Several points: * cheaper to acquire rights to build. Elon envisioned the tubes suspended on some pillars built on the median strip of existing highways. No ne

Several points: * cheaper to acquire rights to build. Elon envisioned the tubes suspended on some pillars built on the median strip of existing highways. No need for eminent domain, or difficult land acquisition negotiations * much lower air resistance: the pressure (and so density) of the air in the tube is supposed to be about 100 times lower than the atmospheric pressure. So the air resistance should also be 100 times lower for the same speed. * lower track maintenance: high speed trains are supported by steel wheels getting in touch with steel rails on a tiny area. Therefore tremendous pressure and vibrations. The load of the hyperloop train is supported over a huge area via air pressure. The load felt by every single square inch of the tube should be thousands of times lower than the load felt by the train rails when the wheels pass over. * potentially higher speed.