L.A. to S.F. in 35 Minutes? Might Not Be a Pipe Dream

[William769]

Even though the state of California is in the early stages of construction for a high-speed rail system connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, plans are afoot for something even faster.

Elon Musk, a co-founder of innovative companies like PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla, has another passion project: super-fast public transportation. Musk is spending millions researching his HyperLoop concept, which would carry people between cities in elevated tubes. The pressurized capsules move at over 750 miles per hour thanks to a combination of factors that include magnetic technology and compressed air.

Graduate students at the University of California, Los Angeles are now helping Musk develop the system. Musk and his team seem very confident that the system would work, carrying people the 380 milies between the two West Coast cities in a little more than 30 minutes. Current drive-time is about six hours, while high-speed rail will get people there in two hours and 40 minutes.

“[Hyperloop] could be very easily put together," Hyperloop CEO Dirk Ahlborn told CBS Los Angeles. "It’s more about figuring out how to make it a good business."

http://www.outtraveler.com/features/2014/12/19/la-sf-35-minutes-might-not-be-pipe-dream

[arcane1]

1. New Super-Fast Transport System Powered By Passengers’ Screams

SAN FRANCISCO—Entrepreneur Elon Musk unveiled his plans Monday for a revolutionary Hyperloop transportation system, which would seat riders in vacuum-like tubes, launch them from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and would be powered solely by the screams of its terrified passengers. “With zero negative effects on the environment, the Hyperloop could cut travel times in half, or even by two thirds, depending on how loud passengers’ shrieks and pleas for help are,” said Musk, adding that special turbines will convert the horrified screams of its riders into kinetic energy, which would then propel the capsule at record speeds toward its final destination. “If passengers are terrified enough to scream in abject terror the entire duration of the ride—and they probably will, knowing that even the slightest malfunction will cause their flesh to peel off their bodies—an hour-and-a-half trip from New York City to San Francisco could be a reality.” Musk added that his team is still working on technology that would power the rapid transportation tubes with both crying and silently praying to God for the trip to be over.


http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-superfast-transport-system-powered-by-passenge,33468/

[HappyMe]

3. That's funny.

I wonder how wise this is in earthquake-land.

[unblock]

4. ok, slightly borrowed from "monsters, inc.", but funny nevertheless....

[nichomachus]

2. And when this thing dumps you out in LA, then what?

We don't need these sci-fi, high-speed trains -- just yet. We need good, comprehensive public transportation systems in all our major cities. Then, we can connect the cities by high=speed travel. We're going about it ass-backwards.

[jberryhill]

5. Same question I ask whenever I land at LAX

Now what?

[Throd]

6. Better than the stupid 'Bullet Train" $100 billion boondoggle.