The latest ?traffic solution? from Musk is detrimental to those hard at work solving real problems The last time Elon Musk was asked to speak at a TED conference was in 2013. He sat down with TED founder Chris Anderson to talk about his many big ideas, including a mass-market electric vehicle, a new way for homeowners to generate and share solar power, and a reusable rocket for space exploration. Four years later, Musk has brought all of those projects to market (or, just outside of Earth?s atmosphere, as it were), so it made sense for TED to bring him back this year to update the world on his projects and inspire us with an ambitious new vision. He didn?t.
What did we get in this year?s TED Talk" A really bad, really old idea for fixing traffic.
Yes, Musk thinks tunnels?specifically, dedicated freeway tunnels for cars where vehicles are parked on ?skates? that somehow suck them below the street and propel them underground?are the answer to our traffic woes. This is why he founded a tunneling company named the Boring Company (get it") to accelerate the development of this project.
One part of Musk?s plan is sound: Tunnels are a great way to move people quickly through busy cities. Which is why we build tunnels?for trains and other high-capacity forms of transportation. What Musk?s concept video shows is what looks like a modern-day, traffic-clogged street where a handful of vehicles elect to slip below the surface to travel below ground. Assuming all of the...