You can't just appeal to Elon Musk assuming he knows all and has figured this out.
Have you ever travelled beyond the US and seen an international subway system? I haven't travelled much but there are some amazing systems out there. Japan had 130mph bullet trains in 1964, can you believe that? They're maxing out at 375mph with levitating trains now, and they actually exist unlike Elon's ideas. Why do you give ideas more credit then something that already exist and work brilliantly?
Last year Japan Rail issued an apology because one of their trains left a station 20 seconds early [1].
Even in my town of Sydney, with huge suburban sprawl, we have beautiful, quiet, air conditioned, double decker trains that go to most suburbs and cost $1.50 to $4.
The future has already arrived, the US just doesn't have it yet.
New Yorkers don't have to cross an ocean to see good transit. Even closer to New York at just a day's train ride, the third busiest North American transit system is Montreal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Metro
I was recently there to visit - the metro is beautifully efficient, on-time, clean, and frequent. Trains every 4 minutes during work hours like clockwork. Connected to an extensive underground pedestrian network downtown, and frequent bus service outside of the core (even on Sundays).
And an unlimited weekend pass valid on both the bus and metro was only ~13 USD.
Yes I lived in Japan for a few years and love the transportation system there. The shinkansen is wonderful, but the hyperloop will be substantially faster in door to door time, because hyperloop cars will also transit the local loop system.
Most transportation systems are not designed to optimize door to door time. Even by express train, it's a long trip from Narita airport to Tokyo.
Have you ever travelled beyond the US and seen an international subway system? I haven't travelled much but there are some amazing systems out there. Japan had 130mph bullet trains in 1964, can you believe that? They're maxing out at 375mph with levitating trains now, and they actually exist unlike Elon's ideas. Why do you give ideas more credit then something that already exist and work brilliantly?
Last year Japan Rail issued an apology because one of their trains left a station 20 seconds early [1].
Even in my town of Sydney, with huge suburban sprawl, we have beautiful, quiet, air conditioned, double decker trains that go to most suburbs and cost $1.50 to $4.
The future has already arrived, the US just doesn't have it yet.
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-17/japan-train-apolog...