Miami’s mayor wants the federal government to help pay for Elon Musk to tunnel under his city – Business Insider

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez wants the federal government to help pay for Elon Musk's Boring Company to build a congestion-reducing tunnel under his city, he told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Suarez is aiming for Musk's firm to bankroll a tunnel project and charge a fee for people to use it, but he also plans to ask US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the potential for federal funding, Bloomberg reported.

"It would be wonderful if the federal government would involve itself in this project," Suarez said during a Bloomberg Radio interview.

Musk first expressed interest in tunneling under Miami in a January tweet, saying "Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world." Since then, Suarez has spoken with Musk, toured The Boring Company's Las Vegas tunnel project, and met with company representatives.

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The initial plan centered around a traffic-curbing tunnel under the Miami River, which Musk said would cost $30 million and take six months to build, Suarez said previously. Miami-Dade County transit officials said in 2018 that the project would cost nearly $1 billion and span four years, according to The Miami Herald.

Now, Suarez is considering a more ambitious system that mirrors what The Boring Company is developing in Las Vegas, Bloomberg reported. He told the outlet that he envisions a network of tunnels that would connect several key destinations and potentially slash a 40-minute trip to five minutes.

Suarez also told Bloomberg he hopes Musk will move the headquarters of The Boring Company, Tesla, and SpaceX to Miami.

The Boring Company aims to build underground roadways where people could hail a self-driving Tesla vehicle and get out at a designated stop. The firm's critics say all Musk has done is reinvent public transit, but with vehicles that can carry fewer passengers.

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Miami's mayor wants the federal government to help pay for Elon Musk to tunnel under his city - Business Insider