Worldwide the number of passenger cars and commercial cars has been increasing over the past years(Statista). This resulted in increasing traffic congestion within and between cities all around the world. Many possible solutions to stop or decrease this problem have been proposed, found, and tried, but few have succeeded. Now, Elon Musk seems to have the solution: a 3D network of tunnels. To realise this idea, Musk started his next company in December 2016: The Boring Company.
The idea behind the Boring Company is relatively simple: to solve the problem of traffic congestion, roads must go 3D. As mentioned on their website, there are two ways to make this happen, either go up, or go down. The benefits of going down include: having no limit for the number of layers of tunnels, being weatherproof, tunnel construction being silent and invisible, and having no division of communities. (Company Website) Once those tunnels are constructed, cars will go through it with a speed of 200 km/hour, according to Musk. The tunnels will use electric platforms, called skates, to transport the cars (See video). To prove and test this technology, Musk has already dug a tunnel below his SpaceX factory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5V_VzRrSBI
Could you imagine being transported with 200 km/hour? You could travel from the north of the Netherlands all the way south in only 1,5 hours. Not only can you travel fast, you also avoid all traffic. This technology would certainly change many people’s life. However, currently there are several challenges that face the Boring Company. First, tunnels are expensive to dig. A solution to decrease the cost of digging is to reduce the size of the tunnel and increase the speed of the boring machine. This is the major goal of the Boring Company. Nevertheless, this does not seem the only problem faced by the company. At present, the company does not own permits to dig under city property. Another challenge would be the entrances of the tunnels and the capacity they have. To realize the idea of a 3D network, the Boring Company has to overcome these and many more challenges.
One thing’s for sure, a 3D network of tunnels would change the way transportation operates today dramatically. However, the question remains whether this idea is feasible and viable in the future.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/
https://www.boringcompany.com/
http://www.popsci.com/elon-musk-boring-company-traffic-trouble
Would be quite cool if this would be possible. In a number of cities this would probably be too much of a challenge, however its likely that upcoming cities that are not yet as populated could open up to this layered tunnel system. China for example is trying to build a new city, Xiongan, which would be three times the size of New York. Its possible that in a number of years this could be an option to decrease congestion.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/04/china-plans-build-new-city-nearly-three-times-the-size-of-new-york