UPDATE (4:50 p.m. ET): Elon Musk has issued two followup tweets to clarify that it likely will be a while before the 220-mile Hyperloop project officially commences.
Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
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
ORIGINAL STORY:Â Every time Elon Musk releases information about The Boring Company, we seemingly have to rethink our definition of the word “ambitious.”
Musk posted a tweet Thursday claiming that The Boring Company had received “verbal (government) approval” to build an underground Hyperloop from New York to Washington, D.C. He also added there would be stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
The Boring Company’s long-term goal is to build a network of tunnels, which motorists could enter via street-level elevator platforms, that would ease congestion in cities. This is the first time Musk has mentioned combining the tunneling firm with Hyperloop to provide underground high-speed transit.
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
The “verbal approval” likely came from somebody within the Trump administration. The White House told Bloomberg that the administration has had “promising conversations to date” with Musk and other The Boring Company executives.
It didn’t give any specifics besides, however, only reiterating that the administration is “committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector.”
Thumbnail photo via Flickr/Texas A&M Engineering
