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[KSweeley]

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Elon Musk's Hyperloop has received Maryland government approval for tunneling, Hyperloop still doesn't have U.S Government approval yet: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hyperloop-in-baltimore-20171019-story.html

Maryland has given transportation pioneer Elon Musk permission to dig tunnels for the high-speed, underground transit system known as a hyperloop that Musk wants to build between New York and Washington.

Hogan administration officials said Thursday the state has issued a conditional utility permit to let Musk’s tunneling firm, The Boring Co., dig a 10.3-mile tunnel beneath the state-owned portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, between the Baltimore city line and Maryland 175 in Hanover.

It would be the first portion of the underground system that Musk says could eventually ferry passengers from Washington to New York, with stops in Baltimore and Philadelphia, in just 29 minutes. Maryland’s approval is the first step of many needed to complete the multibillion-dollar project.

Gov. Larry Hogan toured a site in Hanover that aides said could become an entry point for the hyperloop. The state does not plan to contribute to the cost of the project, aides said.

Hogan said on Facebook he was “incredibly excited” to support the project proposed by Musk, founder of the electric car company Tesla and the rocket firm SpaceX.

“This thing is real. It’s exciting to see,” Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn said. “The word ‘transformational’ may be overused, but this is a technology that leapfrogs any technology that is out there today. And it’s going to be here.”

The Boring Co. thanked officials for their support and declined to comment further.

Musk announced on Twitter this summer that he had received verbal approval from government officials for his giant East Coast infrastructure project.

Hogan announced his support for the project on Thursday. He posted photos of himself, Rahn, Boring Co. executives and Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh touring the fenced-off site near the intersection of Maryland 175 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Hanover where the tunneling is expected to begin.

Administration officials said they will treat the hyperloop like a utility, and permitted it in the same way the state allows electric companies to burrow beneath public rights-of-way.

“We have all sorts of utilities beneath our roadways,” Rahn said. “In essence, this didn’t need anything more than a utility permit.”

Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said the “vast majority” of the lines in the project will run under existing state highways.

It was not immediately clear Thursday what environmental review or other permitting procedures must be completed before the company breaks ground.

“It will be done in an environmentally sound and safe fashion, as are all state highway administration projects in Maryland,” Mayer said.

More than two-thirds of the 35-mile Baltimore Washington Parkway is owned by the federal government, which as of Thursday had not publicly granted permission for the hyperloop system.

The Boring Co. aims to reduce traffic congestion by creating a low-cost, efficient system of tunnels. The company has developed tunneling machines it says will drill quickly through soft soils at a fraction of the cost of traditional tunneling.

The firm has proposed building a similar hyperloop in Southern California.

Rahn, the transportation secretary, said the Boring Co. will start with two 35-mile tubes between Baltimore and Washington.

Rahn said the company hopes to assemble its drilling machines at the Hanover site.

 

[mcfrank]

Good deal. Nice to see some people taking USA infrastructure seriously. Was on vacation in Spain a month ago and taking the high speed train from Barcelona to Madrid made the USA feel like we were still living in the 1800s.

 

[Kickz]

Awesome, of all his projects this is my favorite.

The possibilities of living in somewhere remote in the forest of Montana and then working in a big city lets say LA or New York sounds amazing.

Traffic and housing in this country would be solved.

 

[hypernima]

Funny how Hogan allows this and the purple line, but not the desperately needed red line.

 

[Viewt]

Awesome, of all his projects this is my favorite.

The possibilities of living in somewhere remote in the forest of Montana and then working in a big city lets say LA or New York sounds amazing.

Traffic and housing in this country would be solved.

Yeah, the endgame infrastructure this would set up if it became a ubiquitous nationwide service would 100% change our daily lives. Exciting stuff. I hope it works out.

 

[shnurgleton]

Yeah, the endgame infrastructure this would set up if it became a ubiquitous nationwide service would 100% change our daily lives. Exciting stuff. I hope it works out.

Will it? From what I understand, hyperloop is a vacuum tube rail gun with a very small passenger capacity and no ability to run multiple “cars” at the same time in a given installation. This really just seems like a private jet replacement for the ultra rich.

The real game changer would be a dramatic reinvestment in boring old public transportation infrastructure

 

[shira]

boring

Spoiler

underground

 

[Guevara]

Between this and their Amazon concessions package, Maryland is looking pretty gullible right now.

 

[n00bsauce87]

I live about 15 minutes south from here. I welcome my new transportation overlords. I hope that a ticket will at least cost as much it would as an Amtrak ticket would. Amtrak is the only competition in town and anything will force them to lower their prices to something more reasonable.

I am even more shocked that Gov. Hogan got Elon to agree without making the state pay for it. I think Elon would take it just solely on the fact that he breaking ground on his new baby project and having the recognition. But still, that's a huge plus for the state as it's (I'm assuming) financially a net positive. Plus all the jobs it's gonna create for construction and after it's complete, just having the engineers maintaining it and service staff for customers.

It's a win all around.

That is also going to be a big feather in Hogan's cap when election time comes around

Will it? From what I understand, hyperloop is a vacuum tube rail gun with a very small passenger capacity and no ability to run multiple ”cars" at the same time in a given installation. This really just seems like a private jet replacement for the ultra rich.

If that's the case, maybe not so good. Hmmmm, that would have to be addressed

 

[Graphics Horse]

Will it? From what I understand, hyperloop is a vacuum tube rail gun with a very small passenger capacity and no ability to run multiple ”cars" at the same time in a given installation. This really just seems like a private jet replacement for the ultra rich.

The real game changer would be a dramatic reinvestment in boring old public transportation infrastructure

I don't think that's right, it's normally pictured with two tubes to support opposing traffic.
I have no idea about what kind of distances the pods need apart for safety though.

 

[FLEABttn]

Funny how Hogan allows this and the purple line, but not the desperately needed red line.

Maryland has a complicated history with red lines.

 

[StarCreator]

Will it? From what I understand, hyperloop is a vacuum tube rail gun with a very small passenger capacity and no ability to run multiple ”cars" at the same time in a given installation. This really just seems like a private jet replacement for the ultra rich.

The real game changer would be a dramatic reinvestment in boring old public transportation infrastructure

Most of Elon's most recent reveals about the technology on social media suggests they've pivoted away from single-passenger pods to cars, for better or worse.

At the speeds this thing is going, the cars don't even need to be high capacity to serve the same number of people the crumbling above ground rail infrastructure supports.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

Good deal. Nice to see some people taking USA infrastructure seriously. Was on vacation in Spain a month ago and taking the high speed train from Barcelona to Madrid made the USA feel like we were still living in the 1800s.

They better enjoy that while it lasts.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Most of Elon's most recent reveals about the technology on social media suggests they've pivoted away from single-passenger pods to cars, for better or worse.
.

I thought the car transporter thing was kind of an offshoot of the other idea rather than a replacement.
That video is kind of scary though, don't know if I'd want full view of that from inside a car.

 

[Steel]

Most of Elon's most recent reveals about the technology on social media suggests they've pivoted away from single-passenger pods to cars, for better or worse.

At the speeds this thing is going, the cars don't even need to be high capacity to serve the same number of people the crumbling above ground rail infrastructure supports.

The lights alone would give someone a seizure. Damn.

 

[FreezeSSC]

The lights alone would give someone a seizure. Damn.

He says in the comments the lights are only for testing.

 

[East Lake]

Most of Elon's most recent reveals about the technology on social media suggests they've pivoted away from single-passenger pods to cars, for better or worse.

At the speeds this thing is going, the cars don't even need to be high capacity to serve the same number of people the crumbling above ground rail infrastructure supports.

It's two different things. Car tunnel network is within cities, hyperloop pods goes between them.