Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s tunneling company on Wednesday announced a proposal to build another tunnel in Los Angeles, a 3.6-mile underground route that would carry fans between Dodger Stadium and a nearby Metro subway station. The Boring Co. said the Dugout Loop would be a “zero-emissions, high-speed” transportation system that could carry fans in about four minutes between Elysian Park and a Metro station along Vermont Avenue, at Beverly Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard or Sunset Boulevard. Pods carrying passengers would whiz through the tunnel at speeds of up to 150 mph, resting on self-driving platforms called “skates,” the Boring Co. said. The trip would cost about $1, and riders would purchase tickets in advance through a mobile app. Mayor Eric Garcetti called the plan “innovative” on Wednesday. Tucker Kain, chief financial officer of the Dodgers, said in a statement that the organization is “committed to working with our neighbors and fans as the project moves forward.” Advertisement The tunnel proposal comes months after a company funded by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt suggested a $125-million plan to build an aerial gondola route between Union Station and the stadium. “We’ll race you there,” said the company’s founder, Drew McCourt, in a statement Wednesday. The tunnel would be initially limited to 1,400 riders per day, or about 3% of the average attendance at a Dodgers game, but could be increased to allow 2,800 passengers based on demand, according to preliminary environmental documents filed with the city of Los Angeles this week. With a daily capacity of 2,800 riders, Musk’s tunnel could carry a similar number of riders as the Metro express bus from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The bus, which runs on bus-only lanes on Sunset Boulevard, carried 241,000 fans to 81 home games in 2017 during the regular season and the playoffs, an average of 2,975 riders per game. “It doesn’t seem like Dodger Stadium’s traffic problems have been solved as a result of the bus-only lanes,” said Juan Matute, a UCLA lecturer in urban planning. “It seems like people have a different available option to get there, and this could be another different viable option.” The system could also operate at a lower frequency on days without a Dodgers game, the company said, although how transit service would work in a tunnel that allows one direction of travel at a time is not clear. Construction would not begin until the proposal is fully approved. The Boring Co. said work would take up to 14 months. The proposal will face a thicket of requirements and approvals from regulators in California and Washington, D.C., before construction could begin. That includes certification from the Federal Railroad Administration that the “skate” method of transportation is safe. Advertisement The Dodgers tunnel plan follows a proposed a 2.7-mile tunnel parallel to Sepulveda Boulevard in West L.A., where Musk had proposed allowing his engineers to hone their digging techniques and test the proposed skate technology. The City Council’s public works committee agreed in April to exempt the tunnel’s construction from California’s rigorous environmental review process. Weeks later, two neighborhood groups sued L.A. over the waiver, blocking the tunnel’s progress. Boring Co. officials wrote on their website this week that the company “has made technical progress much faster than expected and has decided to make its first tunnel in Los Angeles an operational one,” rather than a test. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @AleneTchek UPDATES: 5:45 p.m., Aug. 16: This article was updated with reaction and additional details of the tunnel proposal. This article was originally published at 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 15.<doc-sep>Today’s Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy<doc-sep>First an aerial tram, now an underground, high-speed transit line—that’s the latest proposal for a creative new way to get to Dodger Stadium, and it comes from Elon Musk. The entrepreneur’s Hawthorne-based company, the Boring Company, announced Wednesday night that it wants to build a subway-like line from Los Feliz or East Hollywood that would ferry Dodger fans to the ballpark in about 4 minutes and at the cost of about $1. Mayor Eric Garcetti quickly published a Tweet welcoming the idea. “It’s always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone,” he wrote. The mayor’s spokesperson, Alex Comisar, says the Boring Company submitted its proposal to the city on Wednesday. The plan will have to undergo state environmental review, and a public meeting scheduled for August 28 will kick off that process. Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone. https://t.co/vleQtpUqnt — Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) August 16, 2018 It’s an ambitious proposal, but, if ultimately built, the “Dugout Loop” would provide Angelenos with the quickest route to the stadium, which is nestled above the city in a ravine, making it somewhat difficult to access. A free shuttle operated by Metro, the region’s public transportation agency, provides one of the best routes into the ballpark, but it only departs from Union Station and the trip takes about 25 minutes. The company plans to use its “loop” machines and technology to build the line. The concept involves transporting passengers in electric-powered, autonomous pods (what the company calls “skates”) that zip through underground tunnels at speeds of 125 to 150 miles per hour. The “skates” would carry between eight and 16 passengers (far fewer than a subway car) and would be lowered underground from street-level docking stations called “Loop lifts.” The system is being tested right now in Hawthorne, and Musk has proposed a large Loop network that would run beneath a wide swath of Los Angeles. A stop at Dodger Stadium was already planned as part of that system, but plans for the Dugout Loop were submitted to the city as a standalone project and will be reviewed separately. For the Dodger Stadium project, the company proposes a single underground tunnel that runs for about 3.5 miles with an eastern terminus at the stadium’s parking lot and a western terminus near one of three Metro Red Line stations, either Vermont Avenue and Sunset in Los Feliz, Vermont and Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood, or Vermont and Beverly Boulevard on the border of Rampart Village. The majority of the line would run beneath Sunset Boulevard, through Silver Lake and Echo Park. In a statement, the Dodgers’ owners said they support the proposal. “We were excited when the Boring Company came to us with this project. Whether it is flying overhead in an aerial transit system or bypassing traffic through an underground tunnel, we are always looking for innovative ways to make it easier for Dodgers fans to get to a game,” said CFO Tucker Kain.<doc-sep>
Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone. https://t.co/vleQtpUqnt — Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) August 16, 2018 LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Elon Musk's The Boring Company is proposing to build a 3.6 mile tunnel under Los Angeles to bring fans to Dodger Stadium.The company announced its Dugout Loop proposal Wednesday, saying it would be a "zero-emissions, high-speed, underground public transportation system" that would bring fans from neighborhoods west of downtown to the stadium in four minutes.The starting point for the tunnel hasn't been determined yet, but there are three options on the table, all of them near Metro Red Line stations - Vermont/Sunset, Vermont/Santa Monica or Vermont/Beverly.If approved by the various government agencies that have to review the project, construction of the tunnel would take about 14 months, the company estimates.While the aim is to reduce traffic and parking issues around Elysian Park, the system would only carry a small fraction of the fans that attend the average Dodgers game.Initially the system would carry just 1,400 people per event - or about 2.5 percent of the average Dodger Stadium crowd. That could eventually expand to 2,800 per game.The system consists of "autonomous electric skates" that would travel underground at speeds around 125-150 mph, with each skate holding 8-16 passengers.Fares would be around $1 and tickets could be purchased in advance.Dodger fans Wednesday night said they were excited to hear about the idea, with many expressing frustration over the traffic they dealt with to get to the evening's game.Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Dodgers both offered praise for the idea. "Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone," Garcetti tweeted.Dodgers CFO Tucker Kain issued a statement about the plan: "We were excited when the Boring Company came to us with this project. Whether it is flying overhead in an aerial transit system or bypassing traffic through an underground tunnel, we are always looking for innovative ways to make it easier for Dodgers fans to get to a game. We are committed to working with our neighbors and fans as the project moves forward. "The company is making its studies available for public review from Aug. 16 to Sept. 17. A hearing will be held at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 28 from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m.More information on the city review process is available here.