| Nearly a decade after Elon Musk launched Boring Co. with promises of ultra-fast hyperloop-powered transportation, the tunneling venture has little to show. Despite pitches to cities like San Jose, Nashville and even Dubai, just one of Boring Co.’s public proposals have progressed beyond the planning stage. To date, the company has only begun construction in Las Vegas, and while the city has approved 68 miles of tunnels, Boring has dug about eight miles, with fewer than four miles currently operational. These days, the tech is mostly serving Musk’s own sites in rural Texas. And apart from the big gap between Musk’s ideas and what actually gets done, some projects have been lost or rejected for simple and avoidable mistakes, like not submitting required documentation to cities. Others, as Bloomberg’s Kiel Porter reports, suggest the company may simply be out of its depth. Today on CityLab: Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Is Turning Into a $900 Million Flop — Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos
Don’t Shrink the Bus
Could Tesla’s Cybercab and similar smaller vehicles replace traditional trains and buses? Unfortunately, the idea of “personal rapid transit” has some big drawbacks. Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole
City officials are looking for ways to help close back-to-back yearly shortfalls topping $1 billion.
AI Is Fast-Tracking Climate Research, From Weather Forecasts to Sardines
Scientists see using the technology as a “gigantic step forward” in a variety of fields. - Tennessee greenlit Elon Musk’s tunnel for Teslas in Nashville before public notice, vote (Nashville Banner)
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- The 20 elections to watch in August (Bolts)
- Alaska ignored warning signs of a budget crisis. Now it doesn’t have money to fix crumbling schools (NPR)
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