9 ms·

> Elon seems to have moved on to non-vaccuum underground tunnels via The Boring Company So, a subway?

by grishka 6y ago

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
nickik 6y ago
Just like an EV is a car.
thescriptkiddie 6y ago
But with cars. No, I'm not making this up. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1285819565407002624 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1285819565407002624
- stingraycharles 6y ago
  But... that’s just like shuttle taxis on the airport. Except underground. Guess boring technology triumphs again.
- nickik 6y ago
  Its almost like using mass produced cars in simple tunnels are cheaper then low volume subway systems.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  This seems worse than a subway in pretty much every metric, unless if you happen to be same person who's selling the cars that it's compatible with.
  - TigeriusKirk 6y ago
    There are a number of metrics where it's clearly better. Scheduling and routing. Not waiting 10-30 minutes for the next train depending on time of day. Not stopping anywhere but your destination. No connections or changeovers. Personal space. Privacy, safety. Regardless of how you personally feel about this factor, it matters enough to some people to significantly impact usage. Those factors may or may not be enough to warrant changing the systems, but they certainly are metrics by which Musk's systems are better.
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      It’ll also transit a tiny fraction of what a traditional subway would, and requires ownership of a car to use (assuming that a Tesla isn’t a requirement or at least preferred). I’m thoroughly convinced that these types of systems, along with self driving cars, are purely fantasies to allow people to believe that we can fix all the problems of car culture without having to give something up. If you want to move a lot of people through a city, build a subway. They’re proven and effective. Stop trying to find a way to turn subways into cars, the result is always ridiculous.
      - rsynnott 6y ago
        Or, given the capacity limitations of the boring company thing, just build a segregated bus lane. The main advantage of subways over trams and fully segregated bus lanes is capacity, so if you’re not doing that...
    - jcranmer 6y ago
      Loop is basically a personal rapid transit system, which is an idea that keeps getting proposed for basically the reasons you cite, but the few implementations that do exist have generally underwhelmed.
    - andbberger 6y ago
      Waiting 10-30 minutes for a train isn't a technological consequence of rail transportation, it's a symptom of a catastrophically inept transit agency. What's stopping, say, Caltrain, from running trains at peak frequency all day? Incompetent leadership. They have the trains (which spend all day sitting idle _at_ terminus platforms), the have the crew (who also sit idle during the day), they have the capacity to run more trains off peak. They made a deliberate choice to not run the trains. You might make the case that running more trains off-peak would increase maintenance costs. But I would wager that such maintenance costs pale in comparison to the cost of building enough platforms at your downtown termini to store trains all day. Moreover who cares about maintenance costs? It's insane to think that public transit should be profitable. loop is an elitist perversion of transit
- flukus 6y ago
  So a subway but only for 8 people?
chrisco255 6y ago
The benefit of underground tunnels for electric vehicles is that you don't have to build to handle exhaust, so you can build tunnels with a smaller circumference (cheaper). And I believe underground tunnels are a perfect use case for Autopilot.
stetrain 6y ago
No, more like a PRT system, "people-mover", or Busway.

> Elon seems to have moved on to non-vaccuum underground tunnels via The Boring Company So, a subway?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

nickik 6y ago

Just like an EV is a car.

thescriptkiddie 6y ago

But with cars. No, I'm not making this up. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1285819565407002624 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1285819565407002624

stingraycharles 6y ago
But... that’s just like shuttle taxis on the airport. Except underground. Guess boring technology triumphs again.
nickik 6y ago
Its almost like using mass produced cars in simple tunnels are cheaper then low volume subway systems.
ashtonkem 6y ago
This seems worse than a subway in pretty much every metric, unless if you happen to be same person who's selling the cars that it's compatible with.
- TigeriusKirk 6y ago
  There are a number of metrics where it's clearly better. Scheduling and routing. Not waiting 10-30 minutes for the next train depending on time of day. Not stopping anywhere but your destination. No connections or changeovers. Personal space. Privacy, safety. Regardless of how you personally feel about this factor, it matters enough to some people to significantly impact usage. Those factors may or may not be enough to warrant changing the systems, but they certainly are metrics by which Musk's systems are better.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    It’ll also transit a tiny fraction of what a traditional subway would, and requires ownership of a car to use (assuming that a Tesla isn’t a requirement or at least preferred). I’m thoroughly convinced that these types of systems, along with self driving cars, are purely fantasies to allow people to believe that we can fix all the problems of car culture without having to give something up. If you want to move a lot of people through a city, build a subway. They’re proven and effective. Stop trying to find a way to turn subways into cars, the result is always ridiculous.
    - rsynnott 6y ago
      Or, given the capacity limitations of the boring company thing, just build a segregated bus lane. The main advantage of subways over trams and fully segregated bus lanes is capacity, so if you’re not doing that...
  - jcranmer 6y ago
    Loop is basically a personal rapid transit system, which is an idea that keeps getting proposed for basically the reasons you cite, but the few implementations that do exist have generally underwhelmed.
  - andbberger 6y ago
    Waiting 10-30 minutes for a train isn't a technological consequence of rail transportation, it's a symptom of a catastrophically inept transit agency. What's stopping, say, Caltrain, from running trains at peak frequency all day? Incompetent leadership. They have the trains (which spend all day sitting idle _at_ terminus platforms), the have the crew (who also sit idle during the day), they have the capacity to run more trains off peak. They made a deliberate choice to not run the trains. You might make the case that running more trains off-peak would increase maintenance costs. But I would wager that such maintenance costs pale in comparison to the cost of building enough platforms at your downtown termini to store trains all day. Moreover who cares about maintenance costs? It's insane to think that public transit should be profitable. loop is an elitist perversion of transit
flukus 6y ago
So a subway but only for 8 people?

chrisco255 6y ago

The benefit of underground tunnels for electric vehicles is that you don't have to build to handle exhaust, so you can build tunnels with a smaller circumference (cheaper). And I believe underground tunnels are a perfect use case for Autopilot.

stetrain 6y ago

No, more like a PRT system, "people-mover", or Busway.