Elon Musk’s the Boring Company, which has already promised to tunnel under Sepulveda Boulevard to save commuters time, says it will also build a underground railway capable of shuttling fans to Dodger Stadium from East Hollywood in less than four minutes.
Dubbed the Dugout Loop, the company boasts the proposed high-speed rail will transport up to 16 passengers at a time at speeds as high as 150 mph — all with zero emissions and “zero taxpayer dollars.”
Though fares not finalized, the firm expects to charge around $1. It didn’t say whether that would be one-way or round-trip.
Passengers would load into so-called skates — electrically-propelled pods based on Tesla’s Model X platform — at the tunnel’s western end, located near a Metro Red Line station. The company hasn’t settled on which, but said it would either be from near Vermont/Sunset, Vermont/Santa Monica or Vermont/Beverly.
The company said the goal is to help reduce Los Angeles’ infamous traffic congestion, but initially the system would transport only about 1,400 people per game or event — about 2.5 percent of stadium capacity. The maximum capacity is expected to be around double that.
Tunnel construction would begin at the Dodger Stadium end, somewhere near the parking lot, and from there proceed under Vin Scully Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The tunnel would run about 3.6 miles and end on property owned by the Boring Company, somewhere near whichever Red Line station it chooses.
The firm said it is “coordinating with Metro on a regular basis to ensure project compatibility and utility, and will not begin construction until Metro has fully approved of the plan.”
The firm said it is also working with several L.A. city agencies and drafting an environmental impact report. After that, The Department of Public Works would need to ensure the route is safe, and the company would then have to secure the necessary permits and city council approval.
Mayor Eric Garcetti seems to like to proposal, calling it “exciting” and “innovative” in a tweet.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
The Dodgers also commented on Twitter, saying the team is “always looking for innovative ways to make it easier for Dodgers fans to get to a game.”
If the plan is approved, it would take as long as 14 months to build, the company said, though it expects it would be “much less.”