Your questions, answered.

The Boring Company. Under our proposal, it would own and operate the system and carry the risk, with state oversight on safety, access, and fares. This is the campaign's proposal, not a commitment by The Boring Company.

The Boring Company would be paying for this, not taxpayers. Under our proposal, it pays to build the tunnels and may also buy property for tunnel portal locations. Private property owners, such as buildings, garages, venues, and businesses, can build out their own stations and may be responsible for station costs if they want a station at their site. The campaign proposes a 100% privately funded network with zero state, city, or federal tax dollars. Riders would pay per ride, at a fare comparable to a CTA fare, or with a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual pass (a full 'L' fare is currently $2.50, per transitchicago.com), and that revenue would repay the private investment. This is our proposal, not a guarantee; final terms would be set in any agreement with the state. It is not a commitment by The Boring Company.

Nobody knows yet, and anyone who gives you a precise number today is guessing. Cost depends on tunnel diameter, depth, geology, stations, and land, and a real figure requires a feasibility study. Under our proposal, that cost would be paid privately, not by taxpayers: The Boring Company would pay for the tunnels, property owners who want a station on their property would pay for that station, and The Boring Company may buy property for tunnel portals. The cost would be recovered over time through single ride fees and passes. For scale: U.S. tunneled transit can cost billions per mile (Transit Costs Project), while The Boring Company targets less than $5M per mile for a Loop tunnel (TBC). See the cost comparison.

No. The L and subways run fixed lines with stops along the way and transfers between lines. Our proposal is door to door, more like Uber: you are picked up at your door and dropped off at your destination. The car uses normal roads when they are clear and drops into the tunnels to bypass congestion points, then comes back up and uses surface roads to reach your final destination. A few larger hub stations would serve places where big crowds come and go at once, like airports, stadiums, and McCormick Place.

No. Under our proposal, every trip runs direct from your pickup to your drop-off, with no connections, transfers, or intermediate stops. The tunnels are the underground network your car travels through, not lines you change between.

Wherever you want, just like Uber: home, work, a restaurant, an appointment. Under our proposal, an approved vehicle that is electric and likely autonomous picks you up. The car comes to you on regular streets, then uses the nearest portal to go underground when that is faster. At high-volume places like airports and stadiums, you would board at a hub station instead.

Smaller than you might think. A curbside portal can be as simple as a handful of parking spaces converted into a ramp down into the system. A garage portal opens a tunnel right into level B1 of an existing parking garage. Only high-traffic destinations would get larger subsurface hub stations. This is the campaign's proposal; actual designs would come from engineering and local review.

Under our proposal, you choose: a one-time single ride fee, comparable to a CTA fare, or a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual pass for frequent riders. Prices have not been set; that would come out of the feasibility study and any agreement with the state. For reference, a full CTA 'L' fare is currently $2.50 (transitchicago.com). As an example, The Boring Company's president said Nashville fares should be similar to Vegas: about $4 a ride, $7 round trip, and $12 for a day pass (WSMV). Those are Nashville figures, not Chicago prices.

Today, Loop systems use Tesla vehicles: in Las Vegas, Model 3s and Model Ys carry up to three passengers and Model Xs up to four (Las Vegas Review-Journal). The Boring Company's president has said a high-occupancy Tesla Robovan will be added for big events once the Vegas system is built out (Las Vegas Review-Journal). Our proposal for Chicagoland is that, in the long run, any approved autonomous electric vehicle could use the network. Inside the tunnel, vehicles drive on a flat road surface about 9.5 feet wide.

We think it is safer than both surface roads and crowded platforms. You ride in your own car, picked up and dropped off where you choose. Each tunnel carries one-way traffic, so there are no head-on collisions (Music City Loop FAQ). There is no third rail, tunnels are fully lit with redundant lighting and ventilation, and the driving surface doubles as a walkway if you ever need to get out. Tunnels have 100% camera coverage and a 24/7 staffed control center (Loop FAQ), and Teslas have cameras around the outside and in the cabin (Tesla). Tesla reports its Robotaxis drove 3.1 million miles with no safety monitor from January 22 to October 18, 2026, with zero injuries (Tesla). Vegas Loop fire code keeps exits no more than 1,250 feet apart, or 2,500 feet with fire response vehicles and cross passages (Clark County). Today the Vegas Loop uses trained drivers; driverless rides and remote safety monitors for every car are the campaign's proposals. See all 9 reasons.

Modern tunnels are designed with emergency egress, ventilation, fire detection and suppression, lighting, and communications, governed by fire-safety standards such as NFPA 502 (road tunnels) and NFPA 130 (fixed guideway transit). Any Illinois system would need to meet these standards and pass review by state and local fire officials.

Tunnel systems include regular exits or cross-passages to a parallel tube or the surface, smoke control, and staff or automated monitoring. Specific spacing and procedures would be set through engineering design and fire-marshal approval.

Modern tunneling is far safer than it once was, and The Boring Company's Prufrock machine is designed for Zero People In Tunnel (ZPIT) operation: during normal operations nobody is in the tunnel, and the machine is controlled remotely from an operations center. Removing people from the tunnel dramatically reduces construction risk (The Boring Company). For riders, any Illinois system would also need to meet tunnel fire-safety standards and pass review by fire officials.

In its Las Vegas systems, The Boring Company uses relatively small-diameter tunnels carrying Tesla vehicles between stations. Its Prufrock boring machines are designed to launch from the surface and tunnel continuously, aiming for faster construction than traditional methods.

The Boring Company says Prufrock is targeting 1 mile per week, because it installs the concrete lining while it keeps boring instead of stopping every 5 feet (The Boring Company). As illustrative math: the 2018 O'Hare Express plan called for about 17 miles of twin tunnels (34 tunnel miles); 8 machines at 1 mile per week each would bore that in about 4 to 5 weeks (34 ÷ 8 = 4.25), not counting permitting, design, stations, or fit-out (Reuters). In Nashville, two machines are tunneling at once, with a third planned for late October 2026 and a fourth by year end (NewsChannel 5). A standardized design helps too: every tunnel is essentially the same, about 14 feet in diameter, so the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering does not have to be redone for each project. These are the company's stated targets and plans; actual Chicago speeds would depend on geology and permitting. See our Technology page.

A realistic path starts with a feasibility study and environmental review, which alone often take a few years. Construction would then start in Chicago. Any timeline on this site is an illustrative estimate.

Below the utilities. The Boring Company says utilities generally sit within about 5 to 15 feet of the surface and Loop tunnels typically run about 30 feet down (Music City Loop FAQ). Tunnels can go deeper where needed to clear foundations, rivers, or other infrastructure; one Boring Company project study planned 30 to 70 feet (LA initial study). Chicago is used to this: the old freight tunnels sit about 40 feet down, and the Deep Tunnel runs 150 to 300 feet down (MWRD).

Tunnels pass beneath buildings in cities around the world, and The Boring Company says it tunneled beneath packed Las Vegas Convention Center halls with no disturbance to attendees (Axios). It says its guidance is accurate to within 2 inches (Music City Loop FAQ). Our proposal is that tunnels under any building, including skyscrapers, would be set at a depth matched to its foundations, with geotechnical study and settlement monitoring along the route. The finished tunnel is a continuous ring of reinforced concrete designed to carry the surrounding ground loads.

Yes. Chicago sits on glacial clay and till above limestone and dolomite bedrock, and the region has bored many miles of water and sewer tunnels, including the Deep Tunnel system. Each tunnel would need geotechnical borings before design.

Tunnels are lined with sealed concrete segments and drainage systems. Portals and stations are built above flood elevations or protected with barriers. Illinois engineers already manage these conditions on existing tunnel projects. In Las Vegas, most tunneling runs below the water table, sealed with gasketed segments, and flooding there has not affected the system.

Most tunneling happens deep underground, so surface disruption is concentrated at portals and access points. Routing beneath existing highway rights of way further limits impacts on homes and farms. Tunneling itself does not close traffic lanes; the LVCC Loop was built during conventions of over 100,000 people with zero road closures (TBC). Settlement is monitored closely along the route, and inspectors are on site throughout.

Deep boring generally produces little noticeable surface vibration, and projects monitor it closely. Once operating, electric vehicles in a tunnel are far quieter than surface traffic.

That is part of our proposal. The space beneath the road deck inside each tunnel could hold fiber lines and other city utility conduits, a bonus use that adds capacity without tearing up streets. The Boring Company offers separate utility tunnels designed to house utilities without surface disruption (Construction Dive), but conduits under a Loop road deck are the campaign's idea and would need engineering and utility-owner approval.

By one leading measure, the worst in the nation. The INRIX 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard ranked Chicago the most congested urban area in the U.S. and 3rd in the world, with drivers losing 112 hours each to congestion, at a cost of $2,063 per driver (INRIX). The Texas A&M Transportation Institute, which uses a different method, puts Chicago at 87 hours of delay per auto commuter in 2024, tied for 9th nationally (TTI 2025 Urban Mobility Report).

The average Chicago-area commute is about 62 minutes a day round trip: 30.9 minutes each way in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-Year). Over a working year, that is roughly 258 hours, as an illustrative estimate assuming 250 round trips.

Not necessarily. Nonstop cars that never run empty and skip everyone else's stops can move more people per hour with less energy. The Boring Company's president says Vegas Loop's median wait is zero seconds and average in-tunnel speed on longer runs is just above 60 mph (Nashville Scene). The LVCC Loop has peaked above 4,500 riders an hour and 32,000 in a day, and Vegas Loop targets 90,000 an hour when fully built (TBC; TBC).

We support any good idea that connects Illinois. Tunnels have specific strengths: they avoid surface land acquisition, are protected from weather, and can serve dense downtowns directly. A feasibility study should compare options honestly.

Yes, as a supporter. Windy City Loop is an independent citizen campaign, and we are advocating that Illinois invite The Boring Company to propose. We do not have a formal agreement with The Boring Company, but we have met with them many times and told them we are working on this effort, and they have supported us in our efforts for Chicago.

In 2018 Chicago selected The Boring Company for a proposed O'Hare Express tunnel. The project did not advance after a change in city administration. We think a fresh, transparent approach for Chicago with clear public goals is worth another look.

Sign up, share the campaign, and contact your state legislators asking them to authorize a privately funded feasibility study for a Chicago tunnel network. The Get Involved page has a ready-made message.

That is the long-term hope. Our proposal starts with Chicagoland, then extends across Illinois. Further in the future, the aspiration is to connect Chicago to other major Midwest cities like Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Detroit. That would come only after the Chicagoland network is built and proven, and it would need cooperation with neighboring states. No timelines, costs, or travel times have been set.