Question of the Day - 12 October 2020

It’s happening because it’s affordable. Musk was able to build a loop under the Convention Center for $55 million. The cost and speed with which Musk was able to construct his light-rail line inspired Wynn Resorts and Resorts World Las Vegas to apply for — and receive — permits to build spur lines linking with the Convention Center, a sizable marketing incentive for convention-related business once they’re finished (and conventions start up again). Seeing how quickly Musk was able to achieve his goal at the Convention Center has revived interest in the idea of a mini-subway line running at least from Allegiant Stadium to The Strat, possibly even farther north.

Musk says he can bore at $10 million a mile — far cheaper than what it cost to erect the Las Vegas Monorail. Pre-existing Tesla Model X and Model 3 automobiles can be locked into a track that carries them along the “loop,” a term Musk prefers to “light rail” or “subway.” Anyone who has sat in gridlock on the Las Vegas Strip, especially on a broiling summer afternoon, will be quick to see the appeal of Musk’s alternative.

We don’t exactly know what turns Musk on about tunnels, but the first time he mentioned it was in 2012 when he started discussing transportation on Mars. 

Musk has had his sights on underground travel for a long time. He first mentioned the hyperloop concept – where specially-designed pods travel super-fast in tunnels with the help of vacuums – as far back as 2012, with plans to build a connection between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The development of the hyperloop idea is underway, with competitions between universities to create the fastest pod. One day, he hopes to build hyperloops on Mars…

He also has plans for several hyperloops on earth: in addition to the California connection, there is one between New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC; and another in Texas. There’s interest outside the US too. But, although Musk’s tweets sometimes seem to suggest that such projects are imminent, in reality they take years in planning and permitting, even with Musk’s formidable momentum behind them.

While hyperloop technology and project planning are still on the drawing board, Musk has already begun his exploration of the underground, through a slower version of hyperloop - called Loop. 

Years ago he bought a used boring machine from Canada and began digging a tunnel under his Hawthorne, California, corporate headquarters. That initial venture didn’t go exactly according to plan, whether in time of completion — 14 months rather than four — or in speed of transit (40 miles per hour instead of the advertised 155). But it went well enough to generate the interest that got Musk his Vegas gig. The ensuing Encore and Resorts World lines will dig to tunnel depth from surface stations expected to be no bigger than two parking spaces.

Which is not to say that Musk thinks small. Las Vegas is just the starting point for a nationwide set of loops, to be augmented eventually by ‘hyperloops’ covering vast distances. For instance, Musk is seeking federal approval for a hyperloop connecting Washington, D.C., with New York City. As far back as 2012, Musk was dreaming of a hyperloop that would whisk passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles, as “specially designed pods travel super-fast in tunnels with the help of vacuums.” Given the difficulties encountered by high-speed and light rail in the Golden State, we’re not surprised that the SF-to-L.A. hyperloop has gone hyper nowhere.

However, Musk has other California irons in the fire, such as the Dugout Loop from downtown City of Angels to Dodger Stadium (another place beset by vehicular gridlock, as anyone leaving a Dodger game can attest). Other Musk loops would connect L.A. with Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario International Airport, as well as one from O’Hare International Airport in Illinois to downtown Chicago. The Second City will badly need the latter if it seriously hopes to lure a multi-billion-dollar casino downtown, along with the gamblers to make it successful. Nothing says “Let’s gamble in the suburbs instead” like rush-hour traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

For now, all eyes are on Las Vegas. If Musk can make it here (and it looks like he can), he can make it anywhere.