71–80 of 175 posts
"1.6x smoother than a maglev bullet train"? There aren't even any "maglev bullet" trains in service. (Unless they're referring to the Shanghai Transrapid, which is bumpy as hell but takes only about 10 minutes.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Flights in Canada are very expensive. If they could perfect the experience and expand the market I could see this working well. They could sell "Travel Across Canada" all while you sleep. Wake up in a new location each day. All of Canada in a week. No going to the air port and all that mess just meet back at the bus at a certain hour.
A landcruise. I like it. A european company did something like this: Busabout. They ran a circuitous route (or two) around W. Europe. You'd buy a 30d pass and hop on/off wherever you wanted. You could continue, back-track, whatever you wanted. Doubt they had sleepers. Kinda like the Eurail passes I guess.
I love the idea and if it were available on the 7 hour drive I do on the regular I'd use it but some of this marketing copy is extraordinary! > Whenever the vehicle experiences an event that will create vertical acceleration for our resting guests (the feeling of “bumpiness”) aka whenever the vehicle goes over a bump?
Silicon Valleying to the max. Another event that may create vertical acceleration is being sucked into the sky by aliens. The question is what happens to the unresting guest when such event takes place?
I'm a little confused. * They operate a single service once a week on a round trip from SF to LA that departs SF 11pm Friday and departs LA 11pm Sunday? And they have no published timetable beyond Dec 2020? * The bus has twenty total berths and each one costs about $100? Five of the berths feature the "Cloud Bump Cancellation System" thing that's being talked up on the ridecabin.com/product page? * So do they have on…
I tried a sleeper bus in China and to be frank I was scared to death the whole ride. Now traffic in the US is safer but by no means perfect. It just takes one idiot to take out a bus full of sleeping passengers. I don't think I could sleep.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
2x the price and 4x the duration. I think the innovation is that instead of dealing with the hassle of going to the airport, going through security, and sitting in a cramped seat, you just spend a good night's sleep traveling.
Don't underestimate that hassle when comparing durations. I once dropped my spouse off at OAK, drove down the 5, and picked her up at BUR. She had time to eat dinner at the airport, but otherwise she really didn't get there much before me.
Airport to airport it should take maybe 2.5 hours (1 hr before flight + 1.5 for the flight) versus the 5 hr to drive between the two.
I tried a sleeper bus in China and to be frank I was scared to death the whole ride. Now traffic in the US is safer but by no means perfect. It just takes one idiot to take out a bus full of sleeping passengers. I don't think I could sleep.
I'm a little confused. * They operate a single service once a week on a round trip from SF to LA that departs SF 11pm Friday and departs LA 11pm Sunday? And they have no published timetable beyond Dec 2020? * The bus has twenty total berths and each one costs about $100? Five of the berths feature the "Cloud Bump Cancellation System" thing that's being talked up on the ridecabin.com/product page? * So do they have on…
Of course the above scenario is just the tip of why I’m so excited about self driving RVs. Hop in at 8pm in your home town, work, watch TV until you’re ready to go to bed, wake up at your normal 6am, shower, get dressed, and step outside in front of the office at 7:45am. The RV departs, maybe driving itself “home”, while you work. At the end of the day, catch an Uber to the airport for a quick flight home... to be met at the airport by your RV, which whisks you home. You’re gone for under 24 hours from home, and were able to put in an 8+ hour day. Or, you take the RV all the way home, arriving at home by 8am. I’d buy one in a heartbeat if the price was around $0.20/mile. I might even consider using such an RV during a week long trip to the bay - using the RV as my hotel... having it drive out to Tracy each evening and parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Which in a strange way will alleviate Bay Area housing shortage - when you’re living in an RV, do you care how far away it’s parked from work if it’s self driving?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Two words “eminent domain”. The government, both federal and state (depending on the state) can absolutely obtain your land with zero recourse. They’ll pay you for it, but you don’t get a choice.
> with zero recourse What? There is absolutely recourse, such as "sue them and at a minimum tie the project up in lawsuits for years". Or "be furious and rally with lots of other furious land owners/interested citizens and vote the bums out" because focused single interests, even as minorities, often can exert a great deal of political influence in a democracy. Or even illegally resisting through various means, which…
The power as written is pretty powerful and has only gotten more powerful and broad every time it's challenged in court. Since it's hard to argue that building a high speed rail isn't "public use", the only thing you'd be suing over would be the "just compensation" part.
I believe in that case, the government can take and use first, and you can lawsuit afterwards over how much money you think it's worth which really doesn't stall anything.
If the government can use eminent domain successfully take over land to give to private developers to build a mall, or even take it just to increase city revenues, it sure as hell can use it to build a train.