Elon Musk's NY-DC hyperloop plan has White House in the loop – Roadshow
Elon Musk is apparently chatting with the Trump administration about his favorite futuristic transit project. But don’t get too excited about an east coast Hyperloop, yet.
The serial tycoon tweeted on Thursday that his tunnel boring company got a “verbal” thumbs up from government to whisk us from New York to Washington aboard his Hyperloop in less than half an hour.
Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Musk also tweeted a few more details about the plan:
City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Sounds like a dream come true for anyone who works in DC but has always preferred to live among the concrete canyons of Manhattan. Just imagine a 29-minute, near supersonic commute from Grand Central to the US Capitol.
About two hours after his initial tweet, Musk clarified a little bit, tweeting: “Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly.”
Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
I reached out to the US Department of Transportation to see if they were involved in the conversation Musk mentions and was referred to the White House, where a spokesperson had this to say:
“We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector.”
Sadly for those of us who salivate over the future Musk promises, especially when it comes to much needed updates to public transportation, the reasons for skepticism here swamp that optimism before it has a chance to bloom.
Despite the supportive words from the White House, the government is not a single human being that can speak with one voice who could physically give “verbal” approval. A Hyperloop route with stops in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington would surely require numerous approvals, or at least tons of coordination, from different governments and their agencies at the federal, state and local levels. (Here’s a running list of comments from public agencies so far).
In fact, the only explanation in which I can take Musk’s tweet literally is a scenario where the federal government claims all the necessary subsurface and surface rights along the proposed Hyperloop route through eminent domain. This would be an expensive (and insanely controversial) proposition as the US Constitution requires fairly compensating anyone whose land is taken via such a process.
Musk has tweeted in the past about “promising conversations” regarding his tunneling ambitions with government officials, but this is the first time he’s claimed to have done an invisible deal with one.
Promising conversations with @MayorOfLA regarding tunnel network that would carry cars, bikes & pedestrians. Permits harder than technology. https://t.co/0dxrXBOOWy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2017
So, did someone in the White House or elsewhere in the federal government just assure Musk that they would seize a large corridor of lands along the east coast for the construction of a Hyperloop? Let’s hope not. I think I would prefer dealing with airport security lines to living in that country.
Myself and a number of other reporters tweeted back at Musk asking for clarification about his statement. So far he’s provided none, other than to respond that he’d appreciate support. The Boring Company also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Published at Thu, 20 Jul 2017 18:46:53 +0000