The Boring Company has a new focus. Yesterday, CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to let the world know that the company will prioritize mass transportation over individual vehicle usage.
According to Musk, the Boring Company's tunnels will "prioritize pedestrians & cyclists over cars".
He didn't say that the tunnels would never support cars, but he believes that surrounding communities will benefit most if the Boring Company focuses on mass transportation.
Will still transport cars, but only after all personalized mass transit needs are met. It’s a matter of courtesy & fairness. If someone can’t afford a car, they should go first.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2018
Most notably, Musk tweeted a video that shows what this vision might look like.
In the video, a concept pod of sorts fills up with people at ground level. The pod's destination, LAX Terminal 2, is lit up on its front and side like a hyperfuturistic bus sign.
Next, the pod descends into the tunnel below, utilizing what looks a lot like the car elevator Musk unveiled last year, until it reaches a track. Then, it speeds through a tunnel at what the video proclaims is about 200 kmh (124 mph) while other pods zoom by on the surrounding tracks.
Better video coming soon, but it would look a bit like this: pic.twitter.com/C0iJPi8b4U
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2018
Musk described the pod-like vehicle in a response to another Twitter user's question: "I guess you could say it's a 150 mph (241 km/h), underground, autonomous, electric bus that automatically switches between tunnels and lifts."
He also described the plan as an "urban loop system," noting that a single city could be home to hundreds of small stations.
These many smaller stations would blend more easily into the urban landscape than the large subway or train stations currently used, according to Musk's tweets.
Previous Boring Company plans seemed to center around much larger, train-like hyperloop systems. However, this new pivot is not a complete departure from previous plans.
"At the Boring Company, we plan to build low cost, fast-to-dig tunnels that will house new high-speed transportation systems," a Boring Company spokesperson told Wired last year.
While the vehicle and station design might be changing to place a greater focus on mass transit, the Boring Company's primary goal remains the same. They're simply reworking design elements to better serve the public.
This article was originally published by Futurism. Read the original article.