Sure it’s not density of subway but more tunnels will partially offset lower capacity. This is about lowering tunnel & ‘station’ construction by ~2 orders of ma

Sure it’s not density of subway but more tunnels will partially offset lower capacity. This is about lowering tunnel & ‘station’ construction by ~2 orders of magnitude. There’s also lots of room underground to build vs surface, so little constraint there. Lowering cost is Elon’s demonstrated strength (SpaceX rockets and Tesla batteries), so gotta factor that in. Small tunnels cost way less than subway tunnels, not factoring in improvements in boring ops. It’s all about shaving off 2x here and 5x there across the whole system to make it cheap enough to get benefits. Lower cost let’s you open up new routes to lower density areas. Means cars can get off the road from those areas which would otherwise contribute to traffic. This is like going from mainframes to personal computers - enabled by lower cost, more people can have access. LA metro has a tough job in their hands with handling their traffic and is likely behind this. It’s not trying to be or marketed as a direct substitution for subway, it’s another option that happens to compare favorably but be implemented in a different way and by different parties. Alternative comparison is to freeway which has 1 car every 2 seconds, and this claims 1 car a second on main path.