Elon Musk's Dugout Loop To Take Fans To Dodger Stadium In Minutes
ELYSIAN PARK (CBSLA) – Imagine getting from Hollywood to Dodger Stadium in a mere four minutes.
That's the proposal from Elon Musk's Boring Company, which will present plans Tuesday to build a zero-emissions underground tunnel from the Hollywood area to Elysian Park, which would transport fans to Dodger Stadium and alleviate traffic on game days.
Billed as the "Dugout Loop," the 3.6 mile all-electric underground tunnel would run from Dodger Stadium to property owned by the Boring Company near the Vermont/Sunset, Vermont/Santa Monica or Vermont/Beverly Metro Red Line stations.
The tunnel would be entirely privately financed and not require any tax money, the company has said. Both the Dodgers and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have expressed support for exploring the project.
The Boring Company and the city of L.A. will hold a joint public meeting Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium to present the design, offer an overview of the environmental review process and receive public comment. The meeting starts at 6:15 p.m. Get more information here.
Musk himself will not be in attendance.
The Dugout Loop would consist of "autonomous electric skates" propelled by multiple electric motors carrying eight to 16 people. The skates will travel at 125 to 150 miles per hour for a trip that will take less than four minutes and cost around $1, according to the company. It would be able to transport an estimated 1,400 people in total per event.
The tunnel will be entirely beneath public right-of-way or land owned or leased by The Boring Co.
Construction of the tunnel and two "loop lifts," the surface points at which riders will access the loop system, is expected to last up to 14 months, but The Boring Co. has said it could be completed in "much less" time.
This is just one of several such tunnels proposed by Musk to be constructed across Los Angeles.
In August 2017, the Hawthorne City Council gave The Boring Company approval to construct a test tunnel for electric cars underneath the city, extending from the headquarters of Musk's SpaceX company.
Under Musk's plan, platforms would carry pods or cars down to an underground series of passages. The platforms would act as electric sleds, transporting cars or pods across the city at speeds of more than 120 miles an hour.
If the Hawthorne tunnel is successful, Musk is hoping to follow it up with "Phase 1″ of his plan, a 2.7-mile tunnel that will run parallel to Sepulveda Boulevard, from Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles south to Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
In January, Boring Company officials presented their plans for the tunnel to the Culver City Council, saying it will not cost any taxpayer money.
Phase 2 of the project includes expanding the tunnel system as far south as Long Beach, as far north as Sherman Oaks, east to Dodger Stadium and west to Santa Monica.
Musk launched The Boring Company in December 2016 to focus on the tunnel project. The company built a shaft and a 160-foot-long tunnel entrance in the former parking lot of SpaceX, across the street from its 1 Rocket Road headquarters.
In January of 2017, SpaceX held a Hyperloop Pod competition in which university teams from across the world tested out pods on a track that simulated how pods would possibly shoot through a vacuum-like underground tunnel, known as a Hyperloop, at about 70 miles per hour.
In July 2017, Musk received permission from officials to begin to work on a Hyperloop that would transport people from New York City to Washington, D.C., in about 30 minutes.
Musk's ultimate goal in L.A. is a 60-mile tunnel network throughout the city.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
