The other team is O鈥橦are Xpress, made up of long-established businesses Meridiam, Antarctica Capital, JLC Infrastructure, Mott MacDonald and First Transit.
Chicago鈥檚 mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the selection of two teams to proceed with competing to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the O鈥橦are Express operating system. The Boring Company and O鈥橦are Xpress will be eligible to respond to a request for proposals (RFP) that will be issued on Friday by the Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT). The project aims to deliver an express service from downtown Chicago to O鈥橦are International Airport (ORD) in 20 minutes or less, cutting more than 50% off current travel times.
In response to the announcement, Musk tweeted: 鈥淢aybe there should be 2 providers for Chicago advanced transit. Monopolies are so boring...鈥�
The Boring Company was set up in late 2016 with the goal of increasing tunnelling speed and dropping costs by a factor of 10 or more. 鈥淭o solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels,鈥� says the company. 鈥淯nlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won't fall on your head. A large network of tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels).鈥� It sees dropping costs and increasing speed as the key to making this happen. The company identifies reducing tunnel diameters as one of the key ways of dropping costs. It also says that current tunnel boring machines (TBMs) as being very slow. 鈥淎 snail is effectively 14 times faster than a soft-soil TBM,鈥� it said.
鈥淪trengthening connections between Chicago鈥檚 economic engines will drive our economy into the future, build on the city鈥檚 legacy of innovation and pay dividends for generations to come,鈥� said Emanuel. 鈥淭oday, we have two teams that have the ability to get the job done and create an express connection between downtown Chicago and O鈥橦are Airport without a taxpayer subsidy.鈥�
The Boring Company and O鈥橦are Xpress are two of the four entities that responded to a request for qualifications (RFQ) that was issued late last year. Responses to the RFP will be due on 18 May.
鈥淥f the submissions received, these two teams represent the best potential partners to deliver this express service, which will be a key part of Chicago鈥檚 continued economic growth,鈥� said Chicago treasurer and CIT chair Kurt Summers. 鈥淭he CIT鈥檚 role as a specialised resource to the City focused on infrastructure financing and development involvement makes it the clear choice to take a lead as we seek a partner for this truly transformative and historic project.鈥�
Although cost estimates for the project are not yet known, the RFQ and RFP clearly stipulate that the O鈥橦are Express Service will be funded solely by project-specific revenues (like fares or advertising) and financed entirely by the developer.
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