That’s not what it says:
near the new town of Quay Valley along Interstate-5 midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco
You’re correct that the I-5 does not go all the way to San Francisco, but if you’re driving between L.A. and S.F. you’ll spend most of your drive on the I-5 unless you choose to take the longer route along the 101.
Depends on what’s meant by “flying car”.
Roadable aircraft have existed for ages. But SciFi-style flying cars, capable of VTOL and flight within urban environments, where they only touch the ground to park? We’re not quite there yet.
I still don’t see where this is better than just high speed rail other than maglev scifi woo its cool, and how are they going to work around things like the Rocky Mountains for longer term thinking? Though admittedly tunneling technology has gotten way better.
That’s the more fun to drive route for sure.
The most scenic route is Highway 1 (which gives you a great view of the coast but takes forever), the second most scenic is the 101 (which is great if you want to stop for lunch at Andersen’s in Buellton), the fastest but boring-as-hell route is the I-5.
But then, if you’re planning to strap yourself into a high-tech tube in order to make the journey at 800 miles per hour then you’re probably not interested in taking the scenic route anyway.
Or take the train, Amtrak’s Coast Starlight.
Which is way more expensive than flying (at least from Seattle to SF/LA). Last I looked for the family it taking into account wear and tear on the car it would be cheaper to drive and faster.
True, though another example of “sacrificing speed for scenery.” The Starlight is expensive, takes a whole day, and still doesn’t take you directly to San Francisco—you need to get a bus transfer to the Transbay Terminal.
That’s one of the reasons I’ll be happy if the current high speed rail project gets completed in my lifetime. Even if it’s embarrassingly slow compared to the rest of the world’s high speed rail projects at least it will actually take me all the way to the damn city.
I love imagining what scenery looks like a few feet off the ground at 800 MPH!
I could be wrong but I don’t think this thing is even planned to have windows. The real tube wouldn’t be made of plexiglass.
Then I would be very disappointed if they didn’t paint the inside of the tube so that through portholes in the pod you would see this:
Meh. You can’t lick the electrical contacts on the Micronaut track for a little pick-me-up. And yes, I wanted one…
Faster, but still not particularly fast, considering the waiting in line behind 50 cars stuck behind a tomato truck going 58 passing a tomato truck going 56.
If there was ever a two lane freeway needing a third lane, I-5 through the central valley is it.
Even though it appears to be a private enterprise, I can’t help but think this will still get shot down or at least held up by people who have a vested interest in making everything shit.
Their usual tact is to use the ‘can’t have big government building big things’ argument, so I’m struggling to imagine what ideological barrier they will erect for a private company.
Help me out here.
I’d rather see the money put toward self-driving cars, though we do have a big push in that direction anyway.
Automated cars sound to me like a more universal answer to the question of better transportation. I can envision dedicated “auto-driving lanes” in place of HOV lanes and “trains” of self-driving cars linked together for long distance travel. With a set of manual controls they can be used everywhere, for both long and short distances. At some point we’d have less drive to own our own cars as they approach becoming appliance-like. The future is us hopping into an unoccupied electric auto-car, taking it wherever we need to, and walking away from it when we arrive.
It will never be as energy-efficient to move several thousand people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in self-driving cars as it would to move the same number of people by train. Even if it was, they still wouldn’t make that journey any faster (or at least not much faster) than they do now. A much more efficient solution would be to take a self-driving car to the nearest high-speed train station, rocket across the state at 800mph, then hop in another self-driving car to your final destination.
Self-driving cars have plenty of potential but they are the answer to a different set of problems.
There are competing factors. Pure efficiency is a hard sell versus convenience. If it was not for “security theater” airplanes would be a tough mode of long distance transport to beat for convenience. I’m not convinced a hyperloop system will be subject to any less entry security than a Los Angeles to San Francisco flight. That could be a drag on hyperloop versus flying, with automated cars getting us to and from the mass transit terminals in either case.
Also, automated cars could travel in packs (in dedicated lanes until they are universal) at significantly higher speed than they do now. Say 115 MPH, which extends whatever we would consider a reasonable driving distance today. I agree there would still be continental distances where flying or hyperlooping would be dominant.
Its reasonable to assume self-driving cars will implement algorithms that significantly reduce traffic jams. Studies show that even one driver implementing the right strategy can make a big difference.
Also, in a country like America, where owning and driving your own car is so encouraged by government policy and within the reach of just about all income groups, its unlikely that automated cars would lead to much of an influx. Not many people pass up driving now when its necessary and if they’re capable.
Maybe some more disabled drivers might be added to the pool, but not many, as its unlikely the automation will work well off highways, where conditions and road-markers frequently change, and you’ll need to be at least capable of taking the wheel yourself.
“We envision a network” in the United States and elsewhere, he says, calling trains a “dinosaur industry” and high-speed rail too expensive."
Wait… and 100 million dollars for a 5 mile track is affordable?
Great point. Add ninety minutes each way for security checks, taking shoes off, getting patted down and having your nail file confiscated.
