Elon Musk's grand transportation vision

[losangelesnative]

Second Hyper-loop company is ready to break ground on a 5 mile test track in between LA and San Fran

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news...st-track-54816

[canucklehead2]

Let's face it, Elon Musk is our real-life Tony Stark (sans the Red Suit of course) and only he is bold/daring/"crazy" enough to attempt to build something as potentially world-changing as the hyperloop! Fingers crossed for good results from the test facility!

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Let's face it, Elon Musk is our real-life Tony Stark (sans the Red Suit of course) and only he is bold/daring/"crazy" enough to attempt to build something as potentially world-changing as the hyperloop! Fingers crossed for good results from the test facility!

Hes not building it , he walked away from it a year ago...

[losangelesnative]

http://www.labusinessjournal.com/new...-rail-company/

Hyperloop in talks with Chinese Rail comapny

[202_Cyclist]

Hyperloop Race Picks Up Speed
Rival firms are working to build the futuristic transport systems, but high costs interfere

By Jack Nicas
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 21, 2016

"To build a hyperloop transportation system, engineers must create a near-vacuum in miles-long tubes, deploy powerful magnets to suspend capsules on a sliver of air and propel passengers at nearly the speed of sound without making them sick.

Yet that may be the easy part. Backers of two companies racing to build the futuristic transport system insist it is technologically possible. The bigger challenge may be proving it commercially viable, sidestepping the fate of Concorde, the supersonic jet that airlines retired in 2003 because of its high costs.

Billionaire inventor Elon Musk introduced the hyperloop idea in 2013, describing a low-pressure tube in which levitating capsules carry passengers at about 760 miles an hour. San Francisco to Los Angeles—nearly 400 miles apart—would take 35 minutes, he said..."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/hyperloo...eed-1453426042

[colganc]

What would travel times be like in an optimized airport for regional trips:

• Planes with no pilots
• Separation reduction
• No in flight snacks or beverages
• Minimum of one door per forty passengers
• New jetways coordinated to work with no pilot planes
• Little to no security
• Denser taxisways, runways, and terminals
• Flat, non-variable ticket price

Something similar should dramatically reduce the overall travel times, allow for better and closer placement of airports, greatly increase flight rates, etc.

Taking a trip between SFO and LAX, you need to leave your location maybe 2 hours before your flight (obviously time and location dependent, but IMO a good reference time). Then you have a 1.25 hour long flight. Finally another 1.5 hours to navigate the airport and get to your final destination. 4.75 hours of travel time.

If the above measures are implemented and you no longer need to even plan ahead for a flight because they're constantly leaving every 15 minutes or less you can probably reduce the total time way down. Instead of leaving 2 hours before you want to fly, you could leave maybe .75 of an hour prior. Your flight time is reduced due to shorter taxi etc and now is only 1.25 hours. After landing, the taxi time is shorter, deplaning quicker, etc so now you only need 1 hour to get to your final destination. 3 hours of travel time.

It seems like it would be cheaper and more feasible to do the above then trying to build a hyper loop. If the hyper loop is sub-sonic, I doubt it would do much better than the above scenario. If super-sonic it seems like it would only be a bit better and only cut down on the "flight time".

I'm still excited for something like the hyper-loop or more generally what it could mean: almost no matter where I am in a region, I could commute to a job or entertainment etc, because the friction, cost, and time of travel would be so short. Live in Portland? Want to eat dinner in San Francisco or Seattle? Not a problem. Same for having a job in Silicon Valley. Much more freedom to choose where you live and work.

Edit:
Boeing checking on enplaning an deplaning over time (can show what is possible) and the effects of changed procedure or single/double doors on a larger passenger count: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aer...ly/t01txt.html
Security process times seem to be 10 to 20 minutes at larger airports. Couple of examples: http://www.ifly.com/san-francisco-in...nal/wait-times and http://www.ifly.com/chicago-ohare-in...ort/wait-times
Emergency evacuation tests and requirements show how fast deplaning can be if excessive baggage is not a requirement and more doors are available: http://www.wired.com/2008/08/as-your-flight/
Reduced separation and capacity example based off planned improvements to Newark: https://www.faa.gov/airports/plannin...ofile-2014.pdf
Pilotless planes: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/sc...ut-pilots.html

[M II A II R II K]

Hyperloop: The tube that promises to get you from Montreal to Toronto in less than 30 minutes

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/business/2016...0-minutes.html

.....

In a white paper, Musk laid out the basics of the system: a low-pressure tube, in which pods would transport people or freight at speeds of around 560 km/h, or even faster for longer trips. He then invited companies and teams to come up with functional designs and models.

- Since then, several companies have sprung up with the goal of making Musk’s vision a reality. Most recently, Musk was involved with a contest hosted by Texas A&M University for pod designs, the winner of which would be tested on a prototype track built by Musk. Transpod, which was founded last September as Hyperloop Toronto, was one of 120 teams who competed in Texas. But both Transpod’s founder Sebastien Gendron and director of research Ryan Janzen said the team quickly realized their ambitions were greater than the competition.

- There are several other companies with the same aim. The biggest fish in the Hyperloop market currently are Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) and Hyperloop Technologies Inc. (HTI). Both are U.S-based companies, with estimated valuations of more than $100 million (U.S.). Janzen hopes Transpod will find more success than either HTT or HTI, and place Canada on the map as a place for innovation. “We want this to be a new time when Canadian achievements are leading the world, kind of like we were with the Canadarm and the Avro Arrow,” he said.

- Matthew Siemiatycki, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in urban planning and transportation, warns that logistics and urban planning are significant hurdles Transpod will have to overcome if it wants a cross-country transportation network. “The technical part of ‘how do you build this’ is one part of the discussion. The actual planning and policy issues surrounding it are as complex — and then you have the costs,” Siemiatycki said. “Building this in a country as large as ours will be astronomical.”

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Hyperloop: Imagine Toronto to Vancouver in 3 hours

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/hy...-pod-1.3499651

.....

Unlike a train, a Hyperloop capsule wouldn't make any stops. You'd go straight from where you are to where you want to go.

- Removing air resistance means the capsule could travel about 1,200 kilometres per hour; just under the speed of sound. There'd be no risk of driver error; there would be no human driver. And without rails or roads, Lloyd, a Canadian, says Hyperloop would mean the end of weather-related transportation delays. --- By 2020, Hyperloop Technologies hopes to start moving freight. Then, eventually, people.

.....

• Video Link

[Hatman]

More hyperloop madness:

Hyperloop One, which is among a few companies looking to pioneer the pod-in-tube transportation system popularized by Elon Musk called hyperloop, announced Tuesday that it has partnered with a Russian firm to explore building transcontinental routes and replacing Moscow's ailing subway and train network.

“We are excited for the partnership between the Summa Group, the Russian Government and Hyperloop One to construct a Hyperloop in Moscow,” said Hyperloop One cofounder Shervin Pishevar in a statement that described the partnership as a "memorandum of understanding."

LINK: USA TODAY

Intercontinental hyperloop travel, between Asia and Europe at least, is theoretically possible. Replacing the Moscow subway with hyperloop pods is probably not. I'm constantly scratching my head at what people think hyperloop is capable of. Some people seem to think that it is the magic solution to all transportation problems.
Also, what is with those pictures two posts above this one? Why is the hyperloop pod sloped back for aerodynamics? And why are the people sitting sideways, given the massive acceleration that Mr. Musk said would be similar to an airplane taking off? It's none of the people promoting hyperloop are engineers, only graphic designers and dreamers.

[Nexis4Jersey]

The Hyperloop: BUSTED!

• Video Link

[ChargerCarl]

Elon Musk is the king of dumb transportation ideas.

[a very long weekend]

i'm pretty sure that the hundreds of world-class engineers working on hyperloop know a lot more than a youtuber with an undergrad education (does he have even that?), google, time on his hands, and a chip on his shoulder. even just in the comments on his own youtube video, others have pointed out major errors in his analysis. his other videos seem mostly to rail against feminism, which has to be one of the stupidest uses of time that a person can consider.

edit: and that's to one side of the fact that there are two separate demo/test hyperloop tracks under construction right now! like, this youtuber's basic argument is that it won't work, it won't scale and it's too dangerous. okay, well, they're building it, they're elite-level engineers considering how to make it scale, and it won't be any more dangerous than being involved in a plane crash.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by a very long weekend

i'm pretty sure that the hundreds of world-class engineers working on hyperloop know a lot more than a youtuber with an undergrad education (does he have even that?), google, time on his hands, and a chip on his shoulder. even just in the comments on his own youtube video, others have pointed out major errors in his analysis. his other videos seem mostly to rail against feminism, which has to be one of the stupidest uses of time that a person can consider.

edit: and that's to one side of the fact that there are two separate demo/test hyperloop tracks under construction right now! like, this youtuber's basic argument is that it won't work, it won't scale and it's too dangerous. okay, well, they're building it, they're elite-level engineers considering how to make it scale, and it won't be any more dangerous than being involved in a plane crash.

Mathematics professor takes down hyperloop:

https://pedestrianobservations.wordp...-entrepreneur/

Bottom line, the hyper loop is an extremely expensive, low capacity barf-machine that doesn't even improve door to door travel times vs HSR, a 50 year old proven technology.

[a very long weekend]

so your point is that since a mathematics professor posted a blog post several years ago on musk's initial white paper, the hundreds of engineers working in the private sector to bring it to reality, they should be prohibited from that work? i'm not sure why you'd bother trying to comment, if your only contribution is "this won't work." the sensible thing to do is to wait and see what sort of technology these different companies can bring to market. anything else, literally, anything else is just confirming your biases.

[ChargerCarl]

I mean, if you have any evidence that refutes those points come forward with them...

And no ones saying anyone should be prohibited from working on it, we're just saying its an an extremely flawed system that shouldn't be taken seriously.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Elon Musks Hyperloop: BUSTED!

• Video Link

[M II A II R II K]

Dubai's Interest in the Hyperloop Is Shockingly Sensible

Read More: http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/08/...reight/496394/

.....

Dubai’s government will host a two-day competition in September in which teams from around the world will present Hyperloop designs to judges.

- The technology would be used for passenger transport among the different emirates, but there are also plans to assess the feasibility of using the Hyperloop at Dubai’s massive Jebel Ali port. --- The Hyperloop could be situated either under or aboveground. It could also be submerged under water to connect Jebel Ali’s Terminal 4, which will eventually be located on a manmade island, to onshore destinations.

- Focusing the Hyperloop race more toward the movement of freight ostensibly makes a lot more sense, not to mention the fact that it eliminates the problem that traveling in it may very well make people vomit. --- The possible use of Hyperloop technology to move freight is also being explored in the United States. Hyperloop One and the Los Angeles-based engineering firm AECOM are conducting a study to determine how the technology could improve the ports.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

UAE plans to make Elon Musk's high-speed Hyperloop a reality by 2020

Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...sit-tubes.html

.....

While the idea is still being tested, Dubai has already partnered with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to examine possible lines.

- If the plans go ahead, and the technology proves successful, people could travel the 67 miles from Dubai to Fujairah in 10 minutes. This currently takes just over 2 and a half hours to drive. If it spreads to the rest of the country, they could can travel the 190 miles from Abu Dhabi to Doha in 22 minutes.

.....

[llamaorama]

The real problem with hyperloop is that it involves building a lot of costly infrastructure but doesn't look like it could carry a lot of people or cargo.

The shorter the distance, the actual time savings that come from large relative increases in speed get smaller and smaller. Is saving 20 minutes on your trip worth the cost? This is a relevant issue not just for hyperloop but for high speed trains and regional airlines. When you can drive a car directly from point A to B on uncongested roads at 70 mph that can end up being hard to beat in overall door to door trip times for trips shorter than a couple hundred miles. And longer than that, it would unaffordable to build.

IMO the ideal mode of regional transportation might just end up being electric self-driving buses capable of going ~100 mph on conventional road segments. A lot of existing interstates and even rural roads are fairly straight and if you weren't relying on a human driver it's not that hard to imagine being able to do this safely. If the passenger can relax and gets a hassle-free one seat ride from their home to their destination then the difference between an hour-long trip and an 1:30 long trip tends to matter less.

Remember tortoise and the hare. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race if it takes the most direct path and departs at high frequencies to match a traveler's own schedule.

[ChargerCarl]

^It would also be an uncomfortable barf-machine for passengers and with no increase in door-to-door transit times.