

Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Is a Political Manifesto, Not Just a Tech Trick - wallflower
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/musks-hyperloop-is-a-political-manifesto.html

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j2d3
It is primarily a political manifesto, as he presents it as an alternative
(cheaper, faster to build, faster at moving people) to CA's HSR project.

However, in my view, there's nothing that makes Hyperloop and CA's already
started HSR project mutually exclusive. Hyperloop just isn't a valid
alternative. It does sound awesome, though, and it should be built, too,
because - why not? Its cost to build is low enough that private investment and
a public private partnership to get it to share rights of way (where necessary
/ convenient) with HSR, to even share stations... I mean Hyperloop could be
conceived of as the express line from LA-SF - a complementary technology, not
an alternative. Even if we had Hyperloop, there are still a number of great
arguments for having HSR too. And the fact is, we don't have Hyperloop, it's a
completely untested, unproven technology. We do have (a detailed plan,
approval, and some funding) for HSR. So we should build HSR, check out
Hyperloop, and if it's actually feasible we should do it too, and connect
them.

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nickff
My understanding of the logic behind it is that HSR will begin by building a
short link between two unimportant destinations at great expense; Musk is
trying to upend that idea by building a longer, more useful link between two
great destinations.

You are right to say that comparison of LA-SF Hyperloop vs. LA-SF HSR is
unfair; we should be comparing LA-SF Hyperloop to Fresno-Bakersfield HSR. For
both projects, these would be their respective first stages.

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j2d3
I disagree about a few things you said... first - that Bakersfield and Fresno
are unimportant. Each has a population of around 1 million. (Bakersfield city
limits has 362k, but the metro area is nearly 1 million.) That's pretty
significant.

So - why compare these things? We can have both, especially if Hyperloop can
be done for so little capital and so quickly. Even if we got it, though, it
would not _replace_ what CA HSR is going to provide. It would be the express
line. It has no city center terminus in either LA or SF. Rather than have to
take BART or something from the Hyperloop terminus to downtown SF, why not
have special cars in the SF CA HSR station that go straight to the Hyperloop
terminus - in the same car - one that is designed to seamlessly be transferred
from a HSR car onto the Hyperloop. It would make the Hyperloop more useful and
cool.

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nkurz
As a disenchanted California resident, I'm of the opinion that there is no way
that Hyperloop could be built within the current California regulatory climate
for anything close to the cost he suggests, if at all. But short of trying it,
this is hard to prove or even debate.

So instead I'd like to ask: regardless of whether California is possible,
where would the _best_ place be to implement a a project of this sort?
Australia? China? India? Canada has a number of cities a reasonable distance
apart that could be served by a single coast to coast line and existing right-
of-ways. Could this 'fly' there?

