Transportation Transformation

"We're in the business of selling time, the most important resource there is," claims Rob Lloyd's Hyperloop One company. For time is intangible, this company is working on creating a mode of transportation that moves passengers at the speed of an airplane for a fraction of that cost.

With a low pressure environment inside the tube, like an airplane would have at high altitudes, the capsule hovers inside quite smoothly. There would be tracks and electromagnets placed on the inner surface of the evacuated tube, hopefully allowing this vehicle to travel up to 760 miles per hour. These Hyperloop systems would be much cheaper to create than railway systems, they would be completely weather proof, the little energy they require would be completely attained through solar power, and they have virtually no negative effects on our environment. Something so good seems to always come with some possible setbacks. For example, the Hyperloop would either need to cut across a great deal of land to travel in a straight line- which would be quite expensive- or there would need to be a large radius of curvature to make turns. For example, if the Hyperloop were traveling at 300 mph, it would require a banked curve with radius 4,400 meters to keep the passengers from great discomfort. For now, Elon Musk has been given permission to build an underground Hyperloop connecting New York and Washington. A 29 minute ride awaits.

- Sarah