Will Elon Musk's Loop drive down Dubai traffic?

A Tesla car drives through part of the Las Vegas Loop on April 9, 2021. Like Dubai, Las Vegas is one of the world's hottest urban areas and below-ground transport is regarded as ideal for reducing emiShow more

There is no denying that Elon Musk – the billionaire tech mogul, space flight pioneer and confidante to US President Donald Trump – has a special way of presenting new projects. Speaking via video call to an audience attending the last day of the World Governments Summit in Dubai yesterday, Mr Musk said a proposed underground road network for the city is “going to be like a wormhole. You just wormhole from one part of the city to another”.

Tesla is set to work with the emirate’s authorities to build the Dubai Loop – an ambitious urban transport project that will resemble the Las Vegas Loop, a $47-million system built by Mr Musk’s Boring Company. That project opened in 2021 and carries convention centre visitors in high-speed tunnels to avoid surface traffic. The American project took two years to build the tunnels and five stations for 70 driverless vehicles to travel through, and there are plans to further develop it into a sprawling system of 100 stations that will connect the Nevada city’s airport to hotels and casinos.

As enterprising as this sounds, Mr Musk’s joint project with Dubai is in keeping with the emirate’s future-focused ideas about making the city greener, more liveable and easier to get around. Like Dubai, Las Vegas is one of the world's hottest urban areas and below-ground transport is regarded as ideal for reducing emissions and ensuring smoother journeys.

The Dubai Loop is just one of several current projects that aim to cut congestion and better connect one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Technical studies of Dubai’s solar-powered Railbus network are ongoing and the city has plans to more the double its number of Metro stations by 2040. In addition, Dubai is planning other ways to reduce the number of vehicles on its roads, such as the Super Block project – unveiled earlier this month, this aims to transform key areas into pedestrian zones with more greenery, shared public spaces and greater opportunities for social interaction.

The drive to create new and innovative modes of transport – thereby improving the quality of life in urban areas – is something that the UAE as a whole is embracing. The Etihad Rail project, which has been advancing since work began on it in 2009, took a significant step forward in January when plans for a 30-minute high-speed train service connecting Abu Dhabi to Dubai were unveiled. The UAE capital also looks set to embrace flying taxis, with one company, Archer Aviation, saying earlier this month that it hopes to get Abu Dhabi's first flying taxis in the air this year, adding that its long-term goal is to replace 60 to 90-minute trips by car with 10 to 20-minute electric air journeys.

For now, the focus is on this high-profile plan to dig underground roads in the desert. It is certainly a bold move, and Dubai will be watching the progress and expansion of Mr Musk’s Las Vegas Loop closely. It may be the case that, in a few short years, Dubai travellers will indeed be “wormholing” their way from one part of the city to another.