The Boring Company has been pitching potential clients on a much wider tunnel than any it has built so far, Bloomberg reported, which could be used to transport freight. Since its inception in 2016, the Elon Musk-helmed tunneling startup has been focused on tunnels that would transport passengers, with a goal to “solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic” in cities. But the new pitch deck Bloomberg obtained shows how wider tunnels could be used for transporting freight, something that would greatly expand Boring’s potential business.

According to Bloomberg, the company’s new pitch includes tunnels that are 21 feet in diameter, nearly twice the size of the 12-foot tunnels the company has built so far, which could accommodate two shipping containers side by side.

The company most recently completed 1.7 miles of tunnel under Las Vegas. That’s part of a larger proposal to build a massive tunnel system running under the whole city, including the Las Vegas Strip and McCarran International Airport. The Boring Company has claimed such a system could handle roughly 50,000 passengers per hour. The current tunnel under Las Vegas is meant to eventually transport some 4,400 people each hour, but a TechCrunch report suggested that company documents show it may only be able to transport 1,200 people per hour.

The Boring Company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment Friday.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/18/22539925/elon-musk-boring-company-pitching-wider-tunnels-transport-freight