Several companies are hard at work trying to build the future of transportation, but Hyperloop Transportation Technologies’ CEO Dirk Ajlborn has been making some bold claims about what it will be like.
The hyperloop is intended to be a system of low pressure tubes that allow hi-tech capsules of people to travel long distances at high speed, in a similar concept to how banks use pneumatic tubes in drive through lanes. The 5 hour drive from L.A. to San Francisco is expected to be shortened to just 36 minutes when riding on the hyperloop, says Ahlborn.
The high speed travel will make it faster, and cheaper, to travel long distances but it also might work for shorter distances. There was in fact a similar working demonstration of such an idea demonstrated in New York in 1870.
During a keynote at SXSW, Ahlborn said the Hyperloop will work as efficiently for intercity travel as for long distances.
“L.A. to San Francisco, you are at a $30 price ticket, so then we have recovered our initial cost after eight years. Inside the city, we are cheaper than a subway”, Ahlborn told the crowd. “But it’s really about figuring out your business model”.
The ultimate vision of the hyperloop however is still quite some way off. His firm recently struck a deal with Slovakia to connect Bratislava with other main hubs in Europe, which may be as early as 2020 if everything comes into place. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is also currently working on tests in Quail Valley, California, and is expected to be online in 2018.
SOURCE: Business Insider.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.
