* Invent something totaly new
* Test it on a small scale
* Get a lot of negative comments on HN
* Invent something totaly new
* Test it on a small scale
* Get a lot of negative comments on HN
I think using this as a delivery system first, prove it out and increase safety as you go along is the way to go. It should be far cheaper to do it on physical goods first (hell you may even be able to skimp on the safety in some aspects), make lots of money transporting things and then work on a people version.
- For planes, there were 4,394 near-misses in 2012 [1]
- There were an estimated 5,419,000 automobile accidents in 2010, just in the US, resulting in 32,999 deaths [2]
- And the recent Amtrak train derailment, which could have been prevented (although why the prevention mechanism needs to be in the track, and not on the train itself seems strange). [3] There is also an estimated 2,280 collisions at public/private crossings resulting in 267 deaths in 2014. [4]
The question in my mind is whether the proposed Hyperloop system would be more prone to accident than our current systems of transit. I doubt our current means of transit would fare well under some of the proposed scenarios in the comments.
[1] - http://news.discovery.com/tech/airplane-near-misses-how-ofte...
[2] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in...
[3] - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/13/derailed-amtrak-tra...
The Hyperloop, to put it generously, has a lot of "unanswered questions" and practical limitations. Just considering the safety (and escape) of this thing takes you into areas that raise legitimate concern.
I'm not going to discount it completely with aircraft still around and failing as badly as they fail, it might be workable, I just want to see some figures on how much it will cost Vs. Maglev (a technology already deemed too expensive to deploy on the medium to large scale), and more so how much it will cost to make it safe.
Would I love to go across the continental US in a few hours? Heck yeah. Will I be able to afford it if it has Concord's ticket price? Likely not, I'll fly.
It's a chicken-and-egg problem. New things are uncertain, uncertain things are risky, risky things aren't funded, thus new things stay new.
"This new technology is expensive because it's new!" is a tautology that gets us nowhere in terms of progress at a social level.