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For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

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Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#11

Post by sandworm101 »

FLGMwt wrote: post #3

This is terrible. $25 for 12 minutes from one place in the loop to O'Hare CTA is $2.50 for 37 minutes (the $5 is if you start from O'Hare) This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. $1bn or whatever absurd cost it comes out to be is much better spent on improving transit for the actual public. Or you know, to stop shutting down schools. EDIT: typo

I was intrigued to learn that Musk wanted to build what is essentially a new take on the subway, but after reading this article am totally against the proposal. This is looking far more like an option for rich people to get away from the poors. Short of private helicopters, this is one of the few cities where the public transit option is faster than taking a limo. Musk wants to correct that imbalance by creating a faster option for those who can afford it.

Cities should not support such things. I'm not saying that it shouldn't happen, just that the project shouldn't be given any special treatment, indemnification, or tax breaks. And what do we think will happen to the public option when all the influential people start using the premium service?

Notice also that none of the people in the renderings has any luggage. They aren't even wearing coats. To which magical airport are they headed?

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#12

Post by matt4077 »

FLGMwt wrote: post #3

This is terrible. $25 for 12 minutes from one place in the loop to O'Hare CTA is $2.50 for 37 minutes (the $5 is if you start from O'Hare) This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. $1bn or whatever absurd cost it comes out to be is much better spent on improving transit for the actual public. Or you know, to stop shutting down schools. EDIT: typo

Not to interfere with your cynicism, but the important information here is that Boring Co. is funding the construction itself. It's not public money being spent, and schools would be unlikely to receive any extra funding without this project.

And, of course, this project is far more important as a real-world proof-of-concept for the technology than it is for its expected use for travelers. Reducing tunnel costs by 95%(!) would quite obviously result in dramatic quality-of-life improvements.

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#13

Post by bonestamp2 »

> In Toronto, where the subway system doesn’t reach the international airport, a brand-new airport express line has fallen seriously short of ridership expectations, even with its one-way fare of $12.35

The reason this is failing is because of awareness. I travel to Toronto for work 4-5 times every year (for the past 12 years). I heard about this extension being approved a couple years ago and I've never seen a sign for it in Pearson (there must be some somewhere). I've also asked people who live in Toronto whatever happened to this project and nobody even knows what I'm talking about.

Meanwhile, I learn from this article that it's actually up and running and they not only consider it a failure but they're using it to say other transit systems won't work. A Musk built project won't fail on awareness like this project has.

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#14

Post by [deleted] »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #10
igravious wrote: post #5

I followed the Chicago Tribune link because I wanted to read the article that provided this quote, “can build tunnels at least 14 times faster than previous efforts, which a company official acknowledged the company must still prove,” … and I got this! http://www.tronc.com/gdpr/chicagotribune.com/ "Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committe…

They probably need to track people to make the advertising revenue they're counting on and they probably can't do that and serve Europe under GDPR regulations.

[deleted]

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#15

Post by ma2rten »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #8
FLGMwt wrote: post #3

This is terrible. $25 for 12 minutes from one place in the loop to O'Hare CTA is $2.50 for 37 minutes (the $5 is if you start from O'Hare) This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. $1bn or whatever absurd cost it comes out to be is much better spent on improving transit for the actual public. Or you know, to stop shutting down schools. EDIT: typo

> This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. This is not true for everyone though. Business travelers take cabs between the loop and o'hare. So, $25 is actually faster and cheaper -- so it's a great use of their money! Even if it was more expensive than a cab, most business travelers would happily spend a little more of someone else's (company) money to get there faster.

It would also benefit everyone else because there would be less congestion.

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#16

Post by ocdtrekkie »

igravious wrote: post #5

I followed the Chicago Tribune link because I wanted to read the article that provided this quote, “can build tunnels at least 14 times faster than previous efforts, which a company official acknowledged the company must still prove,” … and I got this! http://www.tronc.com/gdpr/chicagotribune.com/ "Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committe…

You could make a comment complaining about GDPR, or you could just go here to read the article (without the privacy-invading bloat JS) here: http://archive.is/0ZmZ0

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#17

Post by neaden »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #8
FLGMwt wrote: post #3

This is terrible. $25 for 12 minutes from one place in the loop to O'Hare CTA is $2.50 for 37 minutes (the $5 is if you start from O'Hare) This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. $1bn or whatever absurd cost it comes out to be is much better spent on improving transit for the actual public. Or you know, to stop shutting down schools. EDIT: typo

> This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. This is not true for everyone though. Business travelers take cabs between the loop and o'hare. So, $25 is actually faster and cheaper -- so it's a great use of their money! Even if it was more expensive than a cab, most business travelers would happily spend a little more of someone else's (company) money to get there faster.

Cabs get you right to the address you want to go though. This will still have the last mile problem.

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#18

Post by koverda »

sandworm101 wrote: post #11
FLGMwt wrote: post #3

This is terrible. $25 for 12 minutes from one place in the loop to O'Hare CTA is $2.50 for 37 minutes (the $5 is if you start from O'Hare) This is only benefitting people for whom 25 minutes is worth $20/$22.50. $1bn or whatever absurd cost it comes out to be is much better spent on improving transit for the actual public. Or you know, to stop shutting down schools. EDIT: typo

I was intrigued to learn that Musk wanted to build what is essentially a new take on the subway, but after reading this article am totally against the proposal. This is looking far more like an option for rich people to get away from the poors. Short of private helicopters, this is one of the few cities where the public transit option is faster than taking a limo. Musk wants to correct that imbalance by creating a fa…

I strongly disagree with you.

If this project manages to reduce the cost per mile of building public transportation, the public as a whole will benefit greatly in the years to come. I'm not rich and I would love there to be many more subway lines built out in our cities.

It's the Tesla Roadster of public transit: an expensive proving ground for a technology with a mass-market demand. I'd rather the government give breaks to something with at least a sliver of hope of helping the common person - rather than tax cuts to wealthy, etc.

Re: For $1B, Elon Musk’s Tunnel to O’Hare Would Be a Miracle

#19

Post by powvans »

beat wrote: post #9

I wonder about vulnerability to terrorism here? How easily could a sufficient bomb disable the entire system for weeks or months? I started thinking this way while standing in line to go through security at JFK. There were about a thousand people milling about, and we hadn't gone through any sort of substantial security yet. And I was thinking that a bomb there could kill more people than taking out an airplane. Yay…

Terrorism is just as much, if not more, about theater than the security that protects against it. Airplanes have been targeted specifically because of the spectacular nature of such an event.
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