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Hyperloop One to shut down

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371–380 of 490 posts

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#371
post #12

There is a world where we dig tunnels under federal highways, and stick freight trucks down there. They'd run on a monorail, at 120+ mph. Surface vehicles would be dramatically limited in terms of height, width, and length. Maybe people buses could go down there? In my imagination these tunnels are, like, 200' down. Like mole people.

I like the idea but why underground? Why not above it so they can be easier serviced and managed. Also it makes repairs in case of incidents lots easier. Also we could stick multiple trucks together to safe space and make then run at a more similar speed. We could also remove the need for each container to have its own pulling engine, lets put a strong one at the front.

I just invented trains again didnt I? Whatever you do, you always end up with trains

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#372
post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Add riding a bike (or electric bike) in most of Dutch cities. It can be even fun.

I have a car and a bike in the Netherlands. Most everyone I know has both. Both are nice to have at different times, and I've never experienced any of the nightmares GP is describing. I was curious so I just checked, and the number of cars is just shy of the number of people of driving age, even in the bicycle paradise of the Netherlands.

A difference is most Dutch families have one car, whereas the majority of American families have two or more.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#373
post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in Miami some time ago, around Wynwood. Never really saw anyone walking around, and if we wanted to go anywhere then it basically required ordering an Uber. The difficult part was getting a sense of direction because there aren't really any obvious landmarks to look out for when wandering through wide-scale suburban sprawl. It's like the availability of GPS has just allowed this kind of sprawl to become even mo…

When I was in Tokyo in the 1980s, there were no street signs. The taxi drivers just knew where to go. A tip I received was to always carry a brochure of your hotel. Hop in cab, show the driver the brochure, "Hai" and off we went!

Japanese addresses use a hierarchical block system instead of a street system

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#374
post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Add riding a bike (or electric bike) in most of Dutch cities. It can be even fun.

I have a car and a bike in the Netherlands. Most everyone I know has both. Both are nice to have at different times, and I've never experienced any of the nightmares GP is describing. I was curious so I just checked, and the number of cars is just shy of the number of people of driving age, even in the bicycle paradise of the Netherlands.

My data does not align. We have 15 million adults and nine million cars.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a bicyclist: no. The problem is the disparity of speed between travelers, same as for a highway. Pedestrians appear suddenly or don't know about your sudden appearance or intended motions, and pain or injury results.

As another bicyclist: yes. That's how we do it here in Tokyo. Almost no one rides on the roads, despite the painted bike lanes that are always ignored by cars and delivery trucks using them as parking spaces.

Another interesting thing about cycling in Tokyo that people from other countries may not be aware of is - bicycle insurance is mandatory. It costs like $2-$3/mo, and insures the medical costs of anyone you run into

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#376

I thought the point of Hyperloop was to head off the upgrading of Californian railway systems? Created and Hyped by Tesla's owner because Tesla needed Americans to stick to buying ever-more-expensive cars. So, its purpose is done now and it can retire gracefully. Or am I being too cynical?

Elon Musk is said to have admitted this to his biographer according to this source: https://twitter.com/parismarx/status/1557702368417964032

See previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32892396

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#377
post #57

I loved the hyperloop concept, but it felt like the company was too early. The real problem that needs to be solved first before this is viable is "cost effective tunnels". Only once you have those, does adding a vacuum and accelerating make sense. I think Musk believed this as well, which is why he floated the idea of Hyperloop (pun intended) but bankrolled the Boring Company. I think another 10 years of tunneling i…

The real problem is math. You will always be able to get more throughput with a slowish, long train than a fast, short Hyperloop car. It's latency vs bandwidth.

Is there a reason these vacuum tubes aren't able to do large vehicles?

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tech is fine, right? It's the long game you have to play with regulators and state and local officials to get right of way to build the tracks or tubes in the first place. Under current regulations, it would take a decade of intense focus and politickin' to probably achieve a minimal viable example.

> The tech is fine, right? No, the tech is not fine. There are really serious, showstopper issues with it. Issues that were known way back in the early 1900s and there is still no feasible way to overcome them.

Yes they're so obvious that you can comment without mentioning them.

Look there are mag lev trains in Japan that run on superconductors. By all means you can put that tech in a tube and call it a hyperloop. Absolutely feasible.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCMaglev

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#379

I thought the point of Hyperloop was to head off the upgrading of Californian railway systems? Created and Hyped by Tesla's owner because Tesla needed Americans to stick to buying ever-more-expensive cars. So, its purpose is done now and it can retire gracefully. Or am I being too cynical?

That seems to be the reason.

"Musk reportedly told his biographer, Ashlee Vance, that the Hyperloop proposal was motivated by “his hatred for California’s proposed high-speed rail system,” which he felt would be too slow, outdated and expensive. “With any luck, the high-speed rail would be canceled,” Vance wrote."

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/elon-m...

https://twitter.com/parismarx/status/1495877041585074177

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The tech is fine, right? No, the tech is not fine. There are really serious, showstopper issues with it. Issues that were known way back in the early 1900s and there is still no feasible way to overcome them.

Even if there was we can estimate costs and conclude cost would be too high

No, we can't. And yes there is:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCMaglev

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