5 Likes
Yes, the people who travel to Chicago for leisure and business is massive, but the number of people who need to get to the loop to O’Hare is a much smaller subset of that number.
The proposed tunnel (I’ll give you odds on whether it’s ever actually built) will originate in the loop and only go to O’Hare. That means it will on only really be a timesaver for people whose destination or origin is the loop, which is mostly business people arriving for or leaving a meeting. That’s a lot of people, yes, but enough to justify and pay for a tunnel like this? I just don’t see it.
ETA: don’t get me wrong–if Musk can figure out a way to drastically reduce tunneling costs and time, that will be a huge benefit in and of itself that would make any tansit benefit a bonus. I just don’t see the dramatic impact of this particular project.
3 Likes
You’re thinking of what he’s doing in LA. The Chicago hyperloop will be public transit. It’s not the same.
no, it’s not a “much smaller subset”, it’s a large percentage of travelers, and a significant one. I should know, I’ve also lived here for 20 years. People who come into Chicago for business or vacation by and large go downtown. And these days, a lot of that happens by cab or rideshare, meaning the highways are clogged as fuck compared to a decade ago. So again, another route to get business travelers/vacationers downtown comfortably and quickly (that costs the same as a cab or an Uber) and help reduce congestion on the El and the highway isn’t a bad idea.
And the idea wasn’t Musk’s. His company just got the project. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-ohare-express-train-rahm-emanuel-20180207-story.html
First, this proposal is not a hyperloop. Second, the article describes the same exact thing the LA project was supposed to be until it was changed.
1 Like
Yes, actually, the project is called “Hyperloop”. Or, rather, “Loop” here because they made it simpler. I’d suggest reading up on it because it appears you’re unfamiliar.
To be clear, I am not arguing that it is a bad idea, just not much of one. If a family of four is coming to Chicago for vacation and going to the loop from O’Hare, I’m just not convinced that many of them will choose to spend $100 (or more) on this each way, rather than $40 on an UberX or $20 on the blue line. If Musk is serious, as he claims, that he’s building this more or less without taxpayer dollars as a proof of concept, then any benefit is going to be incidental, so I’m not opposed, though.
Also to be clear, “downtown” is a heck of a big place. I think there is a meaningful difference between having a dozen or so el stops that all connect to the blue line and go to O’Hare as opposed to one terminus for a tunnel.
1 Like
I think it’s a combination of pushing technology and the slick image he presents coupled with the PR stunts. Though honestly he is kind of like Edison in that he hasn’t really invented anything new, but refined the development. And in the case of Paypal - right place, right time, right idea.
The stuff SpaceX has done is kinda exciting and actually seems to work. Will it achieve his grandiose plans? Time will tell. But I guess as far as rich people pushing the frontier, I can kinda get behind this.
Tesla is a mix bag. Kudos for pushing the electric car market forward, but from what I gathered if Tesla shuttered like Delorian in 5 years I wouldn’t be shocked. BUT it could be successful if the cards are played right.
The hyperloop and the tunnel they made in CA is snake oil. Impractical, worn out ideas that make little sense to throw money at. But I think it attracts people because of the optimistic futurism. Kinda like solar roadways. Actually I think that is the main draw - optimism that technology will help solve our problems and/or make the world better.
The other personal stuff - I got nothing. I guess if you are already enamored with the person you just make excuses. I imagine it like a hanger on character in an 80s movie, “Haha, yeah, goober. You sure told them, Billy.”
So I don’t really consider myself a fan, but I am not down on him either in general. I am down on him for some of the stuff he does, like the hyperloop bs. I don’t fully understand the hero worship, but honestly all of our heroes have some flaw and we choose to ignore them, most of the time. So I figure it is something like that.
1 Like
So there’s lots of articles on this, and you should read them because a) the proposed cost of travel is not $100+, and b) it would be a lot easier to discuss this with you if you understood it.
Downtown Chicago is not a “big place”. The loop is bounded on all sides by El tracks, hence the name. All the El lines end up in “the loop” save for the yellow and purple.
Also, it costs $5.00 to take the El train to downtown. But if you’re a local with a transit pass or you fly into Midway, it’s only $2.25.
Except if you don’t want a corporate dystopia… cause that’s how you get a corporate dsytopia… privatization of space is not much better than nationalization of space.
Great. He’s on the wrong side of union issues, and his factories seem to end up like racist hellscapes - neither of which are issues that should be taken lightly at all.
He’s not much more than a prototypical capitalist, if you ask me. Just because he chooses what seems like futuristic projects doesn’t mean he’s not - he’s just aware of the larger discussions going on and is able to capitalize his image on those to make himself seem less of a prototypical capitalist. At this point some form of space travel has been around since the 1950s (with animals). He’s not the only (or even the least expensive!) game in town with regards to electric cars, and any public solution that doesn’t include state-funded public options such as light and heavy rail (hopefully electric) and buses are just going to exacerbate the problem (in other words, focusing entirely on single/low occupancy vehicles to the near exclusion of mass transit ones).
9 Likes
It appears you missed the portion of my comment where I was talking about a family of four. The costs being discussed have been in the $25 dollar range per person. Thus, 25 x 4 = 100. That’s also why I quoted the figure of $20, for the el ride. Perhaps it would be easier if instead of insinuating that others opinions are uninformed, one would take more time to carefully read the posts to which they are responding.
It appears you are using the terms “loop” and “downtown” synonymously. I am not. A train that has one (1) terminus in the loop, is not functionally the same thing has dozens of stops in the downtown area. There’s a reason that the Blue line has a bunch of stops downtown, and connects with trains that go all over the city, after all.
ETA: to avoid this being snippier than it already is, I’ll take my leave, but I want to be clear that I’m willing to see what the results are if/when the tunnel is built and would be tickled to learn it provided a great value for the city, I just don’t see it being all that beneficial in the grand scheme. Take care.
1 Like
How long until he starts spamming tacocat or racecar memes?
1 Like
To a dyslexic agnostic, there is no …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2019
Yep, definitely Bad Dad Jokes Day. 
(To be fair, though, that one’s a trick question… 
)
facepalm
“loop” and “downtown” are synonymous in Chicago.
you’ve misstated several things about both the project and my city already and continue to do so. I’ve asked you to look up more information so we can continue to discuss, but yeah, your ego is in the way so this conversation is over.
That’s actually Gnorts Mr Alien.
Exactly! “Gnorts, Mr. Alien!” is sort of the secret handshake or safeword – kinda like “parlez” in the Bruckheimer Pirate universe. (-:
I am looking forward, though, to the definitive “Guide To Avoiding ‘Inappropriate For a CEO’ Tweets.” by MsOnlineManners or someone.
I’ve asked before, but have been brushed off with “it’s just common sense.”
But now that I see that Bad Dad Jokes and waggish ‘conspiracy memes’ are off-limits, I’m confused. Doesn’t seem like “common sense” to me.
So maybe Social Media’s leading lights can get together and issue a pamphlet or some guidelines or something.
1 Like
I still think the best way to have a social media presence as a public figure is to hand it to a PR person and never touch it yourself. Damage limitation is the name of the game.
2 Likes
"Deputy Mayor Bob Rivkin, who led the Chicago delegation, said he wasn’t scared when the TeslaX he was riding in descended into the tunnel, and he didn’t suffer from motion sickness after the choppy, 45-mile-an-hour ride.
That’s less than half the speed that the visionary billionaire of Tesla and SpaceX fame has promised for the $25, 12-minute ride from downtown’s Block 37 to O’Hare Airport aboard an electric vehicle seating sixteen passengers."
The Acela top speed is 125mph. More civilized countries have 300mph bullet trains- 45 miles per hour? Whew!
4 Likes
The project hasn’t started yet. the finished project will go over 100 mph and get from the loop to O’Hare in 12 minutes. Even with no traffic it takes at least 25 minutes to drive there.
So - slower that trains from 100 years ago.
Progress!
9 Likes
