The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure,
tunnel construction services, and equipment company founded by
Elon Musk. TBC was founded as a subsidiary of
SpaceX in 2017, and was
spun off as a separate corporation in 2018. TBC has completed one tunneling project that is open to the public, as well as multiple test tunnels.
In 2018, TBC completed
one tunnel for testing in
Los Angeles County,
California. In 2021, TBC completed the
Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC)
Loop, which is a three-station transportation system consisting of 1.7 miles (2.7 km) of tunnels. As of July 2023, a segment to
Resorts World is also open, and tunnels to
Encore and
Westgate resorts are being finalized. The system is planned to expand to a total of 68 miles (109 km) of tunnels in Las Vegas.
Many other TBC projects in cities across the United States have been announced, but subsequently were canceled or became inactive due to a lack of activity from the company.[4]
History
Musk announced the idea of the Boring Company in December 2016,[5] and it was officially registered as "TBC – The Boring Company" on January 11, 2017.[6] Musk cited difficulty with Los Angeles traffic, and what he sees as limitations of its two-dimensional transportation network, as his early inspiration for the project.[7][8] The Boring Company was formed as a SpaceX
subsidiary.[9] According to Musk, the company's goal is to enhance tunneling speed enough such that establishing a
tunnel network is financially feasible.[10][11]
In early 2018, the Boring Company was
spun out from SpaceX and into a separate
corporate entity.[12] Somewhat less than 10% of
equity was given to early employees, and over 90% to Elon Musk. Early employees came from a variety of different backgrounds, including those from SpaceX.
The company began designing its own
tunnel boring machines, and completed several tests in
Hawthorne, California. The Hawthorne test tunnel opened to the public on December 18, 2018.[13]
In July 2019, the Boring Company sold US$120 million in stock to venture capital firms,[14] after raising $113 million in non-outside capital during 2018.[15] By November 2019, Steve Davis had become company president after leading efforts for Musk since 2016. Davis was one of the earliest hires at SpaceX (in 2003) and has twin master's degrees in particle physics and aerospace engineering.[16]
In November 2020, TBC announced hiring for positions in Austin, Texas, and by December 2020 had leased two buildings in a 14-acre (5.7 ha) industrial complex northeast of Austin, approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of
Texas Gigafactory.[17]
On April 20, 2022, the company announced an additional $675 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at approximately $5.675 billion.[4] The round was led by Vy Capital and
Sequoia Capital,[4] with participation from Valor Equity Partners,
Founders Fund, 8VC,
Craft Ventures, and
DFJ Growth.
Sometime before April 2023, the company moved their headquarters and engineering facilities to
Bastrop, Texas.[1]
Currently, tunnels connecting different parts of the LVCC are open, and a tunnel to Resorts World started operating in July 2023.[19]
Tunnel boring machines
The first boring machine utilized by The Boring Company was Godot, a conventional
TBM made by
Lovat.[20][21] The company would later design their own line of machines called Prufrock.[22] Engadget reported that the Prufrock-2, which was unveiled in August 2021,[23] could dig up to a mile per week, whereas its successor, the Prufrock-3 is planned to dig up to seven miles per day.[24]
TBC built a 1.14-mile (1.83 km) high-speed tunnel in 2017 on a route in Hawthorne, California, at the SpaceX headquarters and manufacturing facility.[25] The tunnel roadway has an asphalt surface, a guide-way for
autonomous vehicle operation, and supports car trips at speeds of 90 mph (140 km/h) with autonomous control and up to 116 mph (187 km/h) under
human control.[26]
In May 2019, the company won a $48.7 million project to shuttle visitors in a
loop underneath the LVCC[27] Boring of the first tunnel, 4,475 feet (1,364 m) long, began on November 15, 2019, and finished on February 14, 2020, excavating an average of 49 feet (15 m) per day.[28][29] In May 2020, the boring of the second tunnel was completed,[30] for a total of 1.7 miles (2.7 km) of tunnels.[31] The tunnel opened in October 2021.[32] Standard
Tesla vehicles with human drivers are used as shuttles, traveling at about 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).[33] The service was described by Las Vegas Tourism as "an important step in the development of a game-changing transportation solution in Las Vegas".[34]
Testing with volunteers in late May 2021 showed the system could transport 4,400 passengers per hour,[35] although as of November 2021[update], the highest announced traffic in the LVCC Loop in an uncontrolled setting was in July 2021 at 1,355 passengers per hour.[36]
The system started transporting convention attendees on June 8, 2021.[37] Designed to solve
traffic congestion, the tunnel was intended to provide trips of less than two minutes,[38] but has faced a number of traffic jams during busy events in 2021 and 2022.[32][39][40][41]
In October 2021,
Clark County Commissioners approved a 50-year franchise agreement for a 52-stop, mostly-underground system, a "16-mile (26 km) dual loop system...operating mainly in the Resort Corridor with stations at various resorts and connections to
Allegiant Stadium, Brightline West Las Vegas Station, and the
UNLV".[44] TBC planned to build five to ten stations during the first year, and then add approximately 16 stations per year thereafter.[44] TBC would be responsible for funding the tunnel, while station costs would be funded by the resort properties and landowners.[45]
In May 2023, TBC was given permission to build the Vegas Loop underground transportation system to 69 stations for a tunnel network of 65 miles (105 km).[46][47][48] It would include the existing LVCC Loop and extensions to casinos along the Strip,
Harry Reid International Airport, Allegiant Stadium, downtown Las Vegas, and eventually to Los Angeles. TBC claims that once complete, the Vegas Loop would be able to transport more than 90,000 passengers per hour.[49]
In March 2024, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors voted to extend the existing tunnel, and vowed to address concerns that rose over
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations by TBC, which had resulted in a $100,000 fine.[50][51]
Projects under discussion
Inquiries and discussions have been held with Boring Company for various projects.
In February 2021,
Miami mayor
Francis Suarez revealed that Musk had proposed to dig a two-mile tunnel under the
Miami River for $30 million, within a six-month timescale, compared with $1 billion over four years estimated by the local transit authority. Much of the savings would be achieved by simplifying ventilation systems and allowing only electric vehicles.[52]
In July 2021,
Fort Lauderdale accepted a proposal from the Boring Company for a tunnel between downtown and the beach, to be dubbed the "
Las Olas Loop".[53] As of August 2021, the city was beginning final negotiations with TBC.[54] Mayor
Dean Trantalis estimated the total cost of the 5-mile (8.0 km) round-trip tunnel would be between $90 and $100 million, including stations.[55] As of December 2022, feasibility studies were expected to be completed by TBC by March 2023.[56] Enthusiasm for the project waned in early 2023 and it is unclear whether it will move forward. [57][58]
In August 2021, a preliminary concept discussion was held with officials of
Cameron County on the potential construction of a tunnel from
South Padre Island to
Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. If built, the tunnel would be required to pass beneath the
Brownsville Ship Channel.[59] It would allow SpaceX's Boca Chica facility to remain accessible if Highway 4, its sole access road, is closed.[60]
Inactive and cancelled projects
United States
Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland – In 2017, Musk announced plans to build a Hyperloop connecting Washington, DC to Baltimore.[61] This was supplanted in 2018 by a proposal to build a route following the
Baltimore–Washington Parkway.[62] The Maryland Transportation Authority officially approved the project.[63] In 2019, a draft
Environmental Assessment for the project was completed.[64] As of 2021, the project was no longer listed on the company website.[65]
Los Angeles, California – In 2018, TBC proposed to develop a 2.7-mile-long (4.3 km) test tunnel on a north–south alignment parallel to
Interstate 405 and adjacent to Sepulveda Boulevard.[70]: 25:50 Public opposition and
lawsuits led the company to abandon the idea.[71][72] Also in 2018, the company proposed to build a 3.6-mile (5.8 km) tunnel called the "Dugout Loop" from
Vermont Avenue to
Dodger Stadium. As of June 2021[update], the project had been removed from TBC's website.[69]
San Bernardino County, California – In February 2021 the
San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) in California approved beginning contract negotiations with TBC to build a nearly 4-mile (6.4 km) tunnel connecting the
Ontario airport with the
Rancho CucamongaMetrolink/Future Brightline West train station.[75] However, TBC did not submit a proposal after a third party was involved to study the project impacts.[76] As of 2022, the SBCTA has plans to build the tunnel system using "another company more familiar with the state's bureaucracy to do the
Environmental Impact Report."[77]
Australia
In January 2019, Musk responded to an Australian member of parliament regarding a tunnel through the
Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, suggesting costs of $750 million for a 31-mile (50 km) tunnel, plus $50 million per station.[78][79]
Promotional merchandise
In 2018, the company began offering 20,000 "flamethrowers" for preordering.[80] The "flamethrower" was a
blow torch shaped to look like a gun and is legal in all U.S. states except Maryland.[81] All 20,000 "flamethrowers" were sold in just a few days.[82] After customs officials said that they would not allow imports of any items called "flamethrowers", Musk announced that he would rename them to "Not-A-Flamethrower" since the devices were in fact akin to roofing torches. Musk announced separate sales of a fire extinguisher, which he described as "overpriced... but this one comes with a cool sticker".[83]
Not-a-Boring Competition student contests
In 2020, TBC released rules for a student tunnel-boring competition. The first competition was held in Las Vegas in September 2021.[84] Officially named the
Not-a-Boring Competition, the challenge was to "quickly and accurately drill a tunnel that was 30 m (98 ft)-long and 30 cm (0.98 ft)-wide."[84] SpaceX had earlier sponsored a
Hyperloop pod competition in 2016–2019 for student teams,[citation needed] and had considered building a longer vacuum tube for a potential competition in 2020.[85][failed verification]
Applications were received from 400 potential participants. A technical design review left 12 teams that were invited to Las Vegas to demonstrate their engineering solution in a September 2021 competition. The winning team was TUM Boring from
Technical University of Munich who managed to excavate a 22 m (72 ft) bore while meeting the requisite safety requirements. TUM Boring used a conventional
pipe jacking method to build the tunnel, but employed a novel revolving pipe storage design to minimize downtime between pipe segments.[84]
A second competition was held in April 2023. New contest criteria required a 30 m (98 ft)-long 500 mm (20 in)-diameter, this time with a turn radius. Five teams from four countries — the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Switzerland — made the finals and journeyed to Texas to compete. TUM Boring again won with a design that reached a maximum velocity of 7 mm/s (0.28 in/s).[1]Swissloop Tunneling finished second overall and won the innovation award.[86]
Criticism
Civil engineering experts and tunneling industry veterans questioned whether TBC could render tunnels faster and cheaper than competitors. Tunnelling Journal dismissed the company as a "vanity project".[87]
Musk's planned tunnels were criticized for lacking such safety features as emergency exit corridors, ventilation systems, or fire suppression. In addition, the single lane tunnels left it impossible for vehicles to pass one another in the event of collision, mechanical failure, or other traffic obstruction, and instead would shut the entire tunnel section down.[88][89] The low capacity of TBC tunnels make them inefficient when compared to existing public transit solutions, with only a fraction of the capacity of a conventional rapid-transit subway.[90][91][92][93]
James Moore, director of transportation engineering at the University of Southern California, said that "there are cheaper ways to provide better transportation for large numbers of people", such as managing traffic with tolls.[93] Public transit consultant
Jarrett Walker called TBC "wildly hyped", and criticized how the company "dazzled city governments and investors with visions of an efficient subway where you never have to get out of your car, [but turned] out to be a paved road tunnel."[92][94]
^Chafkin, Max (February 16, 2017).
"Elon Musk Is Really Boring". Bloomberg.
Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
^Copeland, Rob (December 17, 2018).
"Elon Musk's New Boring Co. Faced Questions Over SpaceX Financial Ties". The Wall Street Journal.
Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018. When the Boring Co. was earlier this year spun into its own firm, more than 90% of the equity went to Mr. Musk and the rest to early employees, ... The Boring Co. has since given some equity to SpaceX as compensation for the help, ... about 6% of Boring stock, "based on the value of land, time and other resources contributed since creation of the company,"
^Elon Musk, Steve Davis.
The Boring Company Information Session (video). Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles, California: The Boring Company.
Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018 – via YouTube.
The Boring Company Information Session (video). 55 minutes, video of information session on the vision of the Boring Company and the project in Los Angeles, with Q&A