CHICAGO -- Entrepreneur Elon Musk wants to build a high-speed transportation system that will whisk people between downtown Chicago and O'Hare International Airport at speeds of up to 150 mph and said last week that it could be operational in about three years.
Musk joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday to formally announce that a Musk-owned enterprise, The Boring Company, was selected for the project and will fully fund it. They say electric vehicles will carry passengers through underground tunnels in about 12 minutes each way.
Emanuel called the new transit system "the fast lane to Chicago's future," and said it will create jobs and make the city more competitive.
He scoffed at critics who question the still-unproven technology or the city's ability to achieve what's been a goal at City Hall for more than a decade. He noted there were doubters when the city set out to reverse the flow of the Chicago River or build the first skyscraper -- other seemingly impossible tasks the city now boasts of having accomplished.
"Chicago is always looking at what's possible and then making it achievable," Emanuel said. "There are doubters along the way all the time who sit on the sideline and then when the thing gets built and opportunities come and the job growth happens you can't find them."
Musk, who's chief executive officer of electric car maker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX, noted he's successfully completed other "pretty tricky" projects.
He said he expects the company will begin digging the dual tunnels after it's received all the necessary regulatory approvals, a process he expects to take a few months.
"This is a different thing that we're doing, it's a hard thing, it's a new thing," Musk said. "If we succeed it's going to be a great thing for the city, and if we fail, well I guess me and others will lose a bunch of money."
Thursday's news conference was held in the mothballed shell of an underground station that the city constructed years ago. The site, in a downtown development known as Block 37, will serve as the downtown station for the new express service.
Vehicles will depart the airport and downtown as often as every 30 seconds, and each vehicle will accommodate up to 16 passengers and their luggage.
SundayMonday Business on 06/17/2018