Facebook's failed plans to revive an old railway bridge to ease traffic congestion near its offices are among the latest stumbling points facing future- looking tech companies.
The Dumbarton Rail Bridge, an unused railway that spans the San Francisco Bay, was going to be renovated by the social media company after it acquired the two photo sharing services.
The railway that had been inactive for 40 years was renovated to make it easier to get to Facebook's headquarters.
According to The New York Times, the failed project may be a glimpse at the future of Musk's Boring Company.
The Boring Company has promised to build high-speed tunnels in major cities in an attempt to reduce traffic and improve pedestrian access. The company has a nearly $5.7 billion valuation.
A 1.7 mile loop connecting the campuses of the Las Vegas Convention Center with the Exhibit Hall has been completed by The Boring Company.
Plans for tunnels in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Chicago have been scrapped by The Boring Company.
After facing criticism from city council members for being rushed, Los Angeles abandoned its plans to build tunnels under the congested 405 freeway.
The DC to Baltimore transit system was canceled in 2021.
The Chicago Business Journal reported that a bid by The Boring Company to build high-speed tunnels in Chicago was dropped due to public criticism of the lack of transparency.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a Chicago city council member said that he remembers the bullet train from when he was a kid.
The Boring Company is struggling to retain engineers and technical staff due to Musk's strict leadership style which includes working 120-hour weeks and sleeping on couches in his factories and expecting employees to do the same
The Boring Company was created after Musk sent a series of messages in the early hours of the morning complaining about traffic and promising to dig tunnels.
The traffic is making me crazy. He said he was going to build a tunnel boring machine. He said that he was going to do this.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016
Reporters and consumers questioned if Musk was serious about creating The Boring Company, but early progress silenced critics.
Modifications to the Las Vegas loop are listed on the website. It is not known if The Boring Company will submit additional bids for tunnel projects in the future or if they will complete the Vegas loop additions.
Critics are concerned that the whole company was a scam or bait and switch that was designed to propose automobile alternatives to mass transit projects and drive business towards his electric vehicle company.
Facebook has continued massive infrastructure undertakings despite the failed Dumbarton Rail Bridge project.
Since it began the cable development and scrapped the bridge plan, the social media company has acquired a sixth of the operating cable routes around the world. Meta will hold an interest in more than a third of the world's submarine cable infrastructure by the time it completes its 2Africa infrastructure project.
Though the future of The Boring Company's tunnels remains unclear, it appears Musk will continue to attempt to innovate existing infrastructure through his many businesses.
Representatives for The Boring Company did not respond to Insider's questions.
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