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NY governor asks Elon Musk for help modernizing subway system

NY governor asks Elon Musk for help modernizing subway system

Cuomo isn't looking for help digging new tunnels, just fixing the antiquated signal system that controls New York City's subway network.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has reportedly asked Elon Musk for help fixing New York City's troubled subway system.

The governor is not asking for Boring Co to bring in its machines to dig new tunnels underneath the city. Instead, Cuomo has simply asked the ambitious executive if he has a better way to fix the existing subway network's deteriorating signal system.

"I don't believe a time where they're talking about flying cars and you can get into a car and drive 100 miles on the LIE and never touch the steering wheel, that there's not a better technology that can regulate the trains!" Cuomo said, as quoted by News 4 NY. "I called Tesla because it's outside the box... I said how can this be that we can't have technology that can monitor the proximity of subway cars all on the same track to move them faster together."

City and state officials have come under increasing pressure to address persistent problems maintaining and expanding NYC's subway system. The New York Times issued a critical report a year ago detailing how apparent corruption and archaic regulations have forced taxpayers to pay an astonishing $3.5 billion per mile to dig the new East Side Access tunnel. In other cases, riders face regular delays due to equipment failures or maintenance disruption.

Musk previously claimed that Boring Co had already received initial government approval to dig a Hyperloop tunnel that can launch riders between New York City and Washington DC in less than a half hour. So far, the company is testing a less ambitious atmospheric-pressure tunnel in Los Angeles that can travel at a more modest 150 mph.

Boring Co believes it can revolutionize transportation infrastructure if it can slash tunneling costs by an order of magnitude. Musk has outlined a vision for a 3D network of underground tubes that alleviate "soul-destroying traffic" on surface roads.