What strikes me is that author of the article did not take into account key data about the proposed Hyperloop system which in itself is lacking data. I wonder if this article would ever have been written if the author had talked to any of the engineers that had worked on the proposal for even a few minutes to ask how they expected to work around some of the issues he's attempting to hi-light. For example the fact that it's "mostly evacuated" or that it's covered in solar panels which have been shown to keep structures cooler (http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release....) taking many small details into account could have drastic effects on his "1030 feet" of expansion estimate. I'm sorry but this article smells of intellectual laziness just for the sake of having a counter opinion* I'm looking for honest criticism and in my opinion this is not it.
*I'm not an engineer however I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.
*I'm not an engineer however I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.