djlong wrote:It's just that I see all kinds of "American't" when it comes to stuff like this.
Keeping this on Hyperloop - 'they' said it would never happen; that it was just a white paper. There'd never be a prototype or anythign close to it.
Have Hyperloop proponents done anything close to a feasibility study? Any attempt to estimate construction costs? Operation costs? Safety and reliability? In my previous posts here, I have done some estimates of construction costs and I have brought up safety and reliability issues.
I've seen the argument from Elon Musk supposedly being a business genius, and the related argument that Tesla Motors and SpaceX have succeeded despite the numerous criticisms that they have received. But as Carl Sagan noted about laughing at new ideas, "they also laughed at Bozo the Clown". Also, philosopher Bertrand Russell once noted that "There are infinite possibilities of error, and more cranks take up fashionable untruths than unfashionable truths."
Well, now we have prototypes, including full-scale models. Bit by bit, piece by piece, it's happening. So far, nobody seems to have run into any showstoppers. That's not to say they *won't* - but let them keep trying until they do.
Many of the problems with the Hyperloop only appear when one goes to large scale.
As far as the 'other' tunnel, in LA, yeah, I see endpoint congestion there until mroe details get worked out. It reminds me of the tunnel under the Elbe in Hamburg - where cars line up at elevators to descend into the tunnel, drive through, and drive onto another elevator at the other end. (Rather interesting tunnel to walk through).
So its elevators lower cars from street level to tunnel level, and also raise cars from tunnel level to street level?