Elon Musk offers free rides through L.A. transit tunnel
Underground vehicles expected to reach speeds of 200 km/h
Elon Musk says he plans to offer the public free rides through a tunnel he bored under a Los Angeles suburb to test a new type of transportation system.
The 3.2-kilometre tunnel is designed for electric sleds which move at speeds of up to 200 km/h over magnetic rails; technology akin to his more ambitious but undeveloped hyperloop system.
In a series of tweets Sunday, Musk said the tunnel is almost complete and he plans to open it on the evening of Dec. 10, with free rides for the public the next day.
The tunnel, dug by Musk's The Boring Co. runs underneath the Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters of SpaceX, another of his companies.
The vehicles will theoretically transport eight to 16 passengers.
The Boring Co. has been selected to build a rapid transit link between downtown Chicago and its O'Hare International Airport.
It also has ambitions to build a second tunnel in L.A. between Los Feliz or East Hollywood and Dodgers stadium. Musk hopes to eventually build an underground hyperloop system with even faster speeds to link New York and Washington, D.C.
With files from The Associated Press
With files from the Associated Press