Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has been given the go-ahead to develop a Loop system between Chicago O’Hare Airport and downtown.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration called for interested parties to submit plans for a high-speed train service from the airport late last year. The Boring Company was one of four companies with competing bids.
The Loop forms one part of Musk’s new form of transportation, the other being the high-speed Hyperloop. Unlike that system, which will ferry passengers at speeds of over 700 mph (1126 km/h) in vacuum tubes, the Loop will be made up of 16-passenger sleds that travel in tunnels at roughly 100 mph (160 km/h).
The Chicago Tribune reports that officials from City Hall and The Boring Company have yet to offer a timeline for the project or an estimated cost. However, it’s been confirmed that Musk’s company will pay for the system and one report pegs the total cost at roughly $1 billion.
Musk is determined to change transportation forever.
In choosing the Loop, Chicago has opted against more traditional high-speed trains.
Under the proposed Loop, passengers will be able to travel from downtown to Chicago O’Hare in a mere 12 minutes and for between $20 and $25. The Boring Company will keep all revenue from transit fees and money generated by advertisements, branding and in-vehicle sales.
Speaking about the new airport connecting, Mayor Emanuel said the city is a transportation leader.
“If you look at the history of Chicago … every time we’ve been an innovator in transportation, we have seized the future.
“I think figuring out — when time is money — how to shrink the distance between the economic and job engines of O’Hare and downtown positions Chicago as the global leader and global city in the United States.”
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