What’s not to like about a 600 mph pneumatic people tube?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Elon Musk has a plan to build a high-speed transit system that would let you go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes — and which would cost one-tenth as much as California’s current high-speed rail plan.

Musk initially called his “Hyperloop” concept a cross between a “Concorde, a railgun, and an air hockey table.” Then he announced, a few days ago, that he’d publish more detailed Hyperloop plans in August and that he would be seeking feedback.

But you don’t have to wait until August. We now have a pretty good idea what Musk’s plan might look like thanks to an enterprising, self-taught “tinker” named John Gardi.

Gardi’s plan — which he sketched out in Microsoft Paint and posted to Twitter — is basically a pneumatic tube with magnetic accelerators and decelerators.

This is a shining example of how independent thinkers can come up with brilliant technological ideas that outstrip the best plans that any government bureaucracy can create.

But without that bureaucracy’s consent, it will never be built.

Here’s Gardi’s plan: You’d climb into a sealed pod along with other passengers and strap yourself in, and then the magnetic accelerator would inject the pod into a compressed column of air moving at 600 miles per hour. The air would propel you — and any other pods in the tube — down the length of California. Thirty minutes later, the system would shunt your pod into a decelerator, which would use magnets to slow your pod down until it reaches the station at the other end, where you’d disembark.

Connecting pipes would be between the northbound and southbound segments, with turbines to pump the air, making the entire system into a “loop” of air moving at extremely high speeds in a continuous circle.

“Your guess is the closest I’ve seen anyone guess so far,” Musk told Gardi via Twitter after he published his sketch.

Musk also gave Gardi an important clue: He is planning for pods that are about 2 meters (6 feet) in diameter.

“The 2-meter diameter pods tells us that #HyperLoop will be an ‘ultralite’ transport system,” Gardi told me via Twitter. “This means the pods, tubes, pylons, and trusses can be made of light, strong materials. This makes elevated construction much easier.

“It will also use less energy, but the biggest plus to lightweight construction is it can be built to withstand earthquakes better.”

We’ll have to wait until Aug. 12 to see the specifics of Musk’s idea, but for now, Gardi’s sketch provides a pretty intriguing view of a truly forward-thinking transportation system.

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I’d like to think that someday I’ll be able to ride the Hyperloop for a short day trip to Los Angeles. But the practical side of my brain is extremely skeptical. No government is set up to embrace innovation at Musk’s speed (witness all the legal trouble Tesla is having just finding a place to sell its electric cars).

It’s doubtless that Gardi’s plan doesn’t take a host of factors into account, such as making sure that the tubes don’t leak air and figuring out how to make them safe in case something goes wrong.

And then there’s the issue of securing the right-of-way to install these pneumatic tubes. Even with lightweight construction, you still may not want a 2-meter pipe containing pressurized air and pods moving at 600 mph running through your backyard. (I’d prefer that to big concrete overpasses, but that’s just me.) That means you’d still need to secure the right-of-way, deal with political issues, ensure that there is mitigation for sound and safety issues, and so forth.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/19/whats-not-to-like-about-a-600-mph-pneumatic-people-tube/

Edited September 4, 2013 by amriki bhai

[Ban Hammer 13,590]

the government has to figure out a way to tax it before they can support it.

[mota bhai 2,675]

the government has to figure out a way to tax it before they can support it.

Would you get on this thing if someone else was paying for it? Say your employer sends you out for training to Chicago or DC or wherever and puts you on thing or pays you to drive yourself. Do you hyperloop or drive?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[Jacque67 7,328]

Great idea. Hopefully it will develop.

[Ban Hammer 13,590]

Would you get on this thing if someone else was paying for it? Say your employer sends you out for training to Chicago or DC or wherever and puts you on thing or pays you to drive yourself. Do you hyperloop or drive?

no no and no. i'd walk first until it's proven technology.

[mota bhai 2,675]

no no and no. i'd walk first until it's proven technology.

Everything crashes. Trains derail. Planes hit doves during takeoff and crash. Ships are attacked by swarms of killer whales riding on icebergs.

[Ban Hammer 13,590]

Ships are attacked by swarms of killer whales riding on icebergs.

i think i missed that news story