The Elon Musk-owned Boring Company was selected to (presumably) dig tunnels connecting Epic Universe with the rest of Universal Orlando Resort. This underground transportation network would make it more efficient to get between Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, CityWalk and the many up there with the Epic Universe campus. If it happens. Here’s the latest.
The board of the Shingle Creek Transit and Utility Community Development District (SCTUD) voted to begin contract negotiations with Musk’s the Boring Company to design and build the infrastructure improvements, following a multi-month search for transit solutions.
The SCTUD is an independent special-purpose government entity in Orlando, existing primarily to fund and manage infrastructure for the Universal Orlando Resort expansion area. It’s much like the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District), which oversees developments in and around Walt Disney World Resort.
According to its website, the District includes within its boundaries approximately 722.180 acres, more of less, generally located south of Sand Lake Road, west of John Young Parkway, and north of State Road 528. Most of this is Universal’s Epic Universe campus.
The SCTUD is also working on the Sunshine Corridor project, which aims to connect Orlando International Airport (MCO) to the Orange County Convention Center via a new SunRail station.
Here’s the official announcement about the Boring Company on the Shingle Creek Transit and Utility District website:
The Shingle Creek Transit and Utility Community Development District Board voted to authorize staff to begin contract negotiations with The Boring Company. This follows the Board’s Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for transportation infrastructure improvements that support District priorities, such as the Sunshine Corridor, for Central Florida’s continued growth.
Of the three RFQ responses, Board members determined that The Boring Company’s proposal best addressed the District’s request for an innovative, future-ready, point-to-point solution. The District will now continue collaborating with local stakeholders while exploring the operational and financial feasibility of the preferred proposal.
Any final contract would be subject to Board approval. If a final feasible agreement relative to the project is not ultimately reached, the District Board will have the discretion in the future to issue another RFQ or take any other action consistent with Florida law for last-mile solutions.
The Boring Company was one of three bidders, along with V2R and Sunshine Connection Partners.
Nothing is known about how the Boring Company intends to proceed, including how it might construct tunnels in Central Florida given the state’s shallow water table. The district sought bids from companies to design and build an innovative transportation system to provide connectivity between Universal’s parks and resorts.
Brian Gettinger, a representative of Glydways, a collaborator with the Sunshine Connection Partners that lost out on the project, confirmed to Orlando’s News 6 that the scope of the project involves connecting Epic Universe to the legacy Universal Orlando campus to reduce traffic and make it easier for tourists to visit all Universal properties.
Gettinger emphasized that construction speed was a key consideration in the decision. “Tunnels typically are very slow to build. Boring Company talks about building them very quickly,” Gettinger said. The underground tunnel system is aimed at improving the guest experience, according to transit board discussions.
He explained that the project is primarily focused on connecting Epic Universe to CityWalk, and creating a “more premium passenger experience.” He added that the goal is maximizing time in the park and guest experience, minimizing commutes.
Currently, the only way to get from Epic Universe to the main campus of Universal Orlando is taking cars or buses on surface streets. As someone who has used these buses for getting from Helios Grand or Terra Luna to CityWalk at rush hour, I can “confirm” that a better solution is needed.
The commute is fine when there’s no traffic; a complete non-issue on par with what you’d experience at Walt Disney World. But there often is traffic, and I assume that’ll only worsen as Central Florida’s population continues to grow.
There have already been a couple of times when I’ve opted against going to CityWalk after checking Google Maps for current traffic conditions. That’s something I never do at Walt Disney World. Suffice to say, something is needed.
The Shingle Creek Transit and Utility District did not define a specific mode of transportation that would need to be used to connect the Universal Orlando campuses. Gettinger assumes it’ll be tunnels given that Boring was chosen, but other pitches involved other solutions.
Sunshine Connection Partners proposed an above ground, dedicated light rail system for “high capacity people movement” between Universal properties according to Gettinger. He told the Orlando Sentinel that he was disappointed not to be the first choice, but offered praise nonetheless for Universal’s plan.
“I think Universal/Shingle Creek deserves a lot of credit for considering alternative transportation technologies that are more cost effective,” he said. “All three teams that responded offered innovative, 21st Century solutions. They’re all different but they’re all in that transformative bucket.”
The Boring Company, as the name suggests, bores underground to build tunnels. It is probably safe to assume that the company that builds tunnels is going to…build a tunnel. With that said, you’ll note that the above announcement makes no mention of tunnels.
The Boring Company’s website says its mission is to build transportation, utility, and freight tunnels to solve traffic and allow rapid point-to-point transportation and transform cities. To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D according to the Boring Co., which means either flying cars or tunnels are needed.
Tunnels minimize usage of valuable surface land and do not conflict with existing transportation systems. A large network of tunnels can alleviate congestion in any city; no matter how large a city grows, more levels of tunnels can be added. (Boring’s words, not mine.)
The most high-profile example of this is the Las Vegas Loop, which is an all-electric, high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported to their destination with no intermediate stops. It’s also known, both by Boring and its critics, as “Teslas in Tunnels!”
The Las Vegas Loop has already transported more than 3 million passengers through 8 stations, according to the company. In its final form, the Las Vegas Loop will supposedly serve up to 90,000 passengers per hour, connecting Harry Reid International Airport, Allegiant Stadium, and downtown, with transit times between 2 and 8 minutes. That all strikes me as very optimistic.
Clark County and the City of Las Vegas have approved 68 miles of tunnel and 104 stations, cementing the Vegas Loop as a vital piece of the city’s future infrastructure. However, it is not a true mass transit system; it uses Tesla cars to transport passengers through its below and above-ground network. (Hence “Teslas in Tunnels/Tubes.”)
A previous proposal from the Boring Company to tunnel through Florida never got off (below?) the ground. The company discussed in 2023 a $100 million project to tunnel from downtown Fort Lauderdale to the beach, but both the city and The Boring Company seemed to lose interest as obstacles arose and costs increased. There were also previously reports last summer about the Boring Company collaborating with Universal on this project.
Our Commentary
Back in 2018, Virgin Trains signed signed a letter of intent with Walt Disney World to build a train station on-site. Along with that, Virgin was building a connection between WDW and MCO, a project the company planned to compete within a 3-year timeframe. By my math, that would’ve opened in 2021. Let’s say 2022 or even 2023 with COVID factored in.
At the time, we wrote this in our commentary:
As for our thoughts on the potential for high speed rail connecting Walt Disney World to South Florida, we’ll believe it when we see it. We are incredibly bullish on high speed rail, and its potential for transforming the way Americans think about public transportation. We are also realists. This has been proposed countless times in the past, and never come to fruition.
And in fact, we did not end up seeing it. Unless it’s hidden, perhaps in a tunnel, there is no station at Walt Disney World.
Last summer, in response to Anaheim exploring aerial gondolas for Disneyland and beyond, we wrote this:
This has a zero percent chance of happening in that timeframe. This isn’t Asia; it’s Anaheim, California. Honestly, the only reason I’m covering this at all is because I’ve seen way too much excitement about this gondola “project.” A car tunnel in Orlando has better chances of happening by 2028, at 0.001%.
My reasons for quoting my past commentaries are two-fold…
First, because Elon Musk is one of the most polarizing people in America. If I share my unvarnished thoughts about this project, they’d likely be met with skepticism or even backlash by half of you, regardless of whether I were optimistic or skeptical. And understandably so, as many people have difficulty separating the man from this businesses, which cuts both ways.
Accordingly, the above provides context and my established track record of categorical skepticism towards infrastructure projects. It’s not that I’m optimistic about everything else but the Boring Company. I’m skeptical of it all. I’ve been covering Walt Disney World for too long, and have seen too many of these projects come and go. It’s not just Disney, either. I’ve watched this unfold similarly all over. I’ve seen this movie before and know how it ends.
Of course, there is plenty of criticism online unique to the Boring Company. I recognize that, given the polarizing nature of Musk, most of you already have an entrenched position and nothing I could write would change that. So I’m going to sidestep all of that; it’s worth Googling, though.
Second, because I’ve already shared my opinion on the likelihood of car tunnels in Orlando, putting the chances of it happening by 2028 at 0.001% as of last summer! Just so we’re clear, that was hyperbole intended to be a throwaway line underscoring my belief that neither project would ever happen.
The actual chances that the Boring Company builds several miles of tunnels connecting Epic Universe to Universal Orlando’s main campus has a much higher likelihood than .001%. I’m not sure what that number is, but it’s possibly double-digits? Still closer to 0% than 100%, though.
I don’t want to overdo the analysis on a project I’m skeptical ever gets under the ground, but there are a couple of things worth noting…
“Tunnels in Florida, what could go wrong?!” is a bit of a punchline due to the shallow water table. I don’t know a single Floridian with a basement. However, tunnels in Florida actually are possible–just costly.
The Port of Miami Tunnel improves access to and from the Port, serving as a dedicated roadway connector linking the Port with the MacArthur Causeway and I-395. The tunnel had a cost of $1.1 billion and was opened to traffic on August 3, 2014.
That tunnel is significantly shorter than the Universal connection would be, and 2014 is before construction costs skyrocketed. Otherwise, boring is beyond my expertise, so I don’t know how this project would compare to or differ from that. I’d hazard a guess that tunnels in Orlando would still end up costing in the billions of dollars. That’s a lot of money, which probably could be spent better.
There’s also the possibility that the Boring Company’s proposal doesn’t actually entail tunnels, despite what the company’s name might suggest. Or maybe it’s mixed, and there’s a bit of tunnel plus a lengthy above-ground solution. Or perhaps it’s an entirely above-ground tunnel, which strikes me as an oxymoron.
In performing due diligence for this article, I researched the competing companies that also bid on this project, and they actually offer innovative solutions that strike me as, at minimum, superficially viable. One way or another, I suspect there’s more to this story than we know; I hope that involves a more sensible, faster and less costly solution.
The bottom line is that Universal Orlando needs a novel transportation solution to connect Epic Universe to everything else. Getting that traffic off of the surface streets that everyone else is using is a good goal, and seems like inevitable at some point down the road. I just don’t think it’ll involve tunnels from start to finish. We’ll keep you posted.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Boring Company being tapped for tunnels connecting Universal Orlando and Epic Universe? Think this will actually get off/under the ground? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!