The Boring Company, created by billionaire Elon Musk to revolutionize the market for tunnels and flamethrowers, is one of four ventures to put in bids to build a high-speed transit system between downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel listed the respondents on Feb. 7 in a news release, and said the next step will be to determine which of the ventures are truly qualified to build, finance, operate and maintain the O’Hare Express.
The system is required to run shuttles every 15 minutes or less, with a downtown-to-airport transit time of no more than 20 minutes, for a fare that’s less than the cost of current taxi and rideshare services.
The Chicago Infrastructure Trust leaves it to the bidders to come up with the best way to make that happen. It could be by sending electric-powered pods through underground tunnels, which is the likeliest course for The Boring Company. But the system also could make use of above-ground tracks.
