#world longest hyperloop

[rightnewshindi]

अश्विनी वैष्णव ने शेयर किया दुनिया के सबसे लंबे हाइपरलूप का वीडियो, 410 मीटर होगी लंबाई; जानें कितनी होगी रफ्तार

India Hyperloop Project: केंद्रीय रेल मंत्री अश्विनी वैष्णव ने हाल ही में आईआईटी मद्रास में हाइपरलूप परीक्षण सुविधा का दौरा किया। यहां पर उन्होंने कहा कि विकसित की जा रही हाइपरलूप ट्यूब जल्द ही दुनिया की सबसे लंबी हो जाएगी, जिसकी लंबाई 410 मीटर होगी। वहीं, केंद्रीय रेल मंत्री ने यह भी कहा कि हाइपरलूप प्रोजेक्ट के लिए इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स कंपोनेंट टेक्नोलॉजी चेन्नई स्थित इंटीग्रल कोच फैक्ट्री (ICF) में…

[sourcreammachine]

i love how the self-titled Effective Altruists and cuntbags like musk believe that the “demographic crisis” of the 21st century is like a massive insane problem that we need to solve by farting out babies 24/7, as they said in that recent Kurzgesagt propaganda video they produced

it is capitalism that’s the problem, again. growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell. we ‘grow’ when we produce more, and our investments are based around potential growths rather than what is needed - so when alleged ‘potential’ can’t materialise, the economy collapses

we will be able to produce less when there will be less workers. future spacex neuralink hyperloop tech might soften the blow but won’t be able to change that fact

this is coming towards capitalism like a high-speed train. most executives are essentially wagies visàvis their positions as gods of the world, so systemically cannot respond to a problem more than twenty years ahead of time. but oligarchs like musk and formerly bankman-fried, with their oligarchic status seemingly made permanent (lol), become weird nutters who’ve given themselves messiah complexes about “solving” it. we must increase production always at all costs, so we must increase babies at all costs

growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell. the economy is going to shrink and we must not let this cause a world-eating depression under capitalism. we have to accept that we’re peaking, stop investing resources into growth and start investing resources into efficiency, systemic resilience, and services, and drop dead-weight unsustainable overproduction that’s killing the planet. stop even trying to grow the economy during a period of global decline - the global Very Long Boom and global Baby Boom gave a economic dividend that must be repaid

socialistic economics, redistribution, and economic democracy can let this pressure. we have to do managed decline, work towards working better with less workers and less labour, and support untold masses of pensioners. capitalism simply cannot do this. if under capitalism the economy was recessing massively, but don’t worry, in many years the ageing recession will cease and growth should resume with stability - investment simply will not go towards what is needed to improve life under the status quo and will be hedged until growth resumes, and so nothing good will ever come

that’s why the so-called “effective altruists” and muskists are so bothered about preventing what they see as demographic collapse - should it occur it’ll wreak a huge economic recession, be it slow or as a crash, and lead to a world of impoverished pensioners starving on the street. so their solution is babies at all costs, when instead we could have a world where a period of managed decline spurs reinvestment in what we have, a silver age of planet earth, a global new deal beyond measure. and when the massive wave of pensioners dies, we will have good services and sustainable economics, and enriched communities with fruitful childhoods and good educations, and yeah, we can use our growth potential to not just prevent environmental destruction (capitalism’ll’ve already triggered a lot) but do our level headed best to fix it, become the stewards of Earth that we’re abdicating ourselves as, and fuck it, have enough money to reshape the world into a happy and good place to live a life

but capitalism cannot do that. because capitalism cannot accept decline. because capitalism must have growth at any costs, and will continue to beat the dead horse until the skies darken with soot and until the baby boomers who built the longest boom are left to rot without care or food and their children are enslaved to keep the fires burning. and to bring back the boom times, it must be babies at any cost

footnote: this was mostly about economics but there’s one more angle that would’ve made a bit of a tangent. musk’s side of the coin has a massive, massive misogynistic basis. musk, the individual, is famously a total creep. people with breeding kinks can breathe a sigh of relief because he is not one of you - his is a creepy breeding obsession. he has an obsession with creating as many of his own children as possible and subscribes to the belief that a Man’s worth can be measured with his spawn. and so many of his ilk believe the same. this is how he can have child after child despite obviously not caring for them and doing his duty as a parent - parenting ten children should basically be a full time job. it takes a village: this is a village. and i don’t mean to point fingers, but with his first wife he had a set of twins via ivf and then a set of triplets via ivf, and many more children later, including after the birth of the human person he calls “X Æ A-Xii”, he had a second child with Grimes via surrogacy. this worldview undoubtedly affects his everyday misogyny and transphobia - women’s utility is as utility, trans men do iRrEvErSiBlE dAmAgE to their mere utility, and trans women go against womanhood due to having no utility. he abandoned his own fucking daughter for being trans. creepy, disgusting, indefensible - and this man is one of the gods of our world, enacting his poisonous worldview without oversight

and ragging on cunts like musk isn’t letting the “effective altruists” off the hook. their circles, as organisations or just general society, has an oft-reported massive sexism problem. multiple EA members have been accused of creating a toxic atmosphere hostile to women, of sexual misconduct, and of grooming with intention to form ‘poly relationships’, harems. an ideology of reducing humans to utility, of stressing population growth, and of getting ants in your pants about demographic crisis does not combine well with latent misogyny and the patriarchal, male near-exclusive echelons of capitalism

[angelo-the-whistleblower]

(01 Mar. 2025) - India’s Hyperloop Revolution: Building the World’s Longest Test Track | Future of Transportation    

India is positioning itself as a global leader in the future of transportation by building the world’s longest hyperloop test facility. After successfully completing a 422-meter test track in December 2024, India is preparing for a nearly 50-kilometre test track to assess the commercial viability of hyperloop travel.

This futuristic transportation system, first proposed by George Medhurst in 1799 and revived by Elon Musk in 2013, is now being developed in India with full government backing. The project is being funded by India’s Ministry of Railways, in collaboration with academia, including the renowned Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced an additional grant to IIT Madras for the development of this revolutionary technology.

 India is among the few countries making significant progress in building a hyperloop that is fit for commercial use, with international collaborations and the global spotlight on India’s technological leadership. Will hyperloop become the next generation of transportation? Watch to learn more about this groundbreaking project that could change how the world travels.

[danzer91]

🚨World First Longest 1000 km/h Hyperloop Project in INDIA #hyperloop

[wwn24]

Hyperloop tube in India to soon become world's longest at 410 meters: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras on Saturday and said that the Hyperloop tube, being developed with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, will soon be the world’s longest tube, measuring 410 meters in length. The 410-meter-long Hyperloop test tube located at IIT Madras is already the longest Hyperloop test facility in Asia.…

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Chennai: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently visited the Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras, where he announced that India's Hyperloop tube would soon become the world's longest, stretching 410 meters in length. Currently, this facility holds the title of Asia’s lo Read More [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] Chennai: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently visited the Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras, where he announced that India's Hyperloop tube would soon become the world's longest, stretching 410 meters in length. Currently, this facility holds the title of Asia’s lo Read More [ad_2] Source link

[manmishra]

India’s Hyperloop Revolution: Pioneering the Future of Transportation

India is revolutionizing transportation by constructing the world’s longest hyperloop test track, aiming to reach speeds of 1,100 km/h. This futuristic technology promises ultra-fast travel, global collaborations, and a sustainable alternative to conventional transit. Explore India's role in shaping the future of high-speed travel.

India is taking a monumental leap in transportation technology by constructing the world’s longest hyperloop test track. This ambitious initiative is set to revolutionize mass transit, positioning India at the forefront of next-generation travel solutions. With plans to extend the test track from an initial 422 meters to nearly 50 kilometers, the country is demonstrating its commitment to…

[spaceexp]

The future CERN LHC dug by Elon Musk?

Elon Musk - Founder & Owner of SpaceX & Tesla Motors. Jan. 23, 2019 The boss of Tesla says he has been contacted by the CERN director for the creation of the super particle accelerator that will replace the current LHC.

Elon Musk. Founder & Owner of SpaceX/Tesla Motors

Elon Musk would be well digging the future LHC tunnel at CERN in Geneva. The co-founder and boss of car manufacturer Tesla split a tweet Monday to announce that the director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research had asked him if The Boring Co could build the new tunnels for the future. LHC.

The Hyperloop. Image Credit: SpaceX

With this company, Elon Musk wants to create underground tunnels to avoid traffic jams. The South African billionaire, who presented a first project in Los Angeles last December, said such collaboration would save several billion euros at CERN.

Artist's view of  future FCC tunnel interiors. Image Credit: CERN

CERN confirmed the meeting between its director, Fabiola Gianotti, and Elon Musk last July without saying more. "CERN is always open to new cost-effective technologies that could lead to their implementation, including the tunnels we will need," said a spokesman. Boson of Higgs in 2012 The large hadron collider, known as LHC, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, detected the Higgs boson in 2012. The 27-km circular ring, which is undergoing a profound transformation, has been shut down for two years. When restarted in 2021, the accelerator will be brought to its maximum potential to be the scene of collisions between particles at an energy of 14 TeV.

Designing the Future Circular Collider

And CERN plans the creation of a new accelerator, even more powerful, with a circumference of 100 km. The ring, called FCC, would cross the lake, part of the canton of Geneva, the Country of Gex (F) and Haute-Savoie (F). Its costs are estimated at several billion euros. Editor's and writer note: Switzerland already has a great deal of experience and expertise in tunneling, with the longest tunnel in the world, the Gotthard, length of 57.1 km and 152 km of galleries in total and many other tunnels in the Alps and everywhere in Switzerland (920 rail and road tunnels). Related article: International collaboration publishes concept design for a post-LHC future circular collider at CERN https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/01/international-collaboration-publishes.html For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/ Images (mentioned), Video (CERN), Text, Credits: ATS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[sepdet]

I posted 3,412 times in 2022

That's 574 more posts than 2021!

146 posts created (4%)

3,266 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cephalopodvictorious

@ardent-ace

@whetstonefires

@angeloftheeasterngate

@doccywhomst

I tagged 1,957 of my posts in 2022

Only 43% of my posts had no tags

#queue - 87 posts

#us politics - 76 posts

#youtube - 65 posts

#oh tumblr - 50 posts

#dracula daily - 40 posts

#vile puns - 29 posts

#critters - 27 posts

#funny - 27 posts

#cats - 22 posts

#other people's art - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#my therapist didn't understand why i was peeved at that 'the good news is the only vaccinated people in the study who died had comorbidities

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

1,209 notes - Posted July 31, 2022

#4

This woman may have a point, although I fear she overestimates the amount of work Elon Musk does vs what he takes credit for.

See link above for her whole thread, but the parts that jumped out at me:

At first I thought “how terrible, I hate Elon Musk” and then I realized that having to own Twitter is an entirely appropriate punishment for Elon Musk

The world’s richest man would rather be subpoenaed twice a year to testify before Congress about why he used the official @/Twitter account to post 12 Reddit memes calling for the overthrow of the government than just like… having sex in a luxury submarine?

[...]

I considered deleting my account if Elon Musk buys Twitter but honestly that is letting him off easy, we should not leave, we should engage goose mode and keep him as busy as possible dealing with Twitter so he can’t do any of the other bad things he usually does

[Image: screencap from Horrible Goose Game with caption "I think I will cause problems on purpose" /end image]

Like… think about it… if we all make sure that Twitter is as enormous a headache as possible… and his gigantic ego is fully invested in proving he can “fix Twitter…”

We can completely freeze all of his other destructive activities. Goodbye monkey torture hobby!!!

I mean sure he can still just hire people to do the other stuff BUT it is fairly well established with Elon that, once his attention wanders, his projects never move again (see: HyperLoop).

He has the same collection of abandoned craft projects I do, his are just expensive.

Anyway I think maybe the entire cosmic purpose of Twitter all along was to become a massive Elon-distraction device.

He is our Minotaur. We are his labyrinth. All things are processing according to a greater plan.

2,332 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

#3

The Endurance was trapped in Antarctic ice for about a year and finally sank in November 1915:

Famously, Ernest Shackleton used a jury-rigged lifeboat to sail over 700 miles to a whaling station, seek help, return and rescue his entire crew, which imo is a greater feat than reaching the South Pole. The ocean currents circling Antartica are some of the stormiest and coldest in the world. How the heck do you cross that in a small open boat without sinking, starving, or freezing to death?

Anyway, I'm impressed that the Endurance looks to be in pretty good shape considering how much it got crushed by pack ice. And it was just discovered yesterday (March 9)!

5,415 notes - Posted March 9, 2022

#2

19,263 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

[Description: Tiktok compilation of two dancers in sweats or other gym clothes interpreting various iPhone alert sounds as dance moves synchronized with and vaguely mimicking the sound effects.]

26,166 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

--------

Well at least #3 is an actual educational post, which I'm proud to have posted before news media, since I just happened to catch the initial tweet rippling across archaeology twitter.

#2 is educational too, actually: there's a good reason why those early reconstructions of pterosaurs look like flying possums.

Here's the director's cut Endurance/Shackleton post in which I recounted their incredible saga with actual photos from the expedition

[kkprocessblog]

Assignment #6: Framing Story

It is the Year 3000 and the world is not what it was in 1000 years ago. It’s beautiful. Climate change is no longer an issue and tropical rainforests are flourishing, not endangered. Ecosystems across the planet thrive with life and a seemingly endless supply of resources. What changed? People started to respect nature. 

Once many realized that we as people are not greater than nature, the brutal exploitation of its resources began to slow down. Companies started to strictly go green, and unnecessary materials like styrofoam stopped in production. Leaders turned to scientists for guidance, and societies flourished under this educated leadership. 

While solar powered cars took over in 2400, the new global transportation system ended the need for cars. Inspired by the Hyperloop, this new form of railway transportation connects all land on Earth, where even the trip with the longest distance does not take more than 10 hours. Because there is no need for cars and buses anymore, there is more room on the roads for nature and pedestrians. 

What the people of 3000 value the most is the importance of healing nature- which is why everybody carries around the nanocan. The nanocan is a small yet highly technological version of the original watering can, which has the ability to heal and nourish dying plants. This keeps the Earth full of beautiful plants and trees, and everybody can contribute. Without having to refill it, the nanocan releases water with nourishing electrolytes that visibly improve a plant’s condition. 

Life on Earth is at its peak, and it is all because we turned to nature for guidance. 

Message:

The message will be delivered in an infomercial, advertisement type of video by the government, aka the people who created nanocan. While the government is very hard to trust in today’s society, it is important to note that over the years, world leaders have turned to scientists and research to improve the quality of life on Earth. The “green party” is no longer its separate group; it is a fundamental part of all governments, and there is no debate about it. Leaders are candid and put the well being of not only their people first, but also the protection of our environment. 

This advertisement of the nanocan will showcase its abilities to quickly heal dying plants, along with how much the people of 3000 are able to contribute to the planet’s health and flourishment :)

[bm2ab]

Arrivals & Departures 28 June 1971 Elon Reeve Musk

Elon Reeve Musk FRS (/ˈiːlɒn/; born 28 June 1971) is an engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a citizen of South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He is based in the United States, where he immigrated to at age 20 and has resided since then. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018. In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative Leaders of 2019. A self-made billionaire, as of June 2020 his net worth was estimated at $42.6 billion and he is listed by Forbes as the 31st-richest person in the world. He is the longest tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.

Born to a Canadian mother and South African father, Musk was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. He briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada when he was 17 to attend Queen's University. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School and a bachelor's degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He moved to California in 1995 to begin a Ph.D. in applied physics and material sciences at Stanford University, but decided to pursue a business career instead of enrolling. He subsequently co-founded (with his brother Kimbal) Zip2, a web software company, which was acquired by Compaq for $340 million in 1999. Musk then founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000, which had launched PayPal the previous year and was subsequently bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.

In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.), an electric vehicle manufacturer, in 2004, the year after it was founded, and became its CEO and product architect. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces. In December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on tunnels optimized for electric vehicles.

In addition to his primary business pursuits, Musk has envisioned a high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop. Musk has said the goals of SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity revolve around his vision to "change the world and help humanity". His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption and lessening the risk of human extinction by establishing a human colony on Mars.

[y-axisoverseascareers]

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[best-technology-news]

World's longest hyperloop track in the works for Saudi Arabia https://ift.tt/2Meg7K1

[un-enfant-immature]

Review of Elon Musk’s DC-to-Baltimore ‘Loop’ system reveals safety concerns

The Boring Company’s Loop transit system that aims to shuttle people in autonomous electric vehicles between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. fails to meet several key national safety standards, a review of its proposal reveals.

The underground system appears to lack sufficient emergency exits, ignore the latest engineering practices and proposes passenger escape ladders that one fire safety professor calls “the definition of insanity.”

Details of the 35.3-mile system, the first segment in a high-speed network that Boring Company founder and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk hopes will one day run all the way to New York, emerged recently in a 505-page draft environmental assessment.

Musk founded The Boring Company, or TBC, in 2016 after becoming frustrated with Los Angeles’ infamous traffic congestion. The aim was to find an efficient and cost-effective way to dig networks of tunnels for private vehicles. That idea evolved into the Loop, a system that would theoretically transport people in modified Tesla electric vehicles.

A Tesla Model X in The Boring Company’s demonstration tunnel in California. Photo/The Boring Company

Musk showed off his vision for what he has described as an “‘entirely new system of transport“ during an event  last December that took guests and media through a 1.1-mile demonstration tunnel underneath 120th Street in the city of Hawthorne, Calif. near one of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX. 

Fire risks and escape hatches

The Baltimore-to-Washington document specifies parallel tunnels running beneath highways, within which modified Tesla vehicles would travel autonomously at up to 150 miles per hour. Battery-powered cars would leave as frequently as every 30 seconds, with a journey time of just 15 minutes in either direction. In the future, Musk even envisages converting the tunnels into a Hyperloop system outfitted with pods that could theoretically reach speeds of 600 mph.

If the Baltimore-to-DC Loop system is considered a road tunnel, it would be the longest in the world. As a rail tunnel, it would only be surpassed by the epic Gotthard Base Tunnel running beneath the Swiss Alps.

But where the Gotthard Base Tunnel has escape passageways spaced about every 1,000 feet, Musk’s Loop will have up to 10,500 feet between emergency exits. That is more than four times the maximum distance permitted in standards set by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for public rail and transit systems.

“Just because a vehicle doesn’t have gasoline doesn’t mean it’s not a significant fire risk,” said Glenn Corbett, a professor of security, fire and emergency management at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “Lithium-ion batteries are perhaps even more dangerous, and have been an issue for airlines and fire safety agencies for the last 10 years.”

Modern electric vehicle batteries can suffer intense, runaway fires when damaged. There have been two recent incidents — one captured on video in China — of a parked Tesla spontaneously exploding. Tesla said this month that it was updating its vehicles’ battery software for charging and thermal management. “Although fire incidents involving Tesla vehicles are already extremely rare and our cars are 10 times less likely to experience a fire than a gas car, we believe the right number of incidents to aspire to is zero,” it wrote in a statement.

The Loop document says that TBC will install fire detection, suppression and safety measures as well as a powerful ventilation system. But the facilities for passengers to escape during an emergency, be it breakdown, fire, flooding or terrorism, leave much to be desired, says Corbett: “You’ll have people that range from 5 years old to 95. What they’re proposing now would certainly not pass muster.”

For a start, some of the Loop’s emergency exits are too far apart. Should a fire break out at the worst possible place, passengers could face a two-mile walk to an exit — and then up to another quarter of a mile to a ventilation shaft leading to the surface.

To comply with NFPA standards for rail tunnels, the Loop would need at least 74 such exits for each of the twin tunnels between Baltimore and DC. TBC’s document says it only intends to build “up to 70” in total.

If the Loop system were designated a road tunnel instead, complying would be even harder. Stricter NFPA standards for car and truck tunnels mean that TBC would have to construct more than 180 exit shafts for each tunnel.

“Even this standard, which is 1,000 feet between exits, is fairly weak,” Corbett said. “Smoke from a fire in an enclosed, below-grade area has a high propensity to kill people and create a lot of problems.”

The ‘definition of insanity’

When passengers eventually reach the ventilation shafts, their problems might not be over. The tunnel floor will be between 44 and 104 feet below the surface.

“One or more means of vertical access (e.g. elevator, man basket, stairs or ladder) would be provided for ingress/egress,” states TBC’s document. At the top of each shaft will be either a shed housing ventilation equipment, or a flat steel grate.

“That’s not going to work,” Corbett said. “You’re telling me a 70-year-old grandmother who’s just traveled thousands of feet is going to climb a ladder to get out? That’s crazy. It’s the definition of insanity.”

Such long and inconvenient escape routes would also hamper incoming firefighters, who typically have only a 30-minute supply of air for their breathing apparatus.

“Ingress becomes a concern with very long tunnels,” said Justin Edenbaum, a tunnel fire and ventilation engineering consultant based in Toronto, Canada.

Another issue is that long tunnels are rare in the United States, a country that has more experience with fires in tall buildings than deep underground.

“All of our research in terms of stairwells has been done with downward motion,” Corbett explained. “What’s not been well studied are situations where people might have to walk a significant distance to get to a stairwell and then climb out. This is going to require a significant amount of research and consideration.”

A different approach

Where long transit tunnels have been built recently, in Europe and Asia, engineers have taken a different approach. Instead of widely separated staircases, frequent cross-passageways allow passengers to quickly escape fire or smoke into either a dedicated safety tunnel or the tunnel traveling in the other direction.

In 2016, Jae-Ho Pyeon, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at San Jose State University, conducted a trend analysis of long tunnels around the world. He found that the majority of long rail tunnels globally have such crossover connections, and that all built in the last decade have exits spaced far closer than 2,500 feet.

Pyeon concluded: “Configurations connected by cross passages are becoming more popular, mainly due to increasingly demanding safety requirements.”

A 2015 study by Edenbaum found that not only do cross passages enable people to escape a smoky environment faster than stairways, they also let firefighters reach the blaze earlier, and can dramatically reduce construction costs.

The Boring Company’s take

The Boring Company did not respond to detailed questions about the Loop system but told TechCrunch that it had been designed to be the safest public transportation system in the world, which includes compliance with applicable safety and fire protection standards.

In the absence of federal rules for transit tunnels, the Loop will be subject to the regulations of the jurisdictions it passes beneath. Existing subway systems in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Maryland are all required to follow NFPA standards.

Curiously, TBC has yet to discuss its flagship project with Maryland’s fire agency.

“While the Office of the State Fire Marshal hasn’t been contacted by The Boring Company in regards to the proposed [Loop system], we would take the position of applying our standard underground subway safety standards to such a project to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” said Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci.

That being said, there is a slight chance that TBC would not be forced to include more shafts or emergency passages.

“[The NFPA standard states that] you can suggest solutions that are equivalent or superior to the stated methods, but they have to be approved the authority having jurisdiction,” says Edenbaum. “[TBC] may have an argument about how it can go as widely spaced as it wants. They could make the case that [the Loop] is safer than a highway. That’s a risk-based assessment, which is not very popular in North America, but it’s another way to look at it.”

The draft environmental assessment is currently in its public comment phase, along with a draft agreement between TBC and various federal agencies regarding the Loop’s impact on historical properties. There are also numerous other permits and approvals that will be necessary before TBC completes a detailed design and starts digging, including safety assessments.

TBC has also proposed projects in other parts of the country with varying success. The one closest to getting underway this year is in Las Vegas, where TBC has proposed building a high-speed underground transit system that would initially transport people around the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

The upshot: For all of Elon Musk’s obsession with speed, the world’s longest tunnel won’t be arriving anytime soon.

[newstfionline]

Dubai Plans a Taxi That Skips the Driver, and the Roads

By Russell Goldman, NY Times, Feb. 14, 2017

Like a scene from “The Jetsons,” commuters in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, may soon climb aboard automated flying taxis, soaring over busy streets and past the desert city’s gleaming skyscrapers, all--quite literally--at the push of a button.

Passenger drones, capable of carrying a single rider and a small suitcase, will begin buzzing above the emirate as early as July, according to the director of the city’s transportation authority, part of an ambitious plan to increase driverless technology.

Already, the eight-rotor drone, made by the Chinese firm Ehang, has flown test runs past the Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped skyscraper.

The drone “is not just a model but it has really flown in Dubai skies,” Mattar Al Tayer, the director general of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, said on Monday, adding that the emirate would “spare no effort to launch” autonomous aerial vehicles by July.

The Ehang 184 can fly up to 31 miles, or about 30 minutes, on a single battery charge. It has a top speed of 100 miles per hour, but authorities said it will typically operate at 62 m.p.h.

The craft can carry a 220-pound passenger, according to a promotional video produced by the Roads and Transport Authority, which depicts a man boarding the vessel, buckling into a race car-style harness and tapping his destination on a touch screen before taking off.

The video describes the drone as “autopiloted, directed and monitored via a command center.”

According to the manufacturer, the drone is equipped with fail-safe technology and in the event of a malfunction “will immediately land in the nearest possible area to ensure safety.”

The drone is the latest in a series of measures to impose cutting-edge technology to help with the city’s congested roadways.

The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced last year that 25 percent of all journeys in the city would be conducted by driverless vehicles by 2030. The city operates the world’s longest driverless subway system and began a trial program last year using automated cars produced by France’s Easymile.

In October, the city signed a deal with the Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to study the potential for a hyperloop--a vacuum-like tube through which vehicle pods hurtle at speeds faster than airliners--between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital.