I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
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Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#2I haven't kept up with the "Loop" concept but I had heard it would use cars, not trains/similar which already felt stupid but the fact you had to wait for a car coming the other direction just feels beyond the pale. And that's before we get to the the "drivered" car. If ever there was a case where autonomous cars should excel, it's got to be this but instead we have human drivers still. So it's literally Lyft/Uber with extra steps, limited destinations, and the same speed.
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#3[flagged]
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#4> A quick check of Google Maps showed the route we were taking, on city streets, took 6 minutes. As we emerged into the sunshine at Westgate, I checked my timer. Six minutes. I’d saved zero minutes.
Beautiful
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#5If you think of the Loop system as a way of transporting people then it will obviously look insanely stupid.
But if you consider what it really is - an easy way to sell Teslas to cities for no benefit, then it makes perfect sense.
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#6If you think of the Loop system as a way of transporting people then it will obviously look insanely stupid. But if you consider what it really is - an easy way to sell Teslas to cities for no benefit, then it makes perfect sense.
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Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#7“I tried a prototype outside of its optimal use case and it was half baked.” Surprise surprise!
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#8It's interesting how Loop criticism has evolved over the years: initially, it was claimed Boring Co has no chance of duplicating or significantly improving on the speed and cost of state of the art used by tunneling companies, or that the entire concept is fundamentally impossible or cost-prohibitive to build. After building the first stations, it changed to capacity concerns or that it's not Hyperloop, an completely unrelated high speed concept.
Now, after Loop demonstrated vehicle rates that would beat most light rail projects and many subway systems too - assuming they get adequate automated larger vehicles - the criticism seems to be that it's not build out yet to a significant size, or that it has minor usability quirks.
I sure hope these people understand just how foolish that position risks to become if Boring Co continues good execution and build outs the entire system as planed.
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#9“I tried a prototype outside of its optimal use case and it was half baked.” Surprise surprise!
What is its optimal use case and how is it better than good old subway?
(asking a bit naively, it's the first time I hear about it)
Re: I rode Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, the worst transit system on Earth
#10It's interesting how Loop criticism has evolved over the years: initially, it was claimed Boring Co has no chance of duplicating or significantly improving on the speed and cost of state of the art used by tunneling companies, or that the entire concept is fundamentally impossible or cost-prohibitive to build. After building the first stations, it changed to capacity concerns or that it's not Hyperloop, an completely…
I don't think it changed. The claims went from "this isn't an improvement and it's wildly expensive" to "this isn't an improvement, it's wildly expensive, the result sucks, and it does nothing to test the concepts behind Hyperloop," that last bit being part of the original sales pitch.
Asserting that Loop is beating any form of normal rail is a wild claim that I don't think I've ever heard a transit engineer agree with.
In short, I'm not worried about Boring Co continuing good execution, but it would be nice to see Boring Co initiate good execution.