Transit agencies and advocates are developing a genre of criticism that could be described as calling Elon Musk on his BS. Musk still has plenty of support on social media.
In a redux of a Twitter spat between Elon Musk and Jarret Walker at the end of 2017, BART took on Elon Musk this weekend, with a series of confrontational tweets.
"In an attempt to hype up The Boring Company's tunnel projects, Elon Musk inadvertently drew the ire of BART's official Twitter account," according to an article by Eric Ting.
"The bizarre Twitter fight began Friday afternoon when Musk tweeted an FAQ page from The Boring Company and wrote, 'Boring Company guide to why tunnels are awesome & safest place to be in an earthquake.'"
The ensuing correspondence between Lusk and Twitter users, "clearly irked the official Twitter account of BART," according to Ting. Here's how BART responded.
We carry 28,000 people per hour through our Transbay Tube under the bay because of the capacity of a train. That’s nearly twice as much as cars over the bay. Why wouldn’t you prioritize something that carries far more (and safely with automatic train control) over cars? https://t.co/2Hu3uzu2ND
— SFBART (@SFBART) May 25, 2019
As Ting noted, BART's questioning of Musk's transportation planning abilities provoked the ire of a lot of people, who (we can safely assume) are admirers of Musk, not of public transit.
Meanwhile, in the background, details of real consequence about plans for Musk's The Boring Company to build a tunnel under Las Vegas connecting two convention centers are revealing the ongoing evolution of Musk's vision for beating congestion. While a demonstration of the the company's tunneling work in December 2018 relied on a sledding technology to move automobiles along tracks in the tunnel, Las Vegas might get a different form of conveyance for its new tunnel.
"It’s not clear what kinds of vehicles will be used in the system yet, though Hill says that Model Xs, Model 3s, or modified electric vehicles with a 16-person tram body are all under consideration. The number of stations and positions for the stations at the convention center isn’t known yet either," according to a separate article by Elizabeth Lopatto.
Yet another article, by Kirsten Korosec, provides additional details about the project, dubbed the Campus Wide People Mover, by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
This also isn't the first time the Twitter feed for BART has made news for statements released on the social media site. Back in 2016, the social media team at the regional transit agency made news all over the country for blasting a series of complaints about the state of transit planning and politics with the hashtag #ThisIsOurReality.
FULL STORY: BART picks a fight with Elon Musk on Twitter over tunnels
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