Chicago has given Elon Musk’s Boring Company the green light to develop a high-speed underground public transportation system linking Downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport.
The company confirmed the news on its website, announcing it was “selected by the Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT), on behalf of the City of Chicago, to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an O’Hare Express service.”
The Chicago Express Loop will connect one of the world’s busiest airports, O’Hare’s Terminals 1-3 to Block 37 in booming Downtown Chicago in about 12 minutes, three to four times faster than existing transportation systems.
Passengers will be transported on autonomous electric skates traveling at speeds ranging from 125-150 miles per hour. The battery-powered, zero-emissions vehicles will be built on a modified Tesla Model X chassis and carry between eight and 16 passengers or a single passenger vehicle. Highlights of each electric skate will include a climate-controlled cabin, space to store luggage and Wi-Fi.
The project will be entirely funded by the Boring Company.
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“Bringing Chicago’s economic engines closer together will keep the city on the cutting edge of progress, create thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthen our great city for future generations,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement. “This transformative project will help Chicago write the next chapter in our legacy of innovation and invention.”
Once complete, the Chicago Express Loop will operate 20 hours per day, every day of the week, with vehicles leaving each station as frequently as every 30 seconds.
Although fares for the Loop haven’t been finalized, the Boring Company said they would be higher than the Blue Line but cost less than half the typical price of a taxi or ride-sharing service.
The Boring Company is already working on a similar Loop transportation system in Los Angeles and announced last summer that it reached an agreement to develop a system connecting major cities on the East Coast.
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