Elon Musk, right, arrives for a Twitter shareholder trial at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Elon Musk’s proposed Tesla tunnel loop under the streets of Nashville was met with opposition Tuesday by the metro council, which passed a resolution to put their concerns about safety, transparency and a lack of local input on the record.
The resolution, with 20 members voting for and 15 against with two abstaining, can’t force one of Musk’s companies to stop, stall or change their plans for the Music City Loop. But Nashville officials want to register their grievances after the politically connected tech billionaire’s company, The Boring Company, teamed up with willing state government partners to bypass local authority.
In July, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and The Boring Company announced plans for the Music City Loop, featuring an initial 13-mile (21-kilometer) stretch that would include connecting the airport and downtown, which was later expanded to about 25 miles to include a second leg west of downtown. They promised a project that would come at no cost to taxpayers, albeit with free use of some state land near the Capitol. The first section of the tunnel is supposed to be operational by the first quarter of 2027.
The Nashville loop relies on a fleet of dedicated Tesla vehicles driven by trained drivers, with more than 30 stations being designed and the potential for more routes and stations. The company says the cost to ride is expected to be lower than other transportation options. The cars will be human-driven, though the company says it could explore autonomous vehicles in the future.
John Rutherford, a council member who voted against the resolution, asked his colleagues to set aside their political opinions about Musk. He said a vote of opposition would risk closing the door to any dialogue with The Boring Company.
A representative for The Boring Company did not immediately have a comment when reached by the AP.
The Boring Company has another Tesla tunnel in Las Vegas that already provides rides on the electric cars, though the full route isn’t finished. The company lists some research tunnels in use, including one in Texas in which passengers could travel in autonomous electric pods at upwards of 600 miles per hour (965 kilometers per hour). Plans for tunnels in some other cities have fallen through. Overseas, another Boring Company tunnel is planned for Dubai .
The Boring Company’s CEO Steve Davis said at the project’s announcement that they chose Nashville based on the need to address traffic and the partnership with state officials.
“Nashville has been fantastic. Moved at an incredible speed, so welcoming, so kind, so so friendly,” Davis said.
Source: Korea Times News
