Out of the blue, tech billionaire Elon Musk reported today that he’s received verbal approval from the government to build an underground Hyperloop transit system between New York and Washington, D.C., with stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
“NY-DC in 29 mins,” Musk said in a tweet:
Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
But it’s clear that the plan isn’t fully nailed down. When one reporter asked whether Musk was trying to drum up support for the project rather than reporting a done deal, he replied, “Support would be much appreciated!” Later, he acknowledged that he hasn’t yet received the formal go-ahead for anything:
Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
The White House acknowledged that it’s been involved with discussions about Musk’s plan.
“We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector,” the White House said in a background statement emailed to GeekWire.
Musk’s tunneling operation, whimsically called the Boring Company, said there have been “a number of promising conversations” with local and state officials as well as federal officials.
“With a few exceptions, feedback has been very positive and we have received verbal support from key government decision-makers for tunneling plans, including a Hyperloop route from New York to Washington, D.C.,” the Boring Company said in a statement emailed to GeekWire. “We look forward to future conversations with the cities and states along this route and we expect to secure the formal approvals necessary to break ground later this year.”
Have officials actually started looking into specific routes, or delving into the technological and regulatory hurdles that’d have to be overcome? Many of the agencies that should be in the know seemed to be in the dark today:
I just talked to the New York MTA about this. Press aide is so flabbergasted that they’re asking me to spell Elon Musk’s name for them. https://t.co/mLWb4Abfb8
— Nathan Bomey (@NathanBomey) July 20, 2017
Musk said the first tunnel would actually be built under Los Angeles to get around surface traffic congestion, and that the next Hyperloops would probably run from L.A. to San Francisco and between cities in Texas:
Can Texas haz hyper loop too? Dallas – Houston – San Antonio – Austin (a girl can dream…)
— rebecca (@curiousworlds) July 20, 2017
For sure. First set of tunnels are to alleviate greater LA urban congestion. Will start NY-DC in parallel. Then prob LA-SF and a TX loop.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
The reference to the L.A. Hyperloop is yet another hint that the plan for a new breed of underground transit system isn’t fully baked. Musk has started an experimental tunneling project under a parking lot next to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., but hasn’t yet gotten approval from local authorities to go any farther than that.
The concept that’s taking shape blends two of Musk’s passions that have been considered secondary to his day jobs as the CEO of the SpaceX rocket venture and the Tesla venture for electric cars, batteries and solar panels.
One of those passions is the Hyperloop, a network of tubes that could carry passengers and cargo at near-supersonic speeds. Musk came up with the concept in 2013 but has left the job of commercializing it to others.
The other passion is tunneling: Frustrated by L.A. traffic, Musk set up the Boring Company late last year to look into more efficient methods to dig tunnels. That’s the venture behind the SpaceX tunnel experiment, and behind the bigger initiative that Musk announced today.
Musk’s tweets suggest that he sees the Boring Company as a Hyperloop play, which means Musk is now in the Hyperloop business, alongside competitors who are building off his original open-source idea.
When President Donald Trump came into office, Musk became an industry adviser on several White House councils, including a panel organized by the newly formed Office of American Innovation under the leadership of Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.
Musk quit the White House councils in frustration when Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accords. Nevertheless, some have speculated that the “verbal government approval” for a Hyperloop project may have come from someone on Kushner’s team.
For what it’s worth, Musk was in Washington this week to speak to the International Space Station Research and Development Conference. It’s natural to suppose Musk had other meetings with policymakers during his D.C. trip. And it’s also natural to suppose that Musk now has a new campaign to add to a list that also includes putting Earth on a course toward sustainable energy and making humanity a multiplanet species.
If you want this to happen fast, please let your local & federal elected representatives know. Makes a big difference if they hear from you.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
I live in Chicago though. How can i help?
— Erik (@ejohnson99) July 20, 2017
City of Chicago already approached us about doing a high speed tunnel from O’Hare to downtown. They’ve been great.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Any chance you could step in and replace the HS2 folly in the UK too?
— Mario Miniaci (@mariom) July 20, 2017
An underground Hyperloop would mean no disruption above ground and be way faster, so I think it is he right way to go
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
This report has been updated as of 2:10 p.m. PT July 20 with comments from the White House and the Boring Company, plus more tweets from Elon Musk.
