
@@adam-k the M1 Metro has lower ridership per station or per length than the Loop, vastly longer wait times, is far more expensive and a significantly slower average speed once the Loop’s long arterial tunnels are completed. The 2.73 mile long, 11 station, M1 Metro is: - 4x the length of the LVCC, - has 3.7x the number of stations as the Loop and - with a ridership of 80,000 (pre-pandemic) the M1 has around 3x the ridership of the pandemic-affected Loop. Most public transport systems around the world have seen ridership halve as a result of COVID, so the ridership now is probably closer to 1.5x that of the Loop now. - with a travel time of 11 minutes end to end, it has an average speed of 15mph due to having to stop at every station. With an average travel time of less than two minutes, the LVCC works out as a similar average speed over its short 0.8 mile length, but once scaled up to the 29 mile, 51 station Vegas Loop will average 60mph or 4x the speed of the M1 across the city thanks to not having to stop at every station like a train. - with a frequency of 2 minutes (peak) and 10 minutes (off-peak), passengers have to wait 20x as long for each train as the 6 second headway LVCC Loop during peak periods. Off-peak Loop EVs have zero wait times as they are just sitting there at the station ready to leave immediately. - construction cost of the latest M4 in Budapest came in at US$326m per mile or 5x the cost of the LVCC Loop. Are you sure you want to highlight the M1 in a comparison with the Loop? Better comparisons would be with subway systems with the same number of stations as the Loop: The Berlin U55 is a 3-station 1.5km subway in the centre of Berlin which is similar in size to the LVCC Loop but it only carries a minuscule 6,200 people per day (compared to the Loop’s 27,000 ppd) at an average speed of 19mph and yet cost half a billion in today’s dollars in total or $327 million per mile, 6.7x the cost of the LVCC Loop. The Seattle U-Link is a 3.15-mile underground light rail which also has three stations which had a ridership of 33,900 people per day pre-covid (so only a few thousand more than the LVCC Loop), though it is much less now. Runs at an average speed of 31mph. It cost $1.9 billion dollars in total or $600 million per mile, 12x more than the LVCC Loop. As you can see, the LVCC Loop is very competitive ridership-wise and much better in terms of comfort and speed/wait times, and VASTLY cheaper to build than any of these subway systems. (Particularly once the 51 station, 29 mile Loop is completed at ZERO cost to the taxpayer).
@@andrewfranklin4429 The M1 Metro serves more stations that is a benefit not a problem. It was built 120 years ago and still using 1970s technology. Yet it still able to carry more people than the LVCC. Adding more stations to the Loop will slow it down even more. Because traffic. Accidents, malfunctions, terrorist attacks will happen. Then the whole system stopped is because there is zero redundancy built into the system. Try to evacuate that whole if there is a battery fire orr two. The Berlin U55 has low demand so trains only run every 10 minutes and don't run at night.. That is not a capacity issue. That is a demand issue. They stopped the construction so it doesn't serve the area it was designed to.
@@adam-k So you don’t see anything wrong with the fact that a train system with: - 3.7x more stations (11 stations), - over 4x the distance, - with 20-100x longer waiting times, - costing 20x as much in today’s dollars …only delivers around 3x pre-pandemic (probably 1.5x now) the numbers of passengers per day as the pandemic-affected Loop? The M1 jolly well better carry more passengers than the LVCC Loop since it is 4x bigger, but the fact that it only manages between 1.5x - 3x the number of passengers of the Loop, 20-100x slower for 20x the number of dollars isn’t something I’d be boasting about. So no comment on the 3 station Seattle U-Link which is a far better and MORE HONEST COMPARISON, that carried around the same number of passengers pre-covid, but 2x - 5x less people now with 20x - 100x longer wait times that is 12x more expensive than the Loop? For the same amount of money, you could build 12x the number of Loops as the Seattle U-Link or 20x as many Loops as the Budapest U-Link and carry VASTLY more people, far faster, in much greater comfort and better COVID safety.
I think it's very interesting the covered wagon pioneers that integrated East with West in the early days of the USA traveled at the rate of 5 to 7 miles a day. 😘
The Pfluger family did not think that their name was “unfortunate”, just saying….. Vernon Pfluger was a pretty nice guy actually. I knew him through Boy Scouting.
I think you are a bit misled about that “traffic jam”. Have a look at this footage of this infamous “traffic jam” that occurred once at CES: czcams.com/video/UBZye8pW4vw/video.html Notice how the EVs just slowed down briefly because the South Hall doors were locked for some reason? Now, can you show me any other videos of this sort of incident ever happening again? Particularly during the much larger SEMA conference which had 114,00 attendees and had 25,000-27,000 Loop passengers per day vs CES which only had 40,000 attendees who rode the Loop 15,000-17,000 times per day? Now compare this short 40 second slow down against a train where passengers literally have to queue up standing on the platform and wait for 3, 5, 10 or even 30 minutes waiting for the next train. And then those poor train passengers have to put up with the train STOPPING AND WAITING AT EVERY SINGLE STATION before they get to their destination. Now which would you prefer?
It's the unthinking greed-driven image you guys export to other countries. ie. trample your granny for a dollar bill. You've only got yourselves to blame. Yeah, a lot of us think like Trudeau and a lot of us don't want to set foot in your hellhole, thank you. You're not expected to understand it.
I live in Texas and I love it. But I also love innovation. Innovation is the only thing that is going to save our future. Can you imagine not having highways, or air conditioning or automobiles or airplanes, etc? Well, the each was a scourge when it was proposed. There are reasonable limits. Just working out those limits without limiting yourself to no-change is the challenge. Take a long breath and think of all the things you like and enjoy and realize the transition that had to occur for that to happen.
I think the issue is tunnel size. Boring company is so fast and cheap because they only build a small tunnel with minimal services associated. That means whatever runs though it has to be completely independent and small - like a car. No room for rails, catenary or metro size carriages. The alternative is to create a "mini-metro" rail system that you have to crouch to stand up in. There are probably more rules about metros that make that impossible.
@@imac1957 I think there's potential to use something like a roller coaster train. Shorter than a car and designed to carry a bus load of people at speed. Loading and unloading zones can be dug a bit taller, and all passengers must remain seated by design. Boring company should partner with companies that design roller coasters/coaster trains
@@AlexFoster2291 Maybe, but that would need to be built to suit. Boring company strategy is to just build big enough for existing Tesla cars to drive through. The drawings of the Tesla transporter would suggest a bigger vehicle could be used, but developing a train would take time, cost money, and then require tracks (which also would need maintenance). I like your idea, but I don't think it will happen.
The Loop EVs have already reached 127mph (205kph) in the company’s longer 1.14 mile test tunnel in Hawthorne California with CZcams clips from 2 years ago showing it in action. How much faster than that do you want?
Nice video, but it avoided telling anything about the design. Nothing was stated about escape in the case of an emergency. If the Robo-taxi broke down, and caused a traffic jam, then people cannot be left there for long periods of time. I did not see any air movement equipment, nor emergency walkways. The American Code applicable is NFPA 130, which details explicitly how to resolve such scenarios. Looking simply at this video, (I presume it is a BC production), I would have many questions, having worked on Underground systems for some 35 years and seen the changes in Code requirements over that time. I believe and support Underground transportation systems that when properly carried out, are better than gridlocked streets, in sweltering conditions above ground.
Wouldn't an above ground high speed rail system between DFW, Houston, Austin, via San Antonio be a better idea and a lot more practical than digging a tunnel.
@@BirdsTheWurd Texas did try back in the 90's to build a high speed rail system in what is considered the Teas Triangle, DFW, Houston, San Antonio. It was to be privately funded. Contracts were awarded to a consortium. Then all the legal wrangling started happening. The big boys, Southwest Airlines, with the help of lobbyists, created legal barriers to prohibit the consortium from moving forward and the entire project was eventually scuttled in 1994, when the State of Texas withdrew the franchise.[73] Several hotel chains like Days Inn, Best Western, and La Quinta Inn, as well as fast food establishments like McDonald's and Burger King lobbied against the plan,[73] primarily because many of their locations were along Interstates and in several highway-dependent rural towns. So as usual, "not in my backyard".
Would you be willing to sell your ranch/farm land that has been in your family for generations? Many Texans are not willing to do so. We’ve already been saddled with that awful whooshing sound those idiot windmills make.
I wonder if he is looking at making these tunnelers capable of being in small chunks and assembled at site so that maybe 10 or so Starships can transport them to Mars/Moon to do base prep for when people get around to going.
I am 100% POSITIVE that he plans to have several of these, if not an entire fleet, on Mars to d the heavy lifting/tunneling. I thought i read he was trying to make them self-assemble, but probably misunderstood.
Impossible and totally impossible and also stop the dreams there are better things to do lol…… ok mars we can easily develop better construction systems
@@alanmay7929 Impossible? I'll tell you what is impossible, speaking to someone thousands of miles away using a chunk of plastic with bits of silicon, liquid crystal and other bits and pieces.
The long tunnel loop should use a train, but the smaller robot taxied could also share the space for smaller distances within the city, or for ‘personal space’
An underground rail system would be great. But we evidently can not even build a system from DFW to Houston above ground alongside I45. Expected to faster than a flight , basically lift off then land, from a 6 hour drive no traffic. Big issue is that Texans love, love, love their cars and don't mind driving. As fuel prices increase, we need a solution.
This is just an interesting aside. In the early 1990s the US began construction of the Superconducting Super Collider particle acclerator to rival the Large Haydron Collider in Switzerland. The loop was to encircle Waxahatchi,Texas. After 14 miles of tunneling the project was cancelled. >> At Midlothian, just northwest of Wahahatchi, there are several cement mines/production facilities. North of the cement mines is the Whiterock Escarpment. Just west of the escarpment is Grand Prairie, Texas. It's all black prairie south and west from there.
Large Hadron Collider. Not much use in transportation other than atomic sized particles. Waxhatchie made a few bucks out of the deal, and now some of the facility is occupied and generating revenue. Cement mines? You dig cement out of the ground? What is the raw material? Concrete ore? Black prairie? Ever see the land around Greenville, College Station, Waco, even down towards Austin?. Most of the dirt is red. Not unlike certain areas of Georgia, or the Texas/Oklahoma border. Seems there is a river of that color IIRC. Lotsa iron ore and other reasons. Maybe a little - just a little - fact checking might be in order here.
They don't build GREAT tunnels, they build average tunnels. Things we know: 1. Boring Co is currently building tunnels for the same cost as the rest of the tunneling industry is paying. 2. Boring Co is building tunnels at the same speed as the rest of the tunneling industry. 3. Boring Co did not build their boring machine, they have adapted an existing boring machine, manufactured by another company. Which is why item 1 & 2 are true. Why would they be 10x cheaper and faster than other boring companies, if they are just doing the same thing. Be care when reporting from press releases.
Incorrect. The Loop tunnels and more importantly Loop stations are VASTLY cheaper to build than traditional subway tunnels. The current LVCC Loop was a learning exercise for TBC and used the old Godot Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) which was indeed an off-the-shelf boring machine. However, they already have their brand new custom-designed “Pufrock" TBM onsite which has just completed the next two tunnels to Resorts World which once shakedown and debugging is completed promises to be 6x faster than Godot. Unlike Godot used for the LVCC, Prufrock does not need big expensive caverns to be slowly excavated at the start and end of each tunnel into which the TBM was lifted. Prufrock simply digs straight into and out of the ground at an angle, far faster using a “porpoising” technique. Prufrock also simultaneously builds the tunnel walls as it bores unlike traditional TBMs which have to stop for 50% of the time to build the tunnel walls. Also, all the 51 new stations are simple above-ground stations costing about $2m, not like the big expensive underground station in the centre of the LVCC, which are far faster to construct as well as being far cheaper. This is how the Boring Co is able to build the 29 miles of the now under-construction 51 station Vegas Loop at ZERO cost to taxpayers compared to the $8 billion that a similar subway network would cost.
@@andrewfranklin4429 Subways go much faster, hold more people and have space to escape if something happens to the train. You're comparing apples to oranges. The Boring Company tunnels are one car wide and will never be built to a standard to have anything high-speed which was the entire point to begin with. The amount of people still defending Elon's dumb ideas is astounding.
@@christopherpcline on the contrary, subways only average speeds of 17mph because they have to stop and wait at every station on the line while Loop EVs will travel at high speeds averaging 60mph (100km/h) direct to their destinations. Loop EVs have already demonstrated they can do 127mph (205 kph) down the 1.14 mile test tunnel in Hawthorne California. This shows the sorts of speeds possible in a tunnel that is almost 3 times longer than the 0.4 mile spur tunnels connecting each station in the LVCC Loop. With the much longer arterial tunnels of the 34 mile Loop, it will be easy to achieve even higher speeds. Even the current LVCC Loop is significantly faster than a subway. Passengers board the Loop EVs with an average 15 second wait in peak periods and zero wait off-peak according to the LVCVA compared to subways where you have to wait for 3, 5, 10 or even 30 minutes for a train to come in the first place. Then the train has to stop and wait at every station on the line meaning that average of only 17mph as a result. In comparison even the LVCC Loop EVs travel at 40mph (64kph) in this first stage and as I say will hit an average of 60mph with peak speeds up to 150mph once the 34 mile 55 station Loop is finished.
@@christopherpcline in terms of capacity, the Loop already handles 25,000 - 27,000 passengers per hour during medium-size conventions which beats BRT and Light Rail stations and is very competitive with subway stations. 27,000 people per day is: - greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION. - more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines. - more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations. - about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms. - more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily.
I thought these tunnels would be used for the HyperLoop! That would be a great use for them and if not that, then they'd be a great to have for an inter-city subway. I live in San Antonio and I can say that the traffic on I-35 between Austin and San Antonio is awful. Instead of adding more lanes next to the freeway or putting lanes on a bridge above the freeway, why not go UNDER the freeway? It's the only other place you can go and they might as well have a subway or train of some sort there too. That would really help alleviate the congestion on I-35.
Subway? No way they cost more to run than they make! NYC subway only makes enough to pay the ticket agents and cleaning staff. They could save money by making them free and have homeless people clean for rent of heated office space. Lol
I imagine there was a time when a coast to coast highway seemed outrageous and completely unnecessary. The key word here is imagine. And I'm afraid the host of this video has no imagination. Now I would have no right to say that, but without imagination I doubt that you could ever understand the concept of the tunnel. For example, Musk has said they can make tunnels larger. You yourself mention the prospect of moving water. I live in a very dry California and find that an intriguing idea. A slightly larger tunnel would be more efficient at moving freight, either locally, or interstate. The Boring Company lose their unique advantage if they make the tunnels too large. Like the asphalt and concrete highways, the consumers will ultimately decide their best use. Another thing is that the autos being used in Las Vegas -- well, a lot of the other things there too -- are just all part of a prototype system. Yep, Musk certainly is juggling many projects, but then again, that's his gift. You don't shoot Henry Ford for creating the Model T, unless you consider that the ultimate ultimate, the end of the line for wheeled transportation. Henry had vision. Well, I won't go on and on here picking apart the narrative. The main point is that there was a time when people had no imagination regarding cross country highway, or anything else modern. They couldn't imagine how much it would help commerce, opening up a wider world to the population, the movement of emergency supplies in case of national disasters, etc. They couldn't see beyond their rudimentary automobiles, they couldn't imagine a world without horses and wagons, they couldn't imagine safe, high speed automobiles zipping back and forth. They couldn't imagine the number of businesses that would cluster around off-ramps and interchanges. They couldn't envision the large semi trailer trucks that we have today that haul 85,000 lb up and down the highway. In fact, I'm certain that many of the people who advocated for a coast to coast highway also could not imagine the potential. However, they believed in the future, and their commitment has proven to have been worthy.
I live two miles from an underground limestone mine that tunnels miles in the direction of my house. If they have tunneled under my house, do they own under my house? Can I drill into the tunnel? I thought, unless you sold the mineral rights or an easement for utilities, one owned everything under ones property. These issues should be addressed by the state legislatures before anyone tunnels through private property,
A road above or below ground is still a one way transport stream (not big enough for trucks and buses?) A monorail system could be more efficient as it would allow 2 way travel with rails either vertically or horizontaly apart. The version using walk on walk off people carriers is closest to this idea. What is the advantage over the extra cost of putting this under ground??
Is it an extra cost to put a road underground? I'm sure they're considering two tunnels so they would have a two-direction system...just like any freeway would have. Most of the Boring Company tunnels are designed for electric vehicles. That way you don't have an exhaust problem.
A good report, thank you. What you didn't mention was hyperloop. Even though Elon had given up on that for a while as he was busy changing the car industry and rocketry, he seems to be back on the idea. A tunnel from Austin to San Antonio might just be long enough to run a hyperloop (trial).
He gave up on it because he knows it’s absolute bollocks, but enough people believed his hype about something he didn’t invent in the first place and gave him lots of money to do nothing about it with. Everything from Elon is just a cash grab, nothing more.
It would be a lot more practical if he built a metro instead of underground highway. But if Elon decided to build rails instead of something insane, I wouldn’t mind boring digging under the soil.
I live in Austin and know all of the areas discussed in this video. The concept as presented will never work. If we have to wait for an elevator to take us down, be in a small car to fit in the tunnel and wait for an elevator to take us up at the end of the tunnel, then that creates more traffic jams. If you can’t take your own vehicle, then what? How do you get to the tunnel in the first place, how to you go about your business after you exit the tunnel if you don’t have a car you can drive around? This only works if it’s short distances to and from a specific place like the airport. We in Texas like our autonomy and we like our big SUVs and trucks. If we can’t use our own vehicles in the tunnels for a longer distance trip, then what’s the point? I agree with some of the comments about high capacity, high speed rail systems in these tunnels. Either that or have an easier way to enter and exit with our existing vehicles. We need to be able to seamlessly drive in and out of the tunnel without an elevator. They don’t make any sense! And if they end up using high speed rail, make sure there are good transportation systems in place at each stop to make sure there is a rather seamless way to get around at each destination, unlike Austin’s current, barely functioning rail system.
And one additional point since you don't live here, you have absolutely no earthly idea of how bad the traffic is in the areas between Pflugerville and San Antonio. The freeway is just miles and miles of gridlock every single day. This is the main reason for the proposed tunneling is to alleviate some of the horrendous traffic which is growing exponentially now that all companies from California or escaping to move to Texas.
I lover the concept of building down multiple levels, although I feel the technology is totally wasted using it for transport... The reason it down to our culture and modern human habits,,,,, These days our dwellings are mostly used during hours that require artificial light in turn it is also why we spend so much money on heating our homes.... The technology would be better spent building underground dwelling networks offices factories etc etc, by doing so our human habits would change dramatically along with our relationship with our planet.. Artificial lighting is being used more as modern society develops not less which indicates we already have an above and below ground existence, its just that we have build caves with windows on top of the land rather than below and how useful are our windows really? To create such a change would actually build more appreciation for both,, opting to spent as much of the available light hours above ground and as much of the available night hours below ground by using the extra space such a change would create to increase the experience of both,.... luxury below ground homes could be build because of the extra available space increasing our experience of our dwellings ten fold, and in turn the entire surface of our planet would be able to be returned to the paradise it once was increasing our above ground experience ten fold... this would totally change the face of the entire planet whilst our demand of resources would reduce dramatically,,, A true above ground and below ground existence would give humanity and each individual an exponential increase in the quality of our lives experiencing an above ground paradise and a below ground utopia in the most sustainable way possible. .Travel is a great way to enjoy our landscape and scenery why remove that ability when you can enhance it. Be a genius that also has vision not just brains ,,,,,xxx
Everyone should be wary of damaging the Edwards Aquifer, which runs roughly under 13 counties between Austin and San Antonio. Anyone who doesn't know (or bother) to get permits and certificates of occupancy for company barracks is not someone I trust to dig around then preserve the water needed for some cities up to 90% of their drinking water.
The project in Las Vegas is not small. It is very extensive covering from Downtown to the Strip, down the Strip to the Airport with a branch to the Stadium. It also heads South out of town. Double tunnels one in each direction.
Okay, but can we just think about this. The tunnel will just create another issue, it won't solve traffic, it is going to cost way more than building above ground and a miriad of issues, that while not massive, are deffinetly an issue.
The tech has to mature... once Daddy Elon works his magic and makes these Boring machines super efficient as well, then the cost will drop and they will be able to use it for other shit as well. Like metro networks... along with other stuff. Then on Mars, which is Elon's real end goal.
@@dirtydeedsdirtcheep3007 It is to alleviate on street roadways. The boring tunnels will be able to ferry people with driverless vehicles. Of course, when will that come to fruition is anyone's guess.
I'm a native, life-long Texan living in San Antonio most of my life. I actually love Elon Musk and his initiatives. The only real usefulness I could see for the Boring Company to improved the quality of life in San Antonio and the rest of Texas is if they could dig tunnels large enough and long enough to support electric trains of some type that can carry hundreds of people per train, either intra-city (like a subway} or inter-city. Now that would be a huge game changer. Digging small tunnels that would only fit a few Tesla cars is really not going to solve our huge traffic problems as about 4000 new residents move to Texas every week (200,000 per year), year-after-year, and that number appears to be increasing with no end in sight.
A problem that I see is the compact size of the tunnels limiting any kind of serviceability if one of the autos breaks down in the middle of transit. How are they addressing things like towing, roadside service, etc? Also, what do you do with the stack up of cars behind that can't simply go around?
Or medical emergencies. As a former first responder, I've responded to my fair share of roadside emergencies where someone would stroke out, have a heart attack, seizure, or something else while driving. What happens if someone enters the tunnel from Austin to San Antonio, and en route develops a medical emergency where either they need to resurface preemptively, or Fire/EMS needs to get to the patient underground?
I think interest in tunnels for transportation will increase as the Robo Taxi concept takes shape. I think TBC could really do well by leveraging their tech in the areas of installed large diameter water/wastewater lines. Texas is growing and the infrastructure to support that growth is getting stressed and is harder and more expensive to build. As someone in the W/WW industry, I see a lot of potential in leveraging tunnels to overcome a myriad of issues with Right-of-Way and land constructability.
Yeah I agree, no need for Burlington Northern to use imminent domain to steal your land, they can just bore under and not even disturb you. It would be excellent for sewage removal and reclamation. It could be used for mass transit transportation, instead of using railways, and trucks, products can be shipped using underground methods. Imagine I have all of your electrical wiring underground and not on a pole obstructing your views in the cities. There are many uses, underground silos to protect human life, like the Cheyenne mountain in Colorado with one of the largest underground Air Force bases in the world. Many many uses.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg is really saying that San Antonio will avoid paying for the improvements to their transportation system. Ron Nirenberg wants Tesla to take over the role of government, so he can dedicate to ribbon cutting and other parties. Be careful what you wish for Ron Nirenberg.
The best way to solve congestion and pollution problems due to the overuse of personal transport is not the robo taxi but legislation to restrict the use of personal vehicles and the introduction of a highly efficient and affordable public transport network that may include carsharing schemes, bike lanes and cheaper more affordable taxis.
Thanks for the Video. Very interesting insights and information. I like Elon's ideas and I applaud his innovation but single source solutions are very vulnerable to problems. That may not be an issue for some things that he does but, it could be a very big issue for transportation infrastructure that people depend on.
So basically, people saw what they did in Vegas, saw that yeah it is exactly what it is on it's face, and then watched how it repeatedly failed on camera, and went "Yeah, thanks for coming by, you have a nice day.' Add into that the realization of the common sense outcome of digging in the ground, that it would likely effect the ground water and general stability of the land, plus the recent videos of the same cars that will be used for this catching fire and trapping people in them, people are openly against this. Now, it also hits the news that the governor and AG of the state are in the company owner's pocket, and people move into the 'yeah you're going to force this project to happen' phase and are upset. Any part we missed?
A super sonic tunnel could happen if the tunnel was a vacuum, or the air moved with the transport vehicle, kind of like the tubes at the bank drive ups. A 1 hour coast to coast travel would be awesome, I don't know if we'd see it in our lifetime though.
It's so weird seeing my town on this video lol. I go to New Braunfels all the time. And Austin isn't far. Like another commenter said, the San Antonio area has a high water table. It's why we don't have basements here. I can't imagine a tunnel in this area being feasible.
I would bet that if some reporter dug into the history of all the negative haters they would find that if if if a kick back went to ea politician for their reelection campaign they would welcome the tunnels w/ open arms.
Ummm... vith your own vehicle you can go where you want when you want, whether or not your destination is served by other transportation. I'll keep my cars (electric, natch!), thank you very much. I had enough of subways and buses when I was trapped in New York City.
The M1 Metro in Budapest that was constructed in 1896 and about 5 km long (so it is comparable to LVCC loop) serves around 100 000 people a day. I fail to see how moving 25 000 people a day is a success in 2022. Congratulation Elon Musk invented a worse metro.
I think the one thing that Tesla is forgetting about, is the love affair between Car and Driver. I love to drive and I love to drive certain cars. Especially in nice weather I love to drive my 1967 Mercury Comet Capri, or my 1967 Mercury Cougar, or my lil 2020 f150 5.0 blower truck. I'm not choosing a Tesla over those
I can see a huge need to build a Texas Bullet Train Tunnel triangle... from Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Auston, Waco, Dallas.Running both ways!. Imagine catching a train from Houston and be in Dallas in 90 minutes or less. Or from Houston to Austin in an hour.
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P is silent in Pflugerville. You got the pronunciation right!
This is a rude place to put self-promotion. It's not a comment.
This company just took over Texas? Will they shoot the illegals?
Stupid jealous people live to hate smart rich people.
Great info. The video at the that demonstrated cars sitting on “pods” was a great idea without many issues to solve. The idea to engage cars on a track located on a freeway has been around since the 60’s shown in Popular Mechanic’s.
The most important factor to a tunnel in the San Antonio area is the water table. San Antonio sits on a huge aquifer that is basically a cave system with rain water recharging the aquifer. The city guards the purity of that water and they know where all the cave openings are located that recharge the aquifer. In fact the aquifer is around fifty feet below the ground. If a tunnel is misplaced, irreparable damage would be done to San Antonio’s water system.
Why doesn’t the liberal “green” Mayor, protect the city? Is it because he drives a Tesla?
Don’t misplace it
Then go 60 feet down.
Here is a problem therefore we can’t overcome it…. Lol what a way to look at things
Yes, very important to consider ...
No matter where the tunnels go, if they require a toll, please don't let the same company run them that currently run the toll roads in the Austin area. It's ridiculous. I received multiple bills for multiple accounts for tolls on vehicles that I didn't even own.
Lol
Better pay them, if you don't they will take your house.
@@davidbeppler3032 I haven't paid mine in 8 years, havent heard a peep.
I never pay em, jsut drive thru. If everyone refused to pay what are they gonna do ?
@@benc1927 You will find out when the officers evict you.
Underground high-speed rail would make more sense in my opinion. One, it's available to everyone and not just people who own a Tesla, and two, it can traverse ground at a higher speed while carrying more people. It can also accomplish the same goal of reducing traffic, more people travelling by rail means less people travelling by car. And while the Tesla has proved its autonomous capabilities fairly well so far, rail is still much safer in comparison. If onboard systems fail the vehicle won't smash into the wall, it's on a fixed rail (obviously).
One point of order; this isn't for people who own Tesla's. It's a tunnel specifically for cars already down there that you rent. It's effectively a paid tram car for 30 miles, using cars exclusively owned by the company building it. It's a money making scheme to sell Tesla's, since people have stopped buying them in the last few years.
Trains have to be run with signifiant time gaps between trains. Computer controlled cars co-operate to get the job done and can run a continuous stream. People riding them don't drives human error is not an issue. Things can fail, but rail is not perfect by any means.
@@lepidoptera9337 well when you charge 22 thousand for two thousand dollar batteries, witj no alternitive one makes lots of cash.
People are realising Musk is a con. ain't no way i ever buy a car that i cant work on or that can be taken over by the company that sold it to me. No fing way!!
@@davidelliott5843 using individual cars makes no sense still, it’s more complicated than it has to be for absolutely no reason. Each car has its own service intervals and costs associated with it, tires and brakes for example. Each car will also have a certain amount of downtime for charging, cleaning, or servicing, which means needing even more cars to make up for the ones that aren’t in use and making money. Building EV’s is not a clean process either and can lead to even more environmental challenges in the future. High speed trains are not propelled the same way electric cars are, they are propelled by the power lines suspended above the tracks, not lithium ion batteries powering an electric motor. One train would have much less of an impact than the amount of cars it would take to carry the same amount of people. So that being said it makes sense in more than just one area, cost of manufacturing financially and environmentally.
@@davidelliott5843 if cars on a single lane road underground were really better, then 4 lane highways would have better bandwidth than passenger trains on a single rail, but they do not. Also, in places like Tokyo there's a train every couple minutes (literally) during rush hour, so it's not like you're making a huge inconvenience for travelers.
It would be cool to have a high speed rail from DFW to Austin. 6th street would be rocking on weekends with so many potential available customers.
Either that or Deep Ellum, depending on which direction people go.
What would be more interesting is Houston to Dallas with a layover in Austin. That could compete with the business flight route of DFW/IAH or DAL/HOU. It would be faster than driving and probably faster than flying, while being cheaper than both.
Unfortunately, trying to drill tunnels near Houston will end up inadvertently drilling wells...
Hello Glenn Smith! How about a tunnel to San Diego!
UK is building a high speed rail system. It's costing £ Billions and its likely nobody will ride it due to high ticket prices.
What is the purpose? Why travel long distance?
Tickets would probably cost more than a plane ticket.
Autonomous navigation through a tunnel system is about as simple as you can get. The vehicles can be super simple too. Style isn't important. No concerns about side impacts, potholes, or even protection from rollovers. Rails are the best choice. The current system of driving cars through the tunnels seems like a huge waste. One good thing, is that once you have the tunnels in place, they'll likely be there for thousands of years and are a good investment.
That is what I thought when I watch the video. This does not need a robot car, smile dum dum AI to follow the line. It works fine to this.
nothing is simple, when I bought my house in San Antonio they made it clear, I did not own the mineral rights (under ground) also San Antonio has a massive under ground aquifer which was the main source of water for the area, then there is what about escape system and having enough air pumped under ground, nope nothing is simple lastly most of these big companies have great ideas but they always want someone else to pay for it, San Antonio is/was a decentralized city that means there is no reason to go downtown at all (I grew up in San Antonio), A high speed system between the cities would be a good idea (key words being high speed) but TX has plenty of land so it could be built above the highways JMTCW
Rails are a very primitive, limited, and semi permanent algorithm. They are well chosen for mass drivers on well established trunk lines however are not well suited and overly robust for point to point delivery systems. Not impossible however unnecessarily complex and robust for transport of large numbers of small volumes to a large variety of destinations.
@@markharmon4963 Those points pretty match tunnels.
@@markharmon4963 sell the las Vegas tunnel is so small it's not that useable in general. And rail can easily be automated in such a closed tunnel system. Just look at the Copenhagen metro it's had automated line for 10 years or so now.
Tunnels have more uses than vehicle movement. They offer security for pipelines, power cables, vault storage, nuke shelter, etc. In an age of conflict and sabotage, the importance of security is likely to go skyward.
Tunnels bored at t he base of a mountain to the top can create convection air currents (energy) that can be captured with wind turbines installed in the tunnels. Not sure of the cost per kw but it can be done.
I don't think this loser Queen's butt kissing Canadian was looking for suggestions, just spouting his jelousy. LOL
@@goferizer That's how a chimney works, if a heat source makes the 'tube' lighter than ambient. Another program going the other way... deep mines are hot at depth, a spiral tunnel going down 2 miles, then back to surface could send water down to get hot, which at surface again do low-energy tasks like desalination. Pumping energy input is modest with a closed circuit.
I hope they get it together or a least put electric trolleys down there. Or maybe move freight like a train. Other that, it won’t help relieve traffic issues. Just doing normal projects would be good enough.
It's just to bad Elon is 99.8% full of shit.
Did you see his "robot"? What a joke people will believe anything.
normal subway is just way more efficient.... It works very well in Europe.
- I think giving nearly each person a special car is the most silly part. Electric underground trains are just sensible, already exist, and don't even need batteries.
- Transferring from one line to another is really not that bad.
- However, if they can make digging tunnels way cheaper and faster, that would be incredibly useful.
Trains need to make frequent stops, reducing the average speed and are confined to their rails. They can't climb steep grades so need stations so massive they account for most of the construction cost.
1:37. I live in Austin and you said it correctly 👍
One of things that people seem to continually overlook is Musk approach to development. He doesn’t use a traditional approach, which to plan completely from start to finish. He works with concept and iteration. Develop, test, break, fix, iterate and test again. By implementation time most every bug is worked out. And still he iterates. Don’t forget about that process. It maybe an uncomfortable process for we mortals to attempt to use but not him.
Most companies rate their development on meeting deadlines.
@@jwhdesign that only works with already existing concepts and technologies. Elon is usually at the cutting edge, where there is Elon's process, and there is the Blue Origin/Boeing process. I'll take Elon's.
Yes its called AGILE or EXTREME development and comes from his Software background. It is how I develop apps and build startups
@@startupdragons3746 any good books that cover his development approach?
@@jwhdesign anything about Agile, scrum, sprint. And Extreme prototyping.
Lmaoo, as a native Texan, it wasn’t till watching comedians, and meeting folks from the north, till I realized folks unfamiliar with Texas really think we’re all yeehaw, beer can shootin, stay off my land folks 😂. That stuff’s definitely here, but we also are a super diverse state (las Colinas being the most diverse community, nationally) and have great colleges, business hubs, and much more going on. Ttyl gotta go put on my boots and shoot beer cans 🤣.
Las Colinas is not a county. It is a community within the city limits of Irving, TX
Las Colinas County? From what part of Texas are you, Chillicothe? Jesus.
@@The_DuMont_Network Dallas.. I misspoke, chill out
@@madlad1. I'm quite chilled, comfortable and content. There is so much misinformation and FUDI especially when dealing with things Tesla and EV, sometimes it is cathartic to point it out.
@@The_DuMont_Network fair, although my comment wasn’t regarding EV’s at all, the “Jesus” felt mildly aggressive, and I don’t equate aggressiveness with being chill
As long as they are not using public money and not contaminating the underground water and not destroying the environment, why should anyone - mayor or plumber - be upset !!
Sure, keep a watch on what they are doing and have honest public officials oversee their activities, but as an Elon company, one can be sure they have their values straight and their heart in the right place !
Agreed! Can't say the same about all the workings and effects of fracking in parts of Texas. Also traffic continues to get worse in this area it's should be about planning for the future.
And that's exactly what they're doing
First they have to get through the solid rock surface, I know this area, they should not let anyone tunnel here there is the huge Edwards aquifer under Austin. Musk is in for a surprise…lol. I think this is more Musk hype, there is so much musk hype these days he is even selling a man in a robot suit as an actual humanoid robot.
Literally all of musk's businesses subsist on public money, does that mean it's a non-starter?
@@obijuan3004 Now days, without hype, you'll not get beyond first base.
If only we had vehicles that ran in tunnels, could carry an enormous amount of people, be powered remotely, and run on a consistent schedule making public transportation much more efficient!
Good thing California has shown the rest of the world just how effective wasting 3 trillion on a train that doesn’t go anywhere can be!!!
I was involved with public transportation projects some years ago. What I learned is that you have to visibly go past commuters (perhaps, in traffic) at an obviously greater velocity to get them out of their cars and into public transit. Further, you have to provide means of concentration and distribution at each station. From your report, this has none of those attributes,
Present your thoughts to Elon, ... win a job with a great company ...
"Don't let the best be the enemy of good enough."
Waiting for perfection is the reason Europe and Asia have modern ground transportation systems while the United States has not even seriously started. Yes, it will take several years for the system to be implemented and it will not be perfect. Failure to start means it will never happen.
No, that's not the reason. The culture is different, the places are much much more spread out, and we're not as interested in mass transportation or adding to our taxes, to begin with.
Both Asia and Europe emphasize good rail infastructure and mass transit. It's very easy to get around most of Europe or Asia without a car. These boring projects are more expensive and less efficient than a bus lane...
No, the reason is that America has a conservative, individualistic bent which is against the concept of public transportation, and social good projects in general (because they help "those" people)
@@jcen1918 WOW, that didn't take long for ad hominem tactics to be applied. ”Because they help those people”, really? What a racist or classist comment that is never the real reason for the opposition.
But yes, other parts of your part are an explanation of the comment. Being individualistic is what has made this country so gloriously unlike the places folks who settled here were escaping.
@@IronBand4 In St Louis, the metrolink has been opposed by suburban folks because it would disproportionately help the minority city dwellers. It's a pretty well established dynamic in fight after fight over public transportation expansions across the country.
I find the concept very interesting ...and you gotta start somewhere ... so why not some proof of concept tunnels in perfect conditions ... full fledged versions in harder soils can come later...makes great sense to me
Meanwhile China has a national network of working high speed trains that are cheaper and more efficient but let’s try this failed idea that’s worse than a subway system. Makes sense to this guy…
Basically they’ve invented a tunnel.
With no emergency exits.
Well done.
On the contrary, the stations themselves are closer than the emergency exits on a subway which are spaced 750m apart. Subways are actually far more dangerous considering evacuating 1,000 panicking people from a crashed or disabled or burning subway train is far more difficult and dangerous than getting the couple of occupants to jump into the next EV in the tunnel.
The NYC subway kills 70 people per year, only half of which are suicides with 2% being people murdered by being pushed off a platform in front of a train and the rest being accidents.
The London Underground kills 50 people annually and has 4,000 serious injuries every year.
exactly. useless on every level except making Musk money...
Actually, they’ve invented a tunnel that moves more people through the turnstiles than most of the subway station platform-pairs in Europe at a cost 100x lower than those subways.
There will be about 8 Loop stations for every subway station per mile through the busier parts of Vegas, yet even just the three current LVCC Loop stations moved 25,000 - 27,000 passengers per day during SEMA in November which beats BRT and Light Rail stations and is very competitive with subway stations.
27,000 people per day is:
- greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION.
- more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines.
- more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations.
- about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms.
- more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily.
And that is ignoring the fact that most of the subway figures above were from pre-pandemic times. Now, most subways are running at half of those capacities so the performance of the pandemic-affected Loop is even more impressive.
All the things you’ve quoted actually exist.
Most things Musk promises do not.
Over promise. Under deliver.
Good fanboy work though.
@@selbalamir hi Selbalamir, you do realise the 3 station, LVCC Loop does actually exist? And the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported earlier this year that:
“The Boring Company’s tunnel system successfully moved 25,000 to 27,000 passengers daily around the Las Vegas Convention Center campus during SEMA in November. SEMA was the Convention Center and the LVCC Loop’s first full-facility show with 114,000 attendees.”
What exactly are you referring to when say what I’ve said doesn’t exist?
Ground water is a funny thing and a seemingly innocent unrelated act could cause someone's well to go dry. Making tunnels has to be able to protect the environment and drinking water everywhere they go. It is time do learn that from the start.
Can't believe they would build without a permit. Isn't that the first step a construction company have to do as a habit? Just because you in the middle of your nowhere, it is in the middle of someone's community also.
Pflugerville is booming. It's not some sleepy little burg like it was 25 years ago. The entire Austin-San Antonio region of 5 million+ is booming with population and business growth. A measly little tunnel between to the two metros ain't gonna cut it. I think the robo-taxis are a better idea. Faster and more flexible means of transportation.
@@richardcogbill6791 "robo taxis" that's laughable. U ever search up tesla auto drive errors? Shit is so far off still, just more of Tony starks nonsense. Dude is a massive charlatan, biggest I've seen.
Most of Texas is "non-permitted" area. It's only around metropolitan areas that government infestation has taken place. If you really like government infestation, try California or the USA north east. Stay away from Texas. We like it just fine the way it was...before Austin became contaminated by government.
Because they are building underground, they don't need the permits. They need mineral rights! There is much more to gain from going underground then there is for going above ground, such as the transportation of oil on the rail system. What happens to all those barrels of oil being transported by a train if the train gets derailed? Underground would be much safer, as it would be far away from your drinking water, a fire could be quickly and easily extinguished by closing off the tunnel and suffocating the fire. You should really think things through before you start commenting in an area you're unprepared for in a state you have no reason to question. You must realize these tunnels are very deep. They go under mountains and valleys, and they have far more benefits than not.
@@AudieCollinsSoftHeartPC I have seen a newly drilled well dry up a spring well that supplied it's owners for over 100 years. You do not know where the under ground water is flowing and the fear of it getting contaminated or rerouted is legitimate. I am sure they can work around the water issue.
What they need to do is partner with ERCOT to get all electric under ground. That saves a ton of money in vegetation management and storm related outages.
As a Texan I can tell you right now that the boring company is needed. It may not be useful in a city like San Antonio but I live in Dallas and the traffic is ridiculous. You can spend 2 hours moving at 5mph just to drive 10 miles simply because of congestion on the roads. Idc how slow those tunnels would be, any type of movement is better than what we have now. And I think Dallas is the perfect place to implement because of how wide the city and roads are designed. Cities in Texas like Dallas or Houston have no subway system and people literally only use cars so a secondary underground road system would be so useful and efficient in taking down the number of cars on the highways
Wow. There is no other way to get around any city except the freeways? Nuts. When I lived in LA, I stayed off the freeways, used the side streets (laid out in X-Y, easy to navigate), and had no issues. Here in the Dallas area I avoid Stemmons Freeway and 635 like the plague, and can make it from the house to the office downtown in half the time. OK, so there are a few stoplights. Most are speed timed, and if you get in sync, you just breeze along.
one day these tunnels could be used for something productive
Tesla has been testing model 3s in the Las Vegas tunnels with a version of FSD. I would say, that is the beginning of a transportation vehicle that transfers people autonomously. The problem is that Elan thinks in 4 to 5 years while people live in 1 to 2. I'm sure having an "Elon" translator would help everyone get on board with his ideas for the future. He is creating all the parts of a whole seperately. Give him time and he will put them together. We just need a realistic timeline
His Boring Company work is hampered by his desire to only build TBMs that could fit in a rocket to Mars. The resulting narrow tunnel bores are useless for digging vehicular tunnels.
Hi, now that FSD beta has come to Canada, get a friend or subscriber in your area to take you on the highway section with no complications with FSD engaged. Certainly in a complex city street environment like Vancouver or Toronto, FSD is not fully ready. But I suspect that it is good to go in a Boring tunnel environment where visibility is going to be constant 24/7. GM and Ford autonomous systems could probably also handle the tunnels. The only limitation would be the size of vehicle, and they would need to be electric with advanced driver assistance software.
Elon made a tweet this week about no weather in the tunnels and took a lot of flack from the hate mob that were quick to pounce with comments of "Stupid Elon, haven't you heard of flooding?" I am sure he has, but in the context of weather that limits visibility, he has a point. He may be crypticaly hinting in his inimitable style that FSD is indeed ready to handle simple environments where visibility challenges from weather are not an issue. In which case the throughput could start climbing in the tunnels
You mean...a subway?
@@emiliajojo5703 more efficient . It will transport more people and cost millions of dollars less.
@@kof4737 nope.
Thank you for actually reporting the negatives along with the positives that come with any technology or company. Too many Tesla fanboy CZcamsrs that just shout about all the amazing things Elon will do without pointing out the huge costs/problems involved. Tesla & Elon fanboys are just as annoying as haters.
If there are high costs and problems it is just that Elon hasn't gotten around to sorting those bits out yet. He has a good track record when it comes to things like that.
He made up negatives too.
Tesla FSD can already travel down the boring tunnels in Vegas at 60+mph without a driver. It just ain't legal.
@@davidbeppler3032 And as usual you provide zero evidence! Your one of the worst Elon fan boys!
@@gregandkaruna6674 if you don't believe him that's your problem, you do the research to disprove his comment
@@davefarmery8180 Are you insane 60mph in a tunnel that has almost no clearance, yet on wide open roads a Tesla cannot even stay in it's own lane at city speeds! Those Tesla's would be ping ponging off the walls! There has been zero video of even a test Tesla driving though the tunnels! Under controlled conditions with the tunnel closed off to the public they could easily do that demo showing how well it would drive at 60mph! But nope zero video of anything!
Why do you keep talking about Austin and San Antonio, but keep showing pictures of the desert that is hundreds of miles west of there?
Even the snowflakes are bigger in Texas
Glad to see you covering the Boring Company. CZcams doesn't have much well done stuff on the subject.
Useless company with dumb projects lol….
The tunnels are great if we put light rail or trains in them, you can move massive amounts of people, a San Antonio - Austin commuter line is sorely needed. Making small tunnels just for individual cars makes no sense.
A line of vehicles like cars/taxi/uber atonomisly driving together is a train no other expensive things like iron track or electronic cables or anything other than exit points and tunnels and the land above is free from road in food farming areas so makes know sense seems a stretch and there is a lot of Chinese and other electric vehicles U can buy and conversion kits for other cars that are getting cheeper the more they make Alibaba look it Up
I've been saying this for ages. Using rail, even for smaller shuttles, greatly simplifies things. Now all you need is a simple vehicle that only needs to go forward and possibly reverse. You no longer need autopilot, steering, tires, batteries/charging, etc., just switches in the rail line. It should also be able to move faster. We've had an electric rail system that goes through tunnels in my area (BART) for over 50 years.
This is the dumbest comment i've seen in a while.
@@aaronwilliams1249 Exactly.
@@Bennie32831 You're right that a group of cars connected to each other is like a train. It's just far less useful than a real train which can take far more people more efficiently. If the tunnel is permanent, then go ahead and add tracks and stations and you have a much better system than individual cars, even connected together. This video is a good explanation: czcams.com/video/R6RaoGHZC3A/video.html
Investigation should be spent on Traffic Control and the systems we have in place today.
To lesson traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, drive times and improve fuel economy, we need an updated traffic control system throughout America (if not the world).
We are stuck in the dark ages with timed signal lights. Millions of vehicles are needlessly stopped, for no opposing traffic, totaling hours a day. A network of signals could be programmed to adjust to traffic needs and allow the greatest number of travelers to reach their distention's most efficiently. It is silly and detrimental to stop at every intersection for no reason.
Only a few modern upgrades to the signal lights would render great benefits. With modern technology, I believe sensors, controllers and programming being used on Tesla cars/ Starlink/ SpaceX (or the like) could be implemented in the system to make it exponentially more efficient and even safer.
If a car can drive itself, why can't the same tech direct them as well?
the problem is cars in general, public transport is such an incredibly effective system yet constantly overlooked and seen as the poor mans option
Also, probably the use of modern roundabouts (no longer red lights where you have to stop even if there's no opposing traffic, instead you can slow down and yield to traffic and stop if necessary and wait for an opening, and you're your own judge - not a system somewhere else telling you what to do) might immensely help in many small to medium intersections
@@bugaboo9442
Get over yourself already. Not every country needs to build itself around public transport. Americans have decided that they prefer private transport so we should focus on ways to improve it.
@@MrNote-lz7lh cool, here's a great way to improve it, stop making cars and make more busses. America is a sh*t hole and its your kind of mentality that makes it that way, among other things.
Another use for underground tunnels, Utility Maintenance Access Tunnels, have all the gas, water, sewage, communications, electric, any and all utilities running through these UMAT. Less chance of extreme weather interrupting power or comms. Easier for crews to upgrade and maintain. And why not run a bullet train next to the utility tunnels?
You know they actually did figure out what to put into tunnels a 100 years ago …
A rail line
Shock & Awe! 🤣🤣
A Full scale network will be in Texas by end of 2030 and will make Texas feel similar to the size of Maryland when driving
Yeah right, people who idolize musk are so delusional. So in 9 years you believe he'll build enough tunnels with no environmental problems to cut down travel by x10ish. Sure thing. I gotta beach house in Oklahoma to sell ya too
You pronounced Pflugerville correctly I know I live here. I can see the water tower from my bed room window lol
People, please DO NOT believe this guy ^ he's actually from Nova Scotia
@@jonnies haha first are you suggesting that people from Nova Scotia can’t know how to pronounce this word correctly? Second why would I lie about how to pronounce the name of a city? Lol
@@jorgeluis1361 hahaa dude im just messin :P
@@jonnies I was hoping you were. Lol
The idea of this is super. The details of how it's mechanically out together is what needs to be the convincer of any safety issue.
Well I am from Waxahachie Texas and all I know is the last time someone came and dug a huge tunnel in Texas they abandoned the project halfway through when the funding was cut off. But then it was too late, they had already moved people off their land that had been there for generations. Now who knows what they’re storing in that tunnel and they built monstrosity urban suburbs where generations of farmers lived. Progress just for the sake of progress is not always good!
I remember that project. It was actually some particle accelerator looking for some quarks or something. One was actually built in Switzerland.
@@oldhardrock2542 It was called the super conductor supercollider. I live 3 miles from the building that we’re supposed to be all laboratories. It’s ugly as hell and as I already stated they just wrecked land and moved everybody who had been there for generations!
@@johnnyp628 that was an unfortunate government boondoggle. I have friends who sold everything, packed and moved only to have their jobs end.
I guess these transportation tunnels being proposed could be similar. Although without the need to expropriate land over the tunnels.
I can't imagine how long it would take after seeing how long it has taken to "upgrade" the I-35 between New Braunfels and San Marcos.
I have lived in Austin for 18 years and just moved to San Antonio. The population and infrastructure here needs these tunnels with a hyperloop system desperately. I sure hope they are able to pull this off quickly without destroying the watershed. 🙏
They needs a proper public transport system with trams, bus….. no tousands different individual useless cars lol….
I think the mayor has an political ideological reason for not wanting any of Musk's business in "his" city. Its sad, but thats the latest in political ideological puritanism.
Dude we don't need a fucking tunnel. We need another highway besides 35. We need bullet trains From Dallas to San Antonio. Digging a tunnel makes 0 sense. I live in corpus and Austin.
Tunnels for individual cars will do less than nothing to help Austin. You're talking about a system that is inferior to subway trains by literal orders of magnitude.
@@MindForgedManacle I hate when elon says order of magnitude. Really 10 100 1000 times better. Dude just says these words to get the idiots interested and amazed. I know you didn't meant it how he does , or maybe your did don't know, but it's worthless when musk says it
Nice feature, actually interesting enough to see to the end. Keep doing that. You are to be excused, being a Canuck, eh, I was too, eh, now an American, eh, not knowing that Yosemite Sam is a Californian, eh, not from Texas, eh! BTW never mess with Texas!! You know, he, Sam, was from near Yosemite, in California, therefore he's a cartoon character conceived as a cantankerous old guy from back in the day when many of these folks in the American west had "nick names", like "Sun Dance Kid", "Doc Holliday", "Wild Bill Hickok", "Buffalo Bill", etc. Get it? :D
I like the idea of the tunnels and anything for auto-transport; they remind me of "Logan's Run", one of my fave sci fi movies, with people movers. But not a fan of the dome city, or the death by thirty theme though; I'd be dead more than twice over by now. Really nifty idea for Mars though, can't wait to see it, or have granddaughters learn of it, more likely. Cheers, eh? :D
They should build tunnel network dedicated for goods deliveries to remove delivery vans and trucks from entering the city and with fast mass transit network and encouraging converting more streets into walkable spaces they will easily solve the heavy traffic issues
Well done. Great info here.
The fact that the tunnels aren't big enough for a standard shipping container makes them a huge waste of time, effort, and money IMO. The same goes for "hyper loop" systems. People are not the only thing that needs to move from A to B and we already have a standard size for shipping containers. This is a massive swing and a miss. They are trying to monetize R and D which isn't bad but definitely comes across as a solution in search of a problem to fix.
change the container size
Shipping could continue as it already is. Why would it *have* to go through a tunnel? Why would we even want it to?
Can't FSD be used to navigate the tunnels in a regular Tesla? All the car has to do is stay between some lines. If FSD works, it should be accident-free even in a tunnel, and at any speed. I don't get what the problem is. Heck, even the regular Autopilot should be able to cope with that.
Right? There’s way less variables in the tunnel the auto pilot doesn’t need to account for
I've heard that the close tunnel walls generated false positives for traffic. But it does seem to be an easily solvable problem. The real issue I think is safely navigating the stations. And the really real issue is getting the authorities to allow them to operate autonomous vehicles with passengers.
Problem could be how would FSD handle on boarding passengers or know where to park when waiting for passengers etc. FSD can't handle parking lots or interact with people directly.
I watch the expansion of high speed rail connecting China, Laos, Thailand, etc. Very cool to travel from one place to the other far more quickly than current possibilities; plus the movement of raw products and materials to market or factories. Tunnels seems a good way to address the decade long building time line of above ground level to a more reasonable completion date.
Almost all high speed rail loses money. The TGV from Paris to Nice France in one of the few exceptions.
Nice channel, even as an Elon fan I like to see measured reporting of both sides of the argument which is what you have done here, subscribed.
Nicely balanced video. However, I would point out that the current non-robotaxi LVCC Loop is extremely successful moving 25,000 - 27,000 people per day during large conventions like SEMA in November so robotaxis are actually NOT needed to make these Boring Co tunnels very successful.
27,000 passengers per day is:
- greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION.
- more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines.
- more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations.
- about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms.
- more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily.
Great info. Andrew - thank you.
The M1 Metro in Budapest that was constructed in 1896 and about 5 km long (so it is comparable to LVCC loop) serves around 100 000 people a day. I fail to see how moving 25 000 people a day is a success in 2022.
@@adam-k the M1 Metro has lower ridership per station or per length than the Loop, vastly longer wait times, is far more expensive and a significantly slower average speed once the Loop’s long arterial tunnels are completed.
The 2.73 mile long, 11 station, M1 Metro is:
- 4x the length of the LVCC,
- has 3.7x the number of stations as the Loop and
- with a ridership of 80,000 (pre-pandemic) the M1 has around 3x the ridership of the pandemic-affected Loop. Most public transport systems around the world have seen ridership halve as a result of COVID, so the ridership now is probably closer to 1.5x that of the Loop now.
- with a travel time of 11 minutes end to end, it has an average speed of 15mph due to having to stop at every station. With an average travel time of less than two minutes, the LVCC works out as a similar average speed over its short 0.8 mile length, but once scaled up to the 29 mile, 51 station Vegas Loop will average 60mph or 4x the speed of the M1 across the city thanks to not having to stop at every station like a train.
- with a frequency of 2 minutes (peak) and 10 minutes (off-peak), passengers have to wait 20x as long for each train as the 6 second headway LVCC Loop during peak periods. Off-peak Loop EVs have zero wait times as they are just sitting there at the station ready to leave immediately.
- construction cost of the latest M4 in Budapest came in at US$326m per mile or 5x the cost of the LVCC Loop.
Are you sure you want to highlight the M1 in a comparison with the Loop?
Better comparisons would be with subway systems with the same number of stations as the Loop:
The Berlin U55 is a 3-station 1.5km subway in the centre of Berlin which is similar in size to the LVCC Loop but it only carries a minuscule 6,200 people per day (compared to the Loop’s 27,000 ppd) at an average speed of 19mph and yet cost half a billion in today’s dollars in total or $327 million per mile, 6.7x the cost of the LVCC Loop.
The Seattle U-Link is a 3.15-mile underground light rail which also has three stations which had a ridership of 33,900 people per day pre-covid (so only a few thousand more than the LVCC Loop), though it is much less now. Runs at an average speed of 31mph. It cost $1.9 billion dollars in total or $600 million per mile, 12x more than the LVCC Loop.
As you can see, the LVCC Loop is very competitive ridership-wise and much better in terms of comfort and speed/wait times, and VASTLY cheaper to build than any of these subway systems. (Particularly once the 51 station, 29 mile Loop is completed at ZERO cost to the taxpayer).
@@andrewfranklin4429 The M1 Metro serves more stations that is a benefit not a problem. It was built 120 years ago and still using 1970s technology. Yet it still able to carry more people than the LVCC.
Adding more stations to the Loop will slow it down even more. Because traffic. Accidents, malfunctions, terrorist attacks will happen. Then the whole system stopped is because there is zero redundancy built into the system. Try to evacuate that whole if there is a battery fire orr two.
The Berlin U55 has low demand so trains only run every 10 minutes and don't run at night.. That is not a capacity issue. That is a demand issue. They stopped the construction so it doesn't serve the area it was designed to.
@@adam-k So you don’t see anything wrong with the fact that a train system with:
- 3.7x more stations (11 stations),
- over 4x the distance,
- with 20-100x longer waiting times,
- costing 20x as much in today’s dollars
…only delivers around 3x pre-pandemic (probably 1.5x now) the numbers of passengers per day as the pandemic-affected Loop?
The M1 jolly well better carry more passengers than the LVCC Loop since it is 4x bigger, but the fact that it only manages between 1.5x - 3x the number of passengers of the Loop, 20-100x slower for 20x the number of dollars isn’t something I’d be boasting about.
So no comment on the 3 station Seattle U-Link which is a far better and MORE HONEST COMPARISON, that carried around the same number of passengers pre-covid, but 2x - 5x less people now with 20x - 100x longer wait times that is 12x more expensive than the Loop?
For the same amount of money, you could build 12x the number of Loops as the Seattle U-Link or 20x as many Loops as the Budapest U-Link and carry VASTLY more people, far faster, in much greater comfort and better COVID safety.
They need a train in those tunnels, individual pods are going to get mucked up and not go fast enough to be considered an improvement.
Well done, covered all the facts.
San Antonio is boondoggle Central, adding another big project of Tesla scale a compliment to the junkyards and relics boneyard.
A battery fire inside a tunnel would be catastrophic. I also wonder how emergency services enter and exit the tunnels.
They don't
I think in such circumstances people get bbq'd
I think it's very interesting the covered wagon pioneers that integrated East with West in the early days of the USA traveled at the rate of 5 to 7 miles a day. 😘
Thank you, that is a very interesting comparison.
The Pfluger family did not think that their name was “unfortunate”, just saying….. Vernon Pfluger was a pretty nice guy actually. I knew him through Boy Scouting.
I think you are a bit misled about that “traffic jam”. Have a look at this footage of this infamous “traffic jam” that occurred once at CES:
czcams.com/video/UBZye8pW4vw/video.html
Notice how the EVs just slowed down briefly because the South Hall doors were locked for some reason?
Now, can you show me any other videos of this sort of incident ever happening again? Particularly during the much larger SEMA conference which had 114,00 attendees and had 25,000-27,000 Loop passengers per day vs CES which only had 40,000 attendees who rode the Loop 15,000-17,000 times per day?
Now compare this short 40 second slow down against a train where passengers literally have to queue up standing on the platform and wait for 3, 5, 10 or even 30 minutes waiting for the next train.
And then those poor train passengers have to put up with the train STOPPING AND WAITING AT EVERY SINGLE STATION before they get to their destination.
Now which would you prefer?
Are all Canadians just like Trudeau? Then why would Texans with 54 of the Fortune 500 companies (next highest is NY with 51) be like Yosemite Sam?
It's the unthinking greed-driven image you guys export to other countries. ie. trample your granny for a dollar bill. You've only got yourselves to blame. Yeah, a lot of us think like Trudeau and a lot of us don't want to set foot in your hellhole, thank you. You're not expected to understand it.
I live in Texas and I love it. But I also love innovation. Innovation is the only thing that is going to save our future. Can you imagine not having highways, or air conditioning or automobiles or airplanes, etc? Well, the each was a scourge when it was proposed. There are reasonable limits. Just working out those limits without limiting yourself to no-change is the challenge. Take a long breath and think of all the things you like and enjoy and realize the transition that had to occur for that to happen.
Good stuff, seems well researched
They need rails, and small trains like roller coasters. Otherwise, it will always be limited by speed and by how few passengers it can transport.
So just an underground metro?
I think the issue is tunnel size. Boring company is so fast and cheap because they only build a small tunnel with minimal services associated. That means whatever runs though it has to be completely independent and small - like a car. No room for rails, catenary or metro size carriages. The alternative is to create a "mini-metro" rail system that you have to crouch to stand up in. There are probably more rules about metros that make that impossible.
@@imac1957 I think there's potential to use something like a roller coaster train. Shorter than a car and designed to carry a bus load of people at speed. Loading and unloading zones can be dug a bit taller, and all passengers must remain seated by design.
Boring company should partner with companies that design roller coasters/coaster trains
@@AlexFoster2291 Maybe, but that would need to be built to suit. Boring company strategy is to just build big enough for existing Tesla cars to drive through. The drawings of the Tesla transporter would suggest a bigger vehicle could be used, but developing a train would take time, cost money, and then require tracks (which also would need maintenance). I like your idea, but I don't think it will happen.
The Loop EVs have already reached 127mph (205kph) in the company’s longer 1.14 mile test tunnel in Hawthorne California with CZcams clips from 2 years ago showing it in action.
How much faster than that do you want?
Nice video, but it avoided telling anything about the design.
Nothing was stated about escape in the case of an emergency.
If the Robo-taxi broke down, and caused a traffic jam, then people cannot be left there for long periods of time.
I did not see any air movement equipment, nor emergency walkways.
The American Code applicable is NFPA 130, which details explicitly how to resolve such scenarios.
Looking simply at this video, (I presume it is a BC production), I would have many questions, having worked on Underground systems for some 35 years and seen the changes in Code requirements over that time.
I believe and support Underground transportation systems that when properly carried out, are better than gridlocked streets, in sweltering conditions above ground.
You are right on the money with the Pronunciation.
Very well done.
The detailed science and politics are superb.
Wouldn't an above ground high speed rail system between DFW, Houston, Austin, via San Antonio be a better idea and a lot more practical than digging a tunnel.
Too much government interference and paperwork. Not filling the political pockets.
Even a shallow tunnel would work. Just having the ability to tunnel through hills would be immensely beneficial.
Don't confuse people with facts..
@@BirdsTheWurd Texas did try back in the 90's to build a high speed rail system in what is considered the Teas Triangle, DFW, Houston, San Antonio. It was to be privately funded. Contracts were awarded to a consortium. Then all the legal wrangling started happening. The big boys,
Southwest Airlines, with the help of lobbyists, created legal barriers to prohibit the consortium from moving forward and the entire project was eventually scuttled in 1994, when the State of Texas withdrew the franchise.[73] Several hotel chains like Days Inn, Best Western, and La Quinta Inn, as well as fast food establishments like McDonald's and Burger King lobbied against the plan,[73] primarily because many of their locations were along Interstates and in several highway-dependent rural towns. So as usual, "not in my backyard".
Would you be willing to sell your ranch/farm land that has been in your family for generations? Many Texans are not willing to do so. We’ve already been saddled with that awful whooshing sound those idiot windmills make.
I would like to see highspeed rail in Texas . I think the geography of Texas and the way people move around would make it financially viable.
Texas is a perfect place for inovation.. they are growing expodentially,
💥 BOOM
best use would be a hyperloop between DFW & Austin/San Antonio.
Good video. Mayor Ron Nirenberg is very good. The tunnel in San Antonio is a good idea but as you mention is not practical without the robo taxi.
I wonder if he is looking at making these tunnelers capable of being in small chunks and assembled at site so that maybe 10 or so Starships can transport them to Mars/Moon to do base prep for when people get around to going.
I love your comment .... it is so pertinent with the Elon Musk way of dealing with 'Reducing the cost by assembly line'.
It's all part of the master plan. You are right on track with what you're thinking. 👍
I am 100% POSITIVE that he plans to have several of these, if not an entire fleet, on Mars to d the heavy lifting/tunneling. I thought i read he was trying to make them self-assemble, but probably misunderstood.
Impossible and totally impossible and also stop the dreams there are better things to do lol…… ok mars we can easily develop better construction systems
@@alanmay7929 Impossible? I'll tell you what is impossible, speaking to someone thousands of miles away using a chunk of plastic with bits of silicon, liquid crystal and other bits and pieces.
The long tunnel loop should use a train, but the smaller robot taxied could also share the space for smaller distances within the city, or for ‘personal space’
An underground rail system would be great. But we evidently can not even build a system from DFW to Houston above ground alongside I45. Expected to faster than a flight , basically lift off then land, from a 6 hour drive no traffic. Big issue is that Texans love, love, love their cars and don't mind driving. As fuel prices increase, we need a solution.
This is just an interesting aside. In the early 1990s the US began construction of the Superconducting Super Collider particle acclerator to rival the Large Haydron Collider in Switzerland. The loop was to encircle Waxahatchi,Texas. After 14 miles of tunneling the project was cancelled. >> At Midlothian, just northwest of Wahahatchi, there are several cement mines/production facilities. North of the cement mines is the Whiterock Escarpment. Just west of the escarpment is Grand Prairie, Texas. It's all black prairie south and west from there.
Large Hadron Collider. Not much use in transportation other than atomic sized particles.
Waxhatchie made a few bucks out of the deal, and now some of the facility is occupied and generating revenue.
Cement mines? You dig cement out of the ground? What is the raw material? Concrete ore?
Black prairie? Ever see the land around Greenville, College Station, Waco, even down towards Austin?. Most of the dirt is red. Not unlike certain areas of Georgia, or the Texas/Oklahoma border. Seems there is a river of that color IIRC. Lotsa iron ore and other reasons.
Maybe a little - just a little - fact checking might be in order here.
They don't build GREAT tunnels, they build average tunnels. Things we know: 1. Boring Co is currently building tunnels for the same cost as the rest of the tunneling industry is paying. 2. Boring Co is building tunnels at the same speed as the rest of the tunneling industry. 3. Boring Co did not build their boring machine, they have adapted an existing boring machine, manufactured by another company. Which is why item 1 & 2 are true. Why would they be 10x cheaper and faster than other boring companies, if they are just doing the same thing. Be care when reporting from press releases.
But the Boring Company is using "rocket technology" so it must be better. /s
Incorrect. The Loop tunnels and more importantly Loop stations are VASTLY cheaper to build than traditional subway tunnels.
The current LVCC Loop was a learning exercise for TBC and used the old Godot Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) which was indeed an off-the-shelf boring machine.
However, they already have their brand new custom-designed “Pufrock" TBM onsite which has just completed the next two tunnels to Resorts World which once shakedown and debugging is completed promises to be 6x faster than Godot.
Unlike Godot used for the LVCC, Prufrock does not need big expensive caverns to be slowly excavated at the start and end of each tunnel into which the TBM was lifted. Prufrock simply digs straight into and out of the ground at an angle, far faster using a “porpoising” technique.
Prufrock also simultaneously builds the tunnel walls as it bores unlike traditional TBMs which have to stop for 50% of the time to build the tunnel walls.
Also, all the 51 new stations are simple above-ground stations costing about $2m, not like the big expensive underground station in the centre of the LVCC, which are far faster to construct as well as being far cheaper.
This is how the Boring Co is able to build the 29 miles of the now under-construction 51 station Vegas Loop at ZERO cost to taxpayers compared to the $8 billion that a similar subway network would cost.
@@andrewfranklin4429 Subways go much faster, hold more people and have space to escape if something happens to the train. You're comparing apples to oranges. The Boring Company tunnels are one car wide and will never be built to a standard to have anything high-speed which was the entire point to begin with. The amount of people still defending Elon's dumb ideas is astounding.
@@christopherpcline on the contrary, subways only average speeds of 17mph because they have to stop and wait at every station on the line while Loop EVs will travel at high speeds averaging 60mph (100km/h) direct to their destinations.
Loop EVs have already demonstrated they can do 127mph (205 kph) down the 1.14 mile test tunnel in Hawthorne California.
This shows the sorts of speeds possible in a tunnel that is almost 3 times longer than the 0.4 mile spur tunnels connecting each station in the LVCC Loop. With the much longer arterial tunnels of the 34 mile Loop, it will be easy to achieve even higher speeds.
Even the current LVCC Loop is significantly faster than a subway. Passengers board the Loop EVs with an average 15 second wait in peak periods and zero wait off-peak according to the LVCVA compared to subways where you have to wait for 3, 5, 10 or even 30 minutes for a train to come in the first place. Then the train has to stop and wait at every station on the line meaning that average of only 17mph as a result.
In comparison even the LVCC Loop EVs travel at 40mph (64kph) in this first stage and as I say will hit an average of 60mph with peak speeds up to 150mph once the 34 mile 55 station Loop is finished.
@@christopherpcline in terms of capacity, the Loop already handles 25,000 - 27,000 passengers per hour during medium-size conventions which beats BRT and Light Rail stations and is very competitive with subway stations.
27,000 people per day is:
- greater than the number of passengers that 65% of the stations on the London Underground individually handle daily which with 1.8 million passengers per day across 272 stations averages only 6,617 passengers per day PER STATION.
- more than the 24,858 passengers per day per line pre-pandemic average of Kings Cross station, the busiest station on the Tube which pre-pandemic had 149,150 entries per day across 6 lines.
- more than the average of 13,684 people PER STATION per day of the entire Paris Metro which had a pre-pandemic ridership of 4.16 million per day over 304 stations.
- about 70% the 38,888 people per day per platform pair average of the busiest station on the Paris Metro, the Gare Du Nord which pre-pandemic handled 700,000 people per day across 36 platforms.
- more than the 14,000 passengers per day per line average of the Stuttgart Main Station S-Bahn which pre-pandemic saw 140,000 passengers across 10 lines through the turnstiles daily.
I thought these tunnels would be used for the HyperLoop! That would be a great use for them and if not that, then they'd be a great to have for an inter-city subway. I live in San Antonio and I can say that the traffic on I-35 between Austin and San Antonio is awful. Instead of adding more lanes next to the freeway or putting lanes on a bridge above the freeway, why not go UNDER the freeway? It's the only other place you can go and they might as well have a subway or train of some sort there too. That would really help alleviate the congestion on I-35.
Subway? No way they cost more to run than they make! NYC subway only makes enough to pay the ticket agents and cleaning staff. They could save money by making them free and have homeless people clean for rent of heated office space. Lol
the special feature is called ''taxes''
Great video
I imagine there was a time when a coast to coast highway seemed outrageous and completely unnecessary. The key word here is imagine. And I'm afraid the host of this video has no imagination. Now I would have no right to say that, but without imagination I doubt that you could ever understand the concept of the tunnel.
For example, Musk has said they can make tunnels larger. You yourself mention the prospect of moving water. I live in a very dry California and find that an intriguing idea. A slightly larger tunnel would be more efficient at moving freight, either locally, or interstate.
The Boring Company lose their unique advantage if they make the tunnels too large. Like the asphalt and concrete highways, the consumers will ultimately decide their best use.
Another thing is that the autos being used in Las Vegas -- well, a lot of the other things there too -- are just all part of a prototype system.
Yep, Musk certainly is juggling many projects, but then again, that's his gift. You don't shoot Henry Ford for creating the Model T, unless you consider that the ultimate ultimate, the end of the line for wheeled transportation. Henry had vision.
Well, I won't go on and on here picking apart the narrative. The main point is that there was a time when people had no imagination regarding cross country highway, or anything else modern.
They couldn't imagine how much it would help commerce, opening up a wider world to the population, the movement of emergency supplies in case of national disasters, etc.
They couldn't see beyond their rudimentary automobiles, they couldn't imagine a world without horses and wagons, they couldn't imagine safe, high speed automobiles zipping back and forth.
They couldn't imagine the number of businesses that would cluster around off-ramps and interchanges. They couldn't envision the large semi trailer trucks that we have today that haul 85,000 lb up and down the highway. In fact, I'm certain that many of the people who advocated for a coast to coast highway also could not imagine the potential. However, they believed in the future, and their commitment has proven to have been worthy.
Windy but interesting.
Yes, yes, and yes ..
I live two miles from an underground limestone mine that tunnels miles in the direction of my house. If they have tunneled under my house, do they own under my house? Can I drill into the tunnel? I thought, unless you sold the mineral rights or an easement for utilities, one owned everything under ones property. These issues should be addressed by the state legislatures before anyone tunnels through private property,
Interesting concept. You can own he air rights and the mineral/oil/gas rights. Seems you shuld have some say over what can be done under your feet.
Tuesday within rubes. Light pipe. Hm. 7nderground solar collecter cylindrical solar panel with internal growing systems.
Thanks.
A road above or below ground is still a one way transport stream (not big enough for trucks and buses?) A monorail system could be more efficient as it would allow 2 way travel with rails either vertically or horizontaly apart. The version using walk on walk off people carriers is closest to this idea. What is the advantage over the extra cost of putting this under ground??
Is it an extra cost to put a road underground? I'm sure they're considering two tunnels so they would have a two-direction system...just like any freeway would have. Most of the Boring Company tunnels are designed for electric vehicles. That way you don't have an exhaust problem.
@@TexanUSMC8089 Don't forget that tunnel traffic does not slow in bad weather.
Don't know about the rest but the Las Vegas loop is bidirectional.
.
A good report, thank you. What you didn't mention was hyperloop. Even though Elon had given up on that for a while as he was busy changing the car industry and rocketry, he seems to be back on the idea. A tunnel from Austin to San Antonio might just be long enough to run a hyperloop (trial).
you really drank the koolaid
He gave up on it because he knows it’s absolute bollocks, but enough people believed his hype about something he didn’t invent in the first place and gave him lots of money to do nothing about it with. Everything from Elon is just a cash grab, nothing more.
It would be a lot more practical if he built a metro instead of underground highway. But if Elon decided to build rails instead of something insane, I wouldn’t mind boring digging under the soil.
@@paulfun8720
Says the mindless hater stuck in denial.
I live in Austin and know all of the areas discussed in this video. The concept as presented will never work. If we have to wait for an elevator to take us down, be in a small car to fit in the tunnel and wait for an elevator to take us up at the end of the tunnel, then that creates more traffic jams. If you can’t take your own vehicle, then what? How do you get to the tunnel in the first place, how to you go about your business after you exit the tunnel if you don’t have a car you can drive around? This only works if it’s short distances to and from a specific place like the airport. We in Texas like our autonomy and we like our big SUVs and trucks. If we can’t use our own vehicles in the tunnels for a longer distance trip, then what’s the point? I agree with some of the comments about high capacity, high speed rail systems in these tunnels. Either that or have an easier way to enter and exit with our existing vehicles. We need to be able to seamlessly drive in and out of the tunnel without an elevator. They don’t make any sense! And if they end up using high speed rail, make sure there are good transportation systems in place at each stop to make sure there is a rather seamless way to get around at each destination, unlike Austin’s current, barely functioning rail system.
And one additional point since you don't live here, you have absolutely no earthly idea of how bad the traffic is in the areas between Pflugerville and San Antonio. The freeway is just miles and miles of gridlock every single day. This is the main reason for the proposed tunneling is to alleviate some of the horrendous traffic which is growing exponentially now that all companies from California or escaping to move to Texas.
I lover the concept of building down multiple levels, although I feel the technology is totally wasted using it for transport... The reason it down to our culture and modern human habits,,,,, These days our dwellings are mostly used during hours that require artificial light in turn it is also why we spend so much money on heating our homes....
The technology would be better spent building underground dwelling networks offices factories etc etc, by doing so our human habits would change dramatically along with our relationship with our planet.. Artificial lighting is being used more as modern society develops not less which indicates we already have an above and below ground existence, its just that we have build caves with windows on top of the land rather than below and how useful are our windows really?
To create such a change would actually build more appreciation for both,, opting to spent as much of the available light hours above ground and as much of the available night hours below ground by using the extra space such a change would create to increase the experience of both,.... luxury below ground homes could be build because of the extra available space increasing our experience of our dwellings ten fold, and in turn the entire surface of our planet would be able to be returned to the paradise it once was increasing our above ground experience ten fold... this would totally change the face of the entire planet whilst our demand of resources would reduce dramatically,,,
A true above ground and below ground existence would give humanity and each individual an exponential increase in the quality of our lives experiencing an above ground paradise and a below ground utopia in the most sustainable way possible. .Travel is a great way to enjoy our landscape and scenery why remove that ability when you can enhance it. Be a genius that also has vision not just brains ,,,,,xxx
A bunch of very good points you have !
Everyone should be wary of damaging the Edwards Aquifer, which runs roughly under 13 counties between Austin and San Antonio. Anyone who doesn't know (or bother) to get permits and certificates of occupancy for company barracks is not someone I trust to dig around then preserve the water needed for some cities up to 90% of their drinking water.
You nailed the city names.
The project in Las Vegas is not small. It is very extensive covering from Downtown to the Strip, down the Strip to the Airport with a branch to the Stadium. It also heads South out of town. Double tunnels one in each direction.
Okay, but can we just think about this. The tunnel will just create another issue, it won't solve traffic, it is going to cost way more than building above ground and a miriad of issues, that while not massive, are deffinetly an issue.
The tech has to mature... once Daddy Elon works his magic and makes these Boring machines super efficient as well, then the cost will drop and they will be able to use it for other shit as well. Like metro networks... along with other stuff. Then on Mars, which is Elon's real end goal.
The idea is to replace the traditional tunneling by making it much cheaper and easier to built.
@@nguyep4 yes, but what about the tunnel that's supposed to solve traffic
Will it cost way more to build underground, or are you assuming?
@@dirtydeedsdirtcheep3007 It is to alleviate on street roadways. The boring tunnels will be able to ferry people with driverless vehicles. Of course, when will that come to fruition is anyone's guess.
I'm a native, life-long Texan living in San Antonio most of my life. I actually love Elon Musk and his initiatives. The only real usefulness I could see for the Boring Company to improved the quality of life in San Antonio and the rest of Texas is if they could dig tunnels large enough and long enough to support electric trains of some type that can carry hundreds of people per train, either intra-city (like a subway} or inter-city. Now that would be a huge game changer. Digging small tunnels that would only fit a few Tesla cars is really not going to solve our huge traffic problems as about 4000 new residents move to Texas every week (200,000 per year), year-after-year, and that number appears to be increasing with no end in sight.
How about a bullet train from San Antonio to Dallas. Tunnel makes no sense
A problem that I see is the compact size of the tunnels limiting any kind of serviceability if one of the autos breaks down in the middle of transit. How are they addressing things like towing, roadside service, etc? Also, what do you do with the stack up of cars behind that can't simply go around?
Or medical emergencies. As a former first responder, I've responded to my fair share of roadside emergencies where someone would stroke out, have a heart attack, seizure, or something else while driving. What happens if someone enters the tunnel from Austin to San Antonio, and en route develops a medical emergency where either they need to resurface preemptively, or Fire/EMS needs to get to the patient underground?
I live between Kyle and Austin near I35. Having a tunnel system from Austin to SA would help but there is a LOT of traffic on 35 between cities.
I think interest in tunnels for transportation will increase as the Robo Taxi concept takes shape. I think TBC could really do well by leveraging their tech in the areas of installed large diameter water/wastewater lines. Texas is growing and the infrastructure to support that growth is getting stressed and is harder and more expensive to build. As someone in the W/WW industry, I see a lot of potential in leveraging tunnels to overcome a myriad of issues with Right-of-Way and land constructability.
Yeah I agree, no need for Burlington Northern to use imminent domain to steal your land, they can just bore under and not even disturb you. It would be excellent for sewage removal and reclamation. It could be used for mass transit transportation, instead of using railways, and trucks, products can be shipped using underground methods. Imagine I have all of your electrical wiring underground and not on a pole obstructing your views in the cities. There are many uses, underground silos to protect human life, like the Cheyenne mountain in Colorado with one of the largest underground Air Force bases in the world. Many many uses.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg is really saying that San Antonio will avoid paying for the improvements to their transportation system. Ron Nirenberg wants Tesla to take over the role of government, so he can dedicate to ribbon cutting and other parties. Be careful what you wish for Ron Nirenberg.
The best way to solve congestion and pollution problems due to the overuse of personal transport is not the robo taxi but legislation to restrict the use of personal vehicles and the introduction of a highly efficient and affordable public transport network that may include carsharing schemes, bike lanes and cheaper more affordable taxis.
Thanks for the Video. Very interesting insights and information.
I like Elon's ideas and I applaud his innovation but single source solutions are very vulnerable to problems. That may not be an issue for some things that he does but, it could be a very big issue for transportation infrastructure that people depend on.
So basically, people saw what they did in Vegas, saw that yeah it is exactly what it is on it's face, and then watched how it repeatedly failed on camera, and went "Yeah, thanks for coming by, you have a nice day.' Add into that the realization of the common sense outcome of digging in the ground, that it would likely effect the ground water and general stability of the land, plus the recent videos of the same cars that will be used for this catching fire and trapping people in them, people are openly against this. Now, it also hits the news that the governor and AG of the state are in the company owner's pocket, and people move into the 'yeah you're going to force this project to happen' phase and are upset.
Any part we missed?
A super sonic tunnel could happen if the tunnel was a vacuum, or the air moved with the transport vehicle, kind of like the tubes at the bank drive ups. A 1 hour coast to coast travel would be awesome, I don't know if we'd see it in our lifetime though.
Interesting but I don't know how comfortable I'd be doing around Mach 5 underground. 🤐
It's so weird seeing my town on this video lol. I go to New Braunfels all the time. And Austin isn't far. Like another commenter said, the San Antonio area has a high water table. It's why we don't have basements here. I can't imagine a tunnel in this area being feasible.
I would bet that if some reporter dug into the history of all the negative haters they would find that if if if a kick back went to ea politician for their reelection campaign they would welcome the tunnels w/ open arms.
I think using your own car in the tunnels is the best part of them. You get to keep your own stuff in your car and travel faster
Tunnels for rich people wiv Tesla's.?
@@gavinmcinally8442 by the time there's tunnels for public to drive in electric cars will be most new car sales
@@gavinmcinally8442 even if you don't have an electric car you'll benefit from the tunnels because they'll reduce above ground traffic
@@BKrandy0 you should watch " thunderfoot " or "adam somthing"s channels on the subject. They can explain it better than me.
@@gavinmcinally8442 which video?
I never thought my city, pflugerville, would get shout out. Also it's the p that is silent and you said it right
The original idea of a skate for passenger cars in conjunction with Robo-taxi is still a good one.
Rails instead of roads, powerlines instead of batteries. (I guess you could modifiy some teslas for that). just don't see the point in using cars.
Ummm... vith your own vehicle you can go where you want when you want, whether or not your destination is served by other transportation. I'll keep my cars (electric, natch!), thank you very much. I had enough of subways and buses when I was trapped in New York City.
Good Topic. Great Coverage. thanks for #ChapAmbrose link..
The M1 Metro in Budapest that was constructed in 1896 and about 5 km long (so it is comparable to LVCC loop) serves around 100 000 people a day. I fail to see how moving 25 000 people a day is a success in 2022.
Congratulation Elon Musk invented a worse metro.
I think the one thing that Tesla is forgetting about, is the love affair between Car and Driver. I love to drive and I love to drive certain cars. Especially in nice weather I love to drive my 1967 Mercury Comet Capri, or my 1967 Mercury Cougar, or my lil 2020 f150 5.0 blower truck. I'm not choosing a Tesla over those
I can see a huge need to build a Texas Bullet Train Tunnel triangle... from Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Auston, Waco, Dallas.Running both ways!.
Imagine catching a train from Houston and be in Dallas in 90 minutes or less.
Or from Houston to Austin in an hour.