Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Motors, has unveiled the first tunnel completed by the underground transit venture firm he launched two years ago.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports. <br />There's nothing more irritating than traffic, traffic and more traffic. <br />But now, entrepreneur Elon Musk has unveiled the first underground tunnel to remedy LA's infamously depressing traffic.<br />It's also the first tunnel completed by the underground transit venture Boring Company, which Musk launched in 2016.<br />In a 30-minute presentation carried by live webcast on Tuesday,... the Tesla Motors CEO touted the newly finished one-point-eight-three kilometer long tunnel segment,... as a breakthrough in the low-cost, fast-digging technology being pioneered by Boring Company.<br />The tunnel was excavated along a path that doesn't run through LA,... but under the tiny adjacent municipality of Hawthorne,... where both his Boring Company and SpaceX rocket firm are headquartered.<br />Musk put the total cost for the finished segment at around 10-million U.S. dollars,... which includes the cost of excavation, internal infrastructure, lighting, ventilation, safety systems, communications and a track.<br />By comparison,... digging a mile of tunnel through traditional engineering methods costs up to a billion dollars and takes three to six months.<br />When in full operation,... the so-called 'loop' system will consist of passenger and automobile-carry platforms called 'skates' that can travel through the tunnels by way of electric power.<br />Musk says, alternatively, cars could be outfitted with retractable side wheels,... allowing them to travel through the loop autonomously.<br />It's hoped the tunnel will eventually be connected to a network of other tunnels, yet to be built.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News. <br />
