[matt4077]

Not to interfere with your cynicism, but the important information here is that Boring Co. is funding the construction itself. It's not public money being spent, and schools would be unlikely to receive any extra funding without this project.

And, of course, this project is far more important as a real-world proof-of-concept for the technology than it is for its expected use for travelers. Reducing tunnel costs by 95%(!) would quite obviously result in dramatic quality-of-life improvements.

[microtherion]

> Not to interfere with your cynicism, but the important information here is that Boring Co. is funding the construction itself. It's not public money being spent

It's not uncommon for projects to start out that way, and then magically, public money starts appearing anyway.

If this really remains a privately financed project (financed out of the deep pockets of Musk's companies, and completed on time due to Musk's uncannily accurate forecasts), then more power to them!

[selectodude]

Chicago doesn't have any money to spend on the project. It's not like there's a kitty and they can pull another few hundred million out to finish the project.

[fishtank]

It's a fine idea that public money will not be spent, but you don't have to look very far to find an example of the city and a development partner breaking the same promise (Obama Presidential Center: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kamin/ct-met-o...).