US: Elon Musk company submits proposal for tunnel project worth up to $220 million

Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has submitted a proposal for Miami's 6.2-mile (9.98km) tunnel project.

Known as the North Miami Beach Loop project, it aims to ferry Tesla vehicles between seven stations, according to a report by Business Insider.

According to the proposal, the tunnel is capable of carrying more than 7,500 passengers per hour. Adding more levels could take this number up to 15,000. The estimated cost of the project lies between $185 million and $220 million.

According to a report from Bloomberg Quint, Musk’s company has held talks with several South Florida governments since early 2021 as the region tries to improve traffic to lure high-paying jobs. It was also the only company to respond to North Miami Beach's request for information.

"We have a lot of traffic congestion and this would be a way of alleviating a great deal of that traffic," North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph said in an interview with Business Insider.

He also explained that the cost for the project was justified too, for it was only "a fraction of what is seen in other types of mass transit projects proposed in South Florida, while the construction would not be as disruptive to the local economy."

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The purpose of The Boring Company, as stated by Musk and on its website, is to create safe, fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility, and freight tunnels to solve traffic and transform cities.

The North Miami Beach Loop is not the first of The Boring Company's tunnel projects. As per the company website, the company is currently working on a 29-mile (46.6km) tunnel project— the Vegas Loop— expected to have more than 50 stations across Las Vegas.

• Americas