Elon Musk’s Boring Company and the Braess Paradox
Elon Musk is hailed by many as a true genius of our age. Wealthy and influential (he’s estimated by Forbes to be worth $20.7 billion and is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla), Musk has earned a lot of respect. He’s also known for coming up with great ideas. His most recent, the Boring Company, aims to lower traffic congestion in Los Angeles through an underground tunnel network. Despite all his fans and success record, however, is this idea really that great?
Source: https://electrek.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/tunnel-boring-machine-3d-an-e1481992765706.png?w=1600&h=1000
Let’s consider the Braess Paradox, which was postulated in 1968 by Dietrich Braess, a German mathematician. The paradox states that trying to improve traffic by adding an extra motorway may actually lead to worse traffic. This may be because of the crowding caused by people who selfishly try to figure out the best way to get to their destination. This may seem impossible– I mean, an extra road should mean less traffic, right? Through the lens of game theory, however, this may not necessarily be that weird. After all, just because there are more strategies in a game– more ways to get to a destination–it’s not necessarily easier for the players. This is shown in the Prisoner’s Dilemma, where because the players have two choices, they have to consider the option that the other prisoner may or may not confess, ultimately leading them away from the best result: both not confessing.
Back to the Boring Company. Elon Musk is proposing that new underground tunnels will solve the traffic issue in LA, but the Braess Paradox poses potential counterexamples.
But what other solutions are there? According to skeptic Corin Faife in his article “Why Elon Musk’s Tunnel System Can’t Solve Congestion in LA,” the best solution to traffic congestion is to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road. This can be done through higher vehicle occupancy and better public transportation, not the building of new roads. It was also suggested in the article that congestion pricing on busy parts of the road may also help to reduce traffic. Many just feel like Musk’s dramatic tunnel-boring plan is inexpensive and overdone and maybe just won’t work.
Of course, there are still many things unknown about Musk’s plan, and many new technologies that are increasingly being leveraged. What do you think is the future of traffic congestion?
Sources:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43g8yn/why-elon-musks-tunnel-system-cant-solve-congestion-in-la
https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/28/15890934/elon-musk-the-boring-company-first-tunnel-los-angeles
https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/08/23/elon-musks-net-worth-eclipses-20-billion-for-first-time/#9667c8e6ac77