The high speed tunnelElon Musk’s Boring Company has planned for LA’s Dodger Stadium should be ready by 2020, team CFO Tucker Kain told CNBC on Friday.
“The expectation right now is that we’ll have approvals early next year and get started building the tunnel, and hopefully have it opened by the end of 2019, in time for 2020 season, which is when the Dodgers are hosting the MLB All-Star Game,” Kain said on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.”
Earlier in August, the company announced a proposal to build a zero emissions, high-speed, underground public transportation tunnel from Los Feliz, East Hollywood or Rampart Village neighborhoods in Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium. The electric vehicles, designed to carry eight to 16 passengers, are expected to reach speeds from 125 to 150 miles per hour, the company said. The so called Dugout Loop is expected to transport about 1,400 fans per game and cost about $1 for a four minute ride.
“The tunnel at the moment is going to be fully financed by the Boring Company — something we are really excited about and appreciative of the work and innovation being done by the Boring Company on projects like this to really help LA, help traffic, help Dodger fans in particular,” Kain said.
With a capacity of 56,000, Dodger Stadium is baseball’s biggest venue in the country. So far this year, it has had the highest attendance of any Major League Baseball team, according to ESPN. In a city already known for its traffic problems, it can be a real feat for fans to get to the stadium. The Boring Company’s hyperloop tunnel aims to reduce congestion as well as boost attendance.
“We are already the highest-attended sports venue in the world at the moment, so we are really trying to capitalize on that, give people more options … to really come and experience Dodger baseball, which they may be less prone to do to the extent traffic is a major issue as they try to get to the stadium on a nightly basis,” Kain said.
Kain said he expects the project gain approval early in 2019 and be completed by the end of that year, just in time for the Dodgers to host their fourth All-Star Game, which marks the halfway point in the MLB season.
“This is a key part of what it’s going to take for the Dodgers to continue delivering the fan experience we’re hoping to for our fans,” Kain said. “It is really important for us to make sure we alleviate some of the friction in the fan experience — traffic in LA being one of those — and really giving people alternative options and doing this all in a clean way.”
The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company that also sells flamethrowers, did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
