The Boring Company has made some pretty impressive strides in its relatively short existence. Elon Musk first shared his vision for the company in December 2016, promising to solve traffic woes with networks of tunnels for city centers. It is now adding the finishing touches to its first burrow, a test track running beneath the city of Los Angeles.
By shrinking the size of tunnels, automating the machines that dig them while also powering them up, The Boring Company is hoping to cut the costs of tunneling by a factor of more than 10. It also plans to turn the excavated rock into Lego-style bricks for low-cost housing.
It has also proposed a network of tunnels for LA that would connect locations like Long Beach Airport, the downtown area, LAX, UCLA and Dodger Stadium. But first it's all about baby steps, with the company getting to work on its first test tunnel that begins at its headquarters in LA.
In October last year we learned that this tunnel was already 500 ft long (152.4 m) and was fully concreted with tracks and cables. Musk said at the time that within months it would measure two miles (3.2 km) and then a year later, stretch from LAX to the 101, a distance of around 13 mi (21 km).
In a video shared on Instagram today, Musk showed what a trip through one of these tunnels would look like. He also declared the Boring Company's first tunnel under LA to be almost complete, and that "pending final regulatory approvals, we will be offering free rides to the public in a few months."
It's not clear at this stage the exact distance of the tunnel, but the video does suggest that its first passengers will certainly have time to strap in and enjoy the ride.
