

Hyperloop should start as a high speed alternative to road and air freight - lukeck

I haven't seen any discussion of this Hyperloop thing outside of the admittedly interesting speculation on how it might work. Until we learn more on the specifics, I'd rather talk about the changes and opportunities being able to much more cheaply and quickly move things between distant locations will open up.<p>Using such a system to transport goods in its early days has a number of advantages.<p>1. The risks are much lower than going straight to ferrying humans around.<p>2. Cheaper to get up and running.<p>3. Potentially larger market for shipping goods than human traffic.<p>4. Removes traffic congestion on our roads, and lessens the environmental impact of road freight.<p>5. Provides an opportunity for the public to gain trust in the technology.<p>6. Given the higher speeds, and with efficient dispatch mechanisms at origin and destination stops, it might become feasible to transport perishable goods that must currently be sourced locally or shipped at high expense.<p>I'm sure there's others.
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mbenjaminsmith
You're assuming a few things here.

1\. People would shy away from this new form of transportation. Why? People
get on airplanes every day without thinking much about it. Ditto for driving
60+ mph a few feet from stationary obstacles and opposing traffic. Risk and
transport seem to go hand in hand.

2\. It would be cheaper to build an "unsafe for humans" version first. Why? If
the ultimate goal is human transport then I think it's easy to argue the
opposite. Why build a system with different design goals, different
termination points, etc and then build a system with completely different
goals.

3\. Lowered road traffic. That might be true but at what scale would that kick
in? Is that a worthwhile near/mid-term goal? What about the negative press
generated by killing truck driving jobs?

You also have to look at the perceived value of the system, especially early
on. If you put a link between two major cities and can significantly impact
travel (from an individual perspective) between the two the PR will be
fantastic. In comparison, how much freight are you going to have to move
around before there's a noticeable impact? What would that impact even be?
Shipping is one of those things that is invisible to most people unless it's
not functioning properly.

Also don't forget that Elon is already tackling two modes of human
transportation with a very high potential for blowback in the case of a fatal
accident. I don't think he would shy away from it.

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unconed
> People get on airplanes every day without thinking much about it.

I think you underestimate people's paranoia and what it has done to flying.
Planes are the safest way to travel by far, yet there are safety instructions,
passenger screenings, restrictions on luggage, etc.

You don't get this when getting on a train or bus, because people simply
aren't as paranoid about it.

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ET3
You are correct that reasonable people do not fear what is safe. Phobia rules
the minds of the irrational. Many refuse to fly in a commercial jet in spite
of the fact it is 1/15th the risk of driving in a car the same distance. 1/3
of Americans have never been in an aircraft of any kind, and another 1/3 fly
less than 1 time per year. Americans fly more than most other nations, yet air
travel in the us is only 7% of passenger miles. Others have phobia about being
in a small enclosed space like a car, and even more people have unfounded
fears of being in large vehicles like trains, planes and buses with hundreds
of strangers, however the unreasoned fears do not prevent the success of our
transportation modes (even relatively risky modes like bikes).

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ET3
Google "Evacuated Tube Transport" (ETT) or "Evacuated Tube Transport
Technologies" (ET3) (trade marks of ET3 Global Alliance, and et3.com Inc.) on
google and youtube -- watch the videos to learn of more advantages. Read the
first US patent (5,595,543) to learn exactly how all of what Musk claims (and
much more) can be accomplished. NOTE: ET3 (tm) is the product of over 200
experts, companies, and institutions in 18 countries. We hope musk joins our
efforts to implement ET3. ET3 is optimized to accommodate BOTH cargo and
passengers in car sized vehicles. Initial (local) routes will be at
300-400mph, and ET3 will accomplish over 50 times more transportation (ton-
miles and passenger-miles) per KWh than the most efficient electric car or
train.

