Elon Musk, not content to solve our (surface) automotive problems, our space problems and our solar power problems, also wants tunnels to reduce traffic. What a guy.
(Elon Musk wants tunnels @$1Billion per mile)
The company’s promotional video shows vehicles zipping along city streets before stopping on car-sized elevators built into the pavement. Underground tracks whisk them off to their destination at speeds of more than 130 miles per hour (200 kilometers per hour) before depositing them back at the surface to finish the last leg of their journey. He wants to do all this for one-tenth of today’s costs compared to the estimated $1 billion per mile price tag for Los Angeles’ new subway extension.
Fans of scifi movies of course recognize the care taken in making sure that you are NOT in control of your car; visualization follows.
(I, Robot chase scene - underground tunnel problems)
I should mention that underground tube systems have been popular for a long time (see the pneumatic tube station from Schachner and Zagat's Exiles of the Moon); an English engineer named George Medhurst patented one in 1825.
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Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'