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The Hyperloop was always a scam
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this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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I have to admit I was kind of impressed seeing the way two scams worked together: the Hyperloop, and the Loop. People genuinely thought they were related projects because of the name and, I guess, the tunnels. So the Hyperloop made the Loop sound more exciting than it really was, and the Loop made it seem like there was progress towards the Hyperloop.
Of course, in reality, the Loop is just a shitty cab tunnel designed to financially and physically block local mass transit projects, while the Hyperloop is just bullshit vaporware designed to financially and politically block intercity mass transit projects.
As a Vegas dweller, I'm particularly pissed at this whole thing because we're CONSTANTLY hearing "Well there's lots of subterranean caves and stuff, so a subway or underground structures (away from the scorching heat) would be unfeasible."
...but here we are with a stupid freaking Tesla-pipe that could have had rail cars...
Clearly the city planning here is just one big investor rug-pull on the residents. After this "Loop", "The Sphere" and their compulsive need to put like 5 more mega stadiums in the middle of the city in the middle of the desert.
And all working-class residents get out of all this is clogged freeways and $300 nosebleed tickets from Ticketmaster.
Yeah. I also thought that the tunnels were too small for a subway (because one of The Boring Company's "innovations" is to drive costs down by digging smaller, shittier, and more dangerous tunnels using existing technology). However, there are subways in London that have even slightly smaller tunnels. You could absolutely lay down some tracks in there and have a functional subway. Giving it to Tesla to run a taxi lane for who knows how long was just a choice.
Also, from what I found out, the Loop is going to continue to fuck over the residents, because the expansions are going to have WAY higher fares. I think right now, the Loop is $4.50 for a day pass. As a point of comparison, a New York subway ticket is $2.90, so one round trip would be more expensive than a day pass. That makes the Loop sound great! ...until you realize the prices are kept artificially low to make it seem that way. Future plans for Loop service would cost upwards of $12 a ride outside of the convention center and resorts.
Also, as an aside, something I don't think gets brought up enough is that the Loop proves that Tesla's self-driving cars are a scam. Even on a close course, indoors, built to whatever specs Tesla could possibly want, the cars need human drivers.