Even less predictable than how long a baseball game will last is how long it will take to drive to and from it through L.A. traffic.
On Wednesday, Elon Musk’s Boring Company proposed an underground tunnel between Dodger Stadium and the Los Angeles metro system. A one-way trip would take less than four minutes and cost around $1, the company promised.
Driverless electric vehicles would shuttle around 1,400 sports fans through the tunnel to and from events, rather than operate on a regular basis. Dodgers Stadium hosts 81 scheduled games a year, not counting playoffs and other events.
Construction would be privately funded. The Boring Company, which is one of the Tesla and SpaceX chief’s other projects, already has a test tunnel in nearby Hawthorne and has won a bid for an underground shuttle service between O’Hare Airport and downtown Chicago.
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is tucked between a park and a freeway, and the surrounding area suffers from traffic jams during events. The Boring Company estimates its so-called Dugout Loop could carry around 250,000 passengers a year.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told Wired that the idea is “a great example of public-private partnership.”
Now the project must clear public hearings and the city council. The City of Los Angeles is hosting a public scoping meeting to discuss the proposal on August 28th, and the public comment period ends September 17th. Los Angeles is also considering a competing project to carry Dodgers fans in an aerial gondola.
