Elon Musk, Shervin Pishevar’s Hyperloop maps D.C.-Baltimore Route
The Boring Company has revealed more details on its proposed hyperloop route between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. The project is designed to meet the criteria for a hyperloop.
Musk is planning to fund the 35-mile tunnel that will move pods at a rate of 125-150 mph. The parallel tunnels will sit at least 30 feet deep.
The hyperloop would allow passengers to travel from D.C. to Baltimore in just 15 minutes. The route will be designed to work with hyperloop, a system proposed by Musk in 2013 that has a top speed of 700 mph.
The project is expected to take 12-20 months to complete, depending on the speed of the machines. The construction of four “launch pits” will take about four weeks. There will be ventilation shafts and emergency exits, but no other surface penetrations along the tunnel.
Electric skates will transport a pod of 8-16 passengers, or a single passenger vehicle. Pedestrians and cyclists will be prioritized over cars.
The proposed route follows Musk’s and Pishevar’s idea of revolutionizing the transportation industry.
“That’s why we say we look at transportation as a new form of broadband,” said Pishevar in an interview with The Verge. “You build out those switches, and you build that network, it can actually be compatible with many forms of transportation. So the ultimate end-to-end vision should end up in a place that supports autonomous vehicles, autonomous pods that can actually go into the hyperloop network, get connection between cities, then have those pods continue on, partner with the Didis and the Ubers of the world and many others in that ecosystem.”
The idea for Hyperloop One first emerged after a conversation between Elon Musk and Shervin Pishevar, a Silicon Valley investor, on a flight to Cuba in 2012. Shervin Pishevar asked Musk to expand on his idea and suggested using it for cargo.
Ultimately, Shervin Pishevar asked Musk to publish his ideas about the hyperloop so that he could study them. His hyperloop plan was released as a white paper for others to complete. Musk got personally involved in August 2017, as he felt that competitors like Virgin Hyperloop One were not moving fast enough.
Musk is currently working on four projects, including his East Coast plan, the Hawthorne plan on the west coast, and the loop project between downtown Chicago and the O’Hare airport.
The biggest obstacle will be getting permission for the full route.
Maryland has granted permission for 10.1 miles of tunnel. The company says it is working with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to bring the complete project to life.
While he has been granted permission for the route, the state’s congressional delegationis pressing the governor for more details on the project.
“While the Hyperloop is an exciting project that has the potential to transform transportation along the entire U.S. East Coast, it is also a project that would utilize a wholly new technology and could have significant impacts on our constituents,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter.
The lawmakers have asked Hogan’s administration to answer 15 questions about the project by April 20.
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It’s time that the U.S. should step up our transportation technology like that of Japan’s. But this one here sounds a pretty impressive, even above-and-beyond, project that’ll put us back up in the spotlight. Kudos to Mr. Musk and Pishevar for making historical changes.
Definitely a great revolution in the transporting world. This will make a great contribution to people!
Baltimore would be such a sweet spot for some Hyperloop innovation to take place!