The Boring Company
American infrastructure and tunneling company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure, tunnel construction service, and equipment company founded by Elon Musk. TBC was founded as a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2017, and was spun off as a separate corporation in 2018. TBC has completed multiple test tunnels and one tunneling project that is open to the public.
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Construction |
| Founded | January 11, 2017 |
| Founder | Elon Musk |
| Headquarters | Bastrop, Texas, United States[1] |
Key people |
|
| Owner | Elon Musk |
Number of employees | <400[3] (April 2022) |
| Website | boringcompany |
In 2018, TBC completed one test tunnel in Los Angeles County, California. In 2021, TBC completed the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop, a three-station transportation system with 1.7 miles (2.7 km) of tunnels. As of April 2024, a segment to Resorts World Las Vegas is also open, and tunnels to Encore and Westgate resorts are being finalized. The system is planned to expand to a total of 68 miles (109 km) of tunnels.
Many other TBC projects in cities across the United States were announced, but subsequently became inactive or were canceled.[4][5]
In November 2025 they began to trial self-driving vehicles (which still has a driver ready to take over if need be).[6]
History
Musk announced the idea of the Boring Company in December 2016,[7] and it was officially registered as "TBC – The Boring Company" on January 11, 2017.[8] Musk cited difficulty with Los Angeles traffic, and what he sees as limitations of its two-dimensional transportation network, as his early inspiration for the project.[9][10] The Boring Company was formed as a SpaceX subsidiary.[11] According to Musk, the company's goal is to enhance tunneling speed enough such that establishing a tunnel network is financially feasible.[12][13]
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In early 2018, the Boring Company was spun out from SpaceX and into a separate corporate entity.[14] Early employees came from a variety of different backgrounds, including those from SpaceX. The company completed several tests in Hawthorne, California and showcased a test tunnel on December 18, 2018.[15]
After raising US$113 million from Musk himself, supplemented by TBC merchandise sales during 2018,[16] the Boring Company sold $120 million in stock to venture capital firms in July 2019.[17]
By November 2019, Steve Davis had become company president after leading efforts for Musk since 2016. Davis was one of the earliest hires at SpaceX (in 2003) and has twin master's degrees in particle physics and aerospace engineering, as well as degrees in finance and mechanical engineering.[18][19] In November 2020, TBC announced hiring for positions in Austin, Texas, and by December 2020 had leased two buildings in a 14-acre (5.7 ha) industrial complex northeast of Austin, approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of Texas Gigafactory.[20]
On April 20, 2022, the company announced an additional $675 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at approximately $5.675 billion.[4] The round was led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital,[4] with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, 8VC, Craft Ventures, and DFJ Growth. In 2022, the company was cited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for five violations of Texas environmental regulations.[21]
Sometime before April 2023, the company moved their headquarters and engineering facilities to Bastrop, Texas,[1] approximately 25 miles (40 km) east of Texas Gigafactory.[citation needed]
Promotion
Merchandise
In 2018, the company began offering 20,000 "flamethrowers" for preordering.[22] The "flamethrower" was a blow torch shaped to look like a gun and is legal in all U.S. states except Maryland.[23] All 20,000 "flamethrowers" were sold in just a few days.[24] After customs officials said that they would not allow imports of any items called "flamethrowers", Musk announced that he would rename them to "Not-A-Flamethrower" since the devices were in fact akin to roofing torches. Musk announced separate sales of a fire extinguisher, which he described as "overpriced... but this one comes with a cool sticker".[25]
Not-a-Boring Competition
In 2020, TBC released rules for a student tunnel-boring competition. The first competition was held in Las Vegas in September 2021.[26] Officially named the Not-a-Boring Competition, the challenge was to "quickly and accurately drill a tunnel that was 30 m-long (98 ft) and 30 cm-wide (0.98 ft)".[26]
Applications were received from 400 potential participants. A technical design review left 12 teams that were invited to Las Vegas to demonstrate their engineering solution in a September 2021 competition. The winning team was TUM Boring from Technical University of Munich who managed to excavate a 22 m (72 ft) bore while meeting the requisite safety requirements. TUM Boring used a conventional pipe jacking method to build the tunnel, but employed a novel revolving pipe storage design to minimize downtime between pipe segments.[26]
A second competition was held in April 2023. New contest criteria required a 30 m (98 ft)-long 500 mm (20 in)-diameter, this time with a turn radius. Five teams from four countries—the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Switzerland—made the finals and journeyed to Texas to compete. TUM Boring again won with a design that reached a maximum velocity of 7 mm/s (0.28 in/s).[1] Swissloop Tunneling finished second overall and won the innovation award.[27]
Machines
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The first boring machine used by TBC was Godot, a conventional tunnel boring machine (TBM) made by Lovat.[28][29] The next line of machines were called Prufrock.[30] The company claimed that Prufrock 2, could dig up to a mile per week with the goal to dig up to seven miles per day for the next machine.[31][32] Experts claim Musk appears to be aiming for small diameter tunnels, which save time and money.[30]
Process
Porpoising
Replace tunnel entry and exit excavations by having the TBM "porpoise" in and out of the ground. The TBM is trucked in and placed at an angle to the ground. (Prufrock 2 and 3 required an earthen ramp to set it at the correct angle before beginning to tunnel). It then bores into the ground. It changes angles as it continues boring, eventually returning to the surface and being loaded onto the truck.[33]
In conventional systems, one large excavation is made at the tunnel entrance to allow the TBM to be lowered to the tunnel depth and assembled. A similar excavation is made at the tunnel exit to allow the TBM to be disassembled and lifted out.[33]
Liner truck
TBC moves tunnel lining segments into the tunnel via an all-electric autonomous, wheeled liner truck powered by motors and batteries from Tesla. Conventional systems typically use a diesel rail system, which must be constructed along with the tunnel lining.[34]
Continuous tunneling
TBC is working to install ring liners without stopping tunneling. Conventional systems stop every five feet or so to install another segment of the tunnel lining, and to extend the rail line. The goal is to increase tunneling time/day from 11 hours to 24 hours.[35]
Zero-person-in-tunnel
In 2025 TBC demonstrated a machine that tunneled with no people monitoring/working with it inside the tunnel. The system digs the tunnel, removes the slurry, and installs 12-ton ring cylinders to line the tunnel.[36]
Active projects
Hawthorne test tunnel
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The Boring test tunnel, or Hawthorne test tunnel, is a 1.14 miles (1.83 km) tunnel in Hawthorne, California, for testing hyperloop and "loop-based transportation".[37] Boring of the tunnel started in 2016 and completed in December 2018.[38][39] The single-bore tunnel was constructed during using a 14-foot (4.2 m) diameter tunnel boring machine, giving a finished 12-foot (3.8 m) internal diameter. The roadway has an asphalt surface, with autonomous vehicle operation of the Tesla Model 3 at speeds of 90 mph (140 km/h) and up to 116 mph (187 km/h) under human control.[40] The Boring Company subsequently built the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop tunnel network.
Vegas Loop
The Vegas Loop, originally known as the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop (LVCC Loop) is a car tunnel system that serves the Las Vegas Convention Center and area hotels. Operating since 2021, the system uses Tesla Model Y vehicles to shuttle passengers among nine stations. The Boring Company began construction in November 2019,[41] and has since continued intermittent tunnel drilling for planned stations.[42]
Dubai Loop
The Dubai Loop is a car tunnel system project that aims to serve Downtown Dubai. It was first announced in February 2025.[43] Construction started in February 2026.[44] It is built by The Boring Company. The system will use Tesla Model Y vehicles to shuttle passengers.
The first phase of the project will cover 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi), comprising four stations (Dubai International Financial Centre, ICD Brookfield Place, Zaabeel Dubai Mall Parking, and Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall), transporting 13,000 passengers per day and shortening the travel time between DIFC and Dubai Mall from 20 to 3 minutes.[45][46] It is expected to be launched by 2027.[46] The second phase will feature 19 stations across 22.2 kilometres (13.8 mi), connecting Dubai World Trade Centre to Business Bay. It is planned to be built within three years and handle 30,000 passengers per day.[46]
Music City Loop
The Music City Loop is a underground transit tunnel under construction in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, connecting downtown Nashville to the Nashville International Airport (BNA). The Boring Company plans to complete the project in 2026 at the earliest.[47][48][49]
Inactive and cancelled projects
United States
Washington, DC to Baltimore, Maryland
In 2017, Musk announced plans to build a Hyperloop connecting Washington, DC to Baltimore.[50] This was supplanted in 2018 by a proposal to build a route following the Baltimore–Washington Parkway.[51] The Maryland Transportation Authority officially approved the project.[52] In 2019, a draft Environmental Assessment for the project was completed.[53] As of 2021, the project was no longer listed on the company website, the federal government had received no indication the company wanted to move forward, TBC dropped a Maryland lobbyist it had hired for the project, and the company declined to comment on the project.[54]
Chicago, Illinois
In 2018, the company won a bid to build a high-speed link from downtown Chicago to O'Hare Airport, to be known as the Chicago Express Loop.[55][56][57] As of 2021, the plan had been dropped.[58]
Los Angeles, California
In 2018, TBC proposed to develop a 2.7-mile-long (4.3 km) test tunnel on a north–south alignment parallel to Interstate 405 and adjacent to Sepulveda Boulevard.[59]: 25:50 Public opposition and lawsuits led the company to abandon the idea.[60][61] Also in 2018, the company proposed to build a 3.6-mile (5.8 km) tunnel called the "Dugout Loop" from Vermont Avenue to Dodger Stadium. As of June 2021[update], the project had been removed from TBC's website.[58]
San Jose, California
In 2019, a link between San Jose International Airport and Diridon station, was discussed as an alternative to an $800 million traditional rail link.[62] Plans were later dropped.[63]
San Bernardino County, California
In February 2021, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) in California approved beginning contract negotiations with TBC to build a nearly 4-mile (6.4 km) tunnel connecting the Ontario airport with the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink/Future Brightline West train station.[64] However, TBC did not submit a proposal after a third party was involved to study the project impacts.[65] As of 2022, the SBCTA has plans to build the tunnel system using "another company more familiar with the state's bureaucracy to do the Environmental Impact Report".[66]
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
In July 2021, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, accepted a proposal from the Boring Company for a tunnel between downtown and the beach, to be dubbed the "Las Olas Loop".[67] In August 2021, the city was beginning final negotiations with TBC,[68] and Mayor Dean Trantalis estimated the total cost of the 5-mile (8.0 km) round-trip tunnel would be between $90 and $100 million, including stations.[69] As of December 2022, the city suspended efforts to continue the project.[70]
San Antonio, Texas
Bexar County selected The Boring Company to build a transit link between downtown San Antonio, Texas and San Antonio International Airport in March 2022, but was then "ghosted" by the company.[71]
Miami, Florida
In February 2021, Miami mayor Francis Suarez revealed that Musk had proposed to dig a two-mile tunnel under the Miami River for $30 million, within a six-month timescale, compared with $1 billion over four years estimated by the local transit authority. Much of the savings would be achieved by simplifying ventilation systems and allowing only electric vehicles.[72] As of November 2023, the city is waiting for the Miami Dade Transportation Planning Organization to complete an analysis of the project.[70]
Cameron County, Texas
In August 2021, a preliminary concept discussion was held with officials of Cameron County on the potential construction of a tunnel from South Padre Island to Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. If built, the tunnel would be required to pass beneath the Brownsville Ship Channel.[73] It would allow SpaceX's facilities at Starbase to remain accessible if Highway 4, its sole access road, was closed.[74]
Australia
Blue Mountains
In January 2019, Musk responded to a tweet by an Australian member of parliament regarding a tunnel through the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, suggesting costs of $750 million for a 31-mile (50 km) tunnel, plus $50 million per station.[75] New South Wales' transportation department found that based on the cost of the Hawthorne tunnel, the estimated cost would be closer to $6 billion.[76][77] Work on the tunnel does not appear to have progressed beyond Musk's initial tweet, and is not listed on the company's website.
Criticism
Civil engineering experts and tunneling industry veterans questioned whether TBC could render tunnels faster and cheaper than competitors. Tunnelling Journal dismissed the company as a "vanity project".[78] The low capacity of TBC tunnels make them inefficient compared to existing public transit, with only a fraction of the capacity of a conventional rapid-transit subway.[79][80][81][82]
Musk's planned tunnels were criticized for lacking such safety features as emergency exit corridors, ventilation systems, or fire suppression. In addition, the single lane tunnels left it impossible for vehicles to pass one another in the event of collision, mechanical failure, or other traffic obstruction, and instead would shut down the entire tunnel section.[83][84]
James Moore, director of transportation engineering at the University of Southern California, said that "there are cheaper ways to provide better transportation for large numbers of people", such as managing traffic with tolls.[82] Public transit consultant Jarrett Walker called TBC "wildly hyped", and criticized how the company "dazzled city governments and investors with visions of an efficient subway where you never have to get out of your car, [but turned] out to be a paved road tunnel".[81][85]
