Fort Lauderdale accepts Elon Musk’s Tesla beach tunnel proposal

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CNN) — Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has started plans to build a tunnel between downtown Fort Lauderdale and the beach.

The Boring Company would offer Tesla rides to hundreds of people the price of $5-8 dollars a person. The same trip in an Uber would cost around $10 per trip.

“This could be a truly innovative way to reduce traffic congestion,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said on Tuesday night while announcing the plan.

Competing companies will have 45 days to submit proposals.

As reported by CNN, the costs to the city were not disclosed at the announcement.

The project, called “The Las Olas Loop,” has drawn some criticism from transportation planners. They say using cars as a mode of public transit makes inefficient use of a tunnel which could carry more people with a train or bus.

The project is envisioned as a way to alleviate parking stress at the beach. Riders could park their cars downtown at the Brightline train station then ride to the beach in a Tesla.

“This is the type of big, bold idea that we should be exploring,” Ben Porritt, a Brightline spokesperson, told CNN Business. “Good transportation is ultimately about the functionality of a city.”

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