TransPod Hyperloop

[SaugeenJunction]

I totally understand that the concept of a functioning passenger Hyperloop is an idea that is still many years away from implementation, but due to the Toronto-based company TransPod getting more and more press, I figured that a thread here would be a good idea so people can throw around ideas/criticisms relating to this emerging technology.

Here is a video outlining their company and technology:

A recent article:
TransPod Wants to Develop a Hyperloop for Canada by 2020

And some renderings of the TransPod Hyperloop in the Toronto context:

 

[jje1000]

Always kind of wonder how many pods they can fit into each of the tubes- which would have a significant impact on the capacity of the system.

 

[Tulse]

Why the heck would one run a Hyperloop down Spadina?!

And perhaps it's just my general bias against elevated transit in cities, but those tubes look incredibly intrusive, even when rendered with fantastical clear tubes.

 

[mdrejhon]

I like Hyperloop ideas, but why not use Lake Ontario instead for the tubes?

Plus:

RealisticConceptArtFX: a theoretical PhotoShop software package to deglossify concept art.
Included tools: AddWeathering, AddRust, AddCracks, CheapCement, Sootify/PollutionStaining, Remove Lens Glare, AgeGracefully, AgeUngracefully, DeleteFakeCrowd, DeUtopify (10yr | 20yr | 50yr | PostApocalyptic), DamagedVegetation, RemovePerfectLookingFakeConceptTrees (10% | 20% | 50%), DimGlossyLights, ChangeWeather, ChangeSeason, AddAlignmentImperfections, FixImpossiblyMuseumClearGlass (New | Weathered | Acid Rain Etched | Yellowed Plexiglas | Salt Slush Dirtied). Unlimited free filter plugins to fix impossibly perfect concept art.

Note: This is in general for concept art industry-wide. Not specific to HyperLoop concept art.

 

[Tulse]

Sure, all concept art and renders are overly pretty. But the above examples are particularly egregious by suggesting that the material the tubes will be made out of will be transparent, which is absolutely absurd.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Sure, all concept art and renders are overly pretty. But the above examples are particularly egregious by suggesting that the material the tubes will be made out of will be transparent, which is absolutely absurd.

Exactly. I hate always being the downer when I have to explain to my friends how this technology isn't "just around the corner" like our incompetent media thinks it is.

 

[Johnny Au]

Even the Chinese elevated bus concept is more realistic (and feasible) than this.

 

[APTA-2048]

Exactly. I hate always being the downer when I have to explain to my friends how this technology isn't "just around the corner" like our incompetent media thinks it is.

Especially when it's used as an excuse to cancel something like California high speed rail.

 

[kEiThZ]

Especially when it's used as an excuse to cancel something like California high speed rail.

Exactly. Musk created Hyperloop because he wanted the California HSR canned. He'd complained about the HSR long before he put forward the Hyperloop.

The HSR would reduce demand for cars. And it's target market likely has lots of Tesla users.

That people are taking his ideas seriously and throwing millions at the Hyperloop is patently ridiculous. Any basic first order analysis would tell you that the costs to make this thing safe enough for the public to accept will make it far more expensive than HSR.

 

[Johnny Au]

Here is my ranking of future public transit technologies in terms of plausibility and feasibility (both legal and financial) (items at the top are more plausible than those at the bottom):

1. Chinese Elevated Bus
2. Chinese Elevated LRV
   
3. Self-Driving Chinese Elevated Bus
4. Self-Driving Chinese Elevated LRV
5. Primarily Underground Maglev
6. Levitating Bus
7. Self-Driving Levitating Bus
8. TransPod Hyperloop
9. Levitating TransPod Hyperloop
10. Teleportation Hub

You can create your own list as well.

 

[rbt]

Exactly. Musk created Hyperloop because he wanted the California HSR canned. He'd complained about the HSR long before he put forward the Hyperloop.

The design of Hyperloop makes an immense amount of sense; just not on Earth. A low capacity vacuum tube sealed off from the elements has high cost and low capacity compared to a standard HSR train but it would be a great design for travel between developed areas of Mars though. Since Musk intends to retire on Mars, he's going to need technology like that to take with him.

In fact, most of his investments (solar, battery, TBMs, electric vehicles, tube trains, spacecraft, robotics, and AI for controlling/driving everything mentioned) have a purpose in his long-term plan.

 

[mdrejhon]

1. Chinese Elevated Bus
2. Chinese Elevated LRV
3. Self-Driving Chinese Elevated Bus
4. Self-Driving Chinese Elevated LRV

That's just 2 items, not 4. The elevated bus on rails was an LRV of sorts.

 

[Tuck]

Sort of like those tubes in Futurama.

Hyperloop (Or "Transpod" in this case) is cool in concept. It would be pointless to use as a replacement for busses or local trains since the distances are so short. Some concerns include how to maintain a vacuum in a tube for such long distances, what happens if a point in the tube suddenly gets a leak, and what happens if a vehicle goes through that pressure differential, what the headways between vehicles are and if this gives enough capacity, and finally, what the costs are. Musk said this would be cheaper than HSR and maglev and I'm not buying it. I wanna see the receipts.

Still, I hope they do succeed as it could change the way we live for the better.

 

[Johnny Au]

This proposal is just pneumatic tubes by another name, albeit at a much larger scale.

 

[Urban Sky]

Exactly. I hate always being the downer when I have to explain to my friends how this technology isn't "just around the corner" like our incompetent media thinks it is.

The design of Hyperloop makes an immense amount of sense; just not on Earth. A low capacity vacuum tube sealed off from the elements has high cost and low capacity compared to a standard HSR train but it would be a great design for travel between developed areas of Mars though. Since Musk intends to retire on Mars, he's going to need technology like that to take with him.

Exactly, the Hyperloop brings "all the risks of deep space travel into the dessert of California", as argued in the following videos:

Furthermore, in order to achieve the desired speeds (and the consequently required radii), a look at the background of the website of an alternative Hyperloop proposal suggests that the stations might be a lot less central than what is promised now:

It is everyone's guess what the competitive advantage of an express train between Sainte-Rédempteur (Lévis), Blainville, Ottawa International Airport, Amherstview and Markham is over the air routes already offered...