By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
Hyperloop – Will this be the future of mass transit?
Imagine a 30-minute commute from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Leave the driving to the Jetsons: It would be through a high-speed tunnel costing just $30. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is using the power of the crowd to bring Elon Musk’s vision to life.
Dirk Ahlborn, CEO, said more than 500 people -- including experts from Fortune 500 companies and academia -- have been hired for the team so far, each committing 10 hours a week for stock options only. This crowd-sourced company is one of several pursuing the Hyperloop dream, first mentioned by Musk in 2007.
Ahlborn gave a presentation on its plans for the Hyperloop, first planning to roll out a small Hyperloop in 2018 in Quay Valley, California, a Central Valley community known for its forward-thinking, and Slovenia, the first international market to sign on. He said then company has been working on user experience, and showed a video on its vision to bring augmented reality windows to its windowless tubes with views and information that riders could enjoy together. The hyperloop will be equipped with wifi, he said, which is no easy feat for a train moving at the speed of sound.
The design would be environmentally sound, including pylon that not only take up very little real estate but also collect rainwater. Also, the Hyperloop would be energy positive -- it would generate more power than it uses, he says.
For more information or to apply to join the effort: hyperlink.global. Ahlborn said more than a thousand people have applied and the company is working on finding ways to expand the team.
