ON DEC. 16, 2020, Steve Davis, an early, trusted SpaceX engineer whom Elon Musk appointed as president of the Boring Company, stepped up to the podium at City Hall in Las Vegas. He briefed the city council about Boring’s first small stretch of tunnel, which had recently been completed 40 feet below the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Davis was also asking for the initial approvals to build something much more exhaustive, and much more expensive: a citywide public transportation system that would move people from Allegiant Stadium to the Las Vegas Strip, Fremont Street, or the airport—anywhere in less than seven minutes. “This would be a privately funded venture by our company and various property owners—pretty nice,” Davis told the group.
Davis’s attire—a black sport coat and jeans—was unusually formal for him. His employees rarely saw him in anything but his SpaceX running jacket and ball cap. But one of the lobbyists Boring Company was working with at the time had prepped Davis prior to the meeting and encouraged him to look more professional, according to emails from the lobbyist to one of the city’s executive directors that were reviewed by Fortune. (“Unlikely I can get him to wear a tie,” the lobbyist had said.) It was important he appear polished for, in particular, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who has been one of the Boring Company’s most outspoken critics in Vegas.
Goodman’s criticism stems from Boring’s inability to finish a public tunnel project anywhere else. The Boring Company has raised more than $795 million from venture capitalists on Musk’s big idea: underground, multi-station roadways where autonomous vehicles could shoot off individuals to their destination at speeds of 150 miles per hour. But on the ground, after seven years, Boring is only operating. Meanwhile Boring projects from California to Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Maryland have all fizzled or been disbanded. (Davis, Musk, and several of Boring’s investors did not respond to requests for an interview.)
