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> In this particular case, it was almost certainly not building a low capacity tunnel for small vehicles and cars, but to build the already planned metro rail
by quotemstr 8y ago
> In this particular case, it was almost certainly not building a low capacity tunnel for small vehicles and cars, but to build the already planned metro rail line without having to add engineering complexity to maneuver around a privately owned and built tunnel.
A metro rail line can't transport a car, so point-to-point transit is out, as is any semblance of privacy. Why are you so quick to devalue these advantages?
If Musk can build a tunnel profitably, he should be able to do it, even if the opinion of people like you, mass transit would be preferable. Musk isn't willing to fund mass transit, but he is willing to fund a tunnel, so all you get by blocking the tunnel is neither mass transit nor a tunnel. Congratulations!
- danso 8y agoHe can’t build it profitably, or at least without going through the environmental impact review that every other project of this scale must pass. Do you really think the hole digging is the bottleneck for every other underground project?
- quotemstr 8y agoHow much infrastructure is getting built under the current review process? The current process is just a fig leaf for everyone getting a NIMBY veto. California ought to be ashamed of its technological paralysis.
- danso 8y agoIt's not a technological problem. If people get unhappy when Facebook "moves fast and breaks things" in its mission to "connect the world", then people should be just as cautious when it comes to construction projects that impact miles of public infrastructure and thousands of private homes.
- mips_avatar 8y agoSure I mean bad (insert bad thing) things are bad. And a risk to private homes should stop a project. But I can’t find any proof that there’s a risk here. Tunneling is really safe.
- danso 8y agoThen why is Boring declining to take part in the EIR process?
- mips_avatar 8y agoYou’d probably have to ask Elon Musk. I also haven’t read the lawsuit so I don’t know what specifically the homeowners wanted investigated. California law basically gives veto power to any homeowner for anything, so why bother trying to be innovative there in the first place? I think the software industry only evolved there because nobody had figured out how to regulate a bit yet.
- danso 8y agoCalifornia software companies are still subject to the same taxes and standard of state employment laws. California's high speed rail has been subject to the same scrutiny and legal threats. Was Boring/Musk completely ignorant of well-known past precedent and hurdles when they claimed they could build a transportation project for much cheaper? As recently as 1 month ago, Musk still thought and publicly claimed that the tunnel "opens Dec 10": https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1054164838430064640 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1054164838430064640
- mips_avatar 8y agoI think Elon Musk knows that if there's something big to be gained for society the laws can be modified. For instance Tesla only worked because the Obama administration kind of bent the laws of economics by securing a huge loan to the company.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
- mips_avatar 8y agoIn theory there’s going to be a high speed train built between SF and LA. Not convinced it can happen, or should happen at the price these property owners have made the project incur.
- messick 8y ago9 miles of infrastructure is getting built right this second under the current review process. https://www.metro.net/projects/westside/ https://www.metro.net/projects/westside/
- dragonwriter 8y ago> How much infrastructure is getting built under the current review process? The environmental review process doesn't stop a lot of infrastructure getting built, people prioritizing public spending on other priorities does. > The current process is just a fig leaf for everyone getting a NIMBY veto. No, it's not. > California ought to be ashamed of its technological paralysis. Perhaps, but CEQA isn't the source of the problem, to the extent there is one.
- messick 8y agoThere is an actual big boy tunnel getting built on The Westside right this second. No waiting on Musk's bullshit required.
- zjaffee 8y agoBecause the purpose of mass transit is to increase throughput, a super highway tunnel for cars will just lead to more congested streets around the entrance the same way wider highways have done.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]