It must behardbeing Elon Musk.
Yep, everyones favourite Space Karen is crying into hisGiga bierand fiddling with his flame thrower in angst.
Hes aimed his ire at a proposal before the US Senateto tax Musk and his wealthiest friends.
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How do you feel about subsidizing Musks vanity projects with your tax?
A large chunk of Elon Musk companies get government funding.
These credits were the only reasonTeslaturned a profit in its early years.
It creates road congestion that means some people spendover 40 hours a yearin traffic jams.
Bad planning in cross-town transport means a relatively short commute can take hours and several transport changes.
But theres no one championing public transport.
What Elon could potentially pay in tax could fund a heck of a lot.
Elon, how about voluntarily paying some tax to fund public transport?
Maths is hard and boring, but lets make it easy.
How much tax is needed to fund public transport?
He could even build a more modest railway.
Railroad economist Jim Blazedid the math of building a railway linefor FreightWaves so we dont have to.
Are you building this track in an urban area?
Prudently add another $2 to $4 million a mile to the capital construction budget.
Add more if the terrain requires tunnels and bridges.
Add even more if utilities or structures need to be relocated.
He notes that upgrading an older line comes in even lower at a range of $150,000 per mile.
Buses are even cheaper.
Texas A&M Universitypredictsroute costs of approximately $90,000 to $180,000 per year per new bus.
A new bus costs about $500,000 to purchase (probably closer to $800k for electric.)
This is an area begging for innovation.
The school bus driver shortage is so severethat theNational Guardare now driving school buses.
If youre looking for the Hyperloop, you might be waiting a while.
Ok, Elon is clearly a very important and busy man.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
