The future of travel

I am returning home from speaking at Worth Magazine’s Cities 2019 Summit in Savannah, Georgia. 

While I often ponder what it is like to be a young adult in today’s economy, I also cannot help being excited about the proposed changes to our cities and transportation infrastructure in the next 10-15 years. 

On the panel forum I participated in, I had the opportunity to speak alongside representatives from Virgin Hyperloop, a novel solution that always grabs my interest as the most likely solution to succeed from a mass and rapid transit aspect.

Aside from the fact that Sir Richard Branson is at the helm of a company with an extraordinary group of young and talented visionaries, the truth is, it makes sense. 

It is odd to think of ourselves speeding through a tube over the ground at roughly the speed of sound with no windows to look out (although windows would probably make even the strongest stomach a little queasy).

That is exactly what is being proposed and it is getting a lot of people very excited. 

Our flying car (www.pal-v.com) is slated for deliveries in 2021 and at the same time Virgin is hoping to run pilot projects in India and Cleveland, Ohio. 

The hyper loop pod, which is built for a small number of people, is designed to take you from A to B with no stops. A 500-kilometre journey will take approximately 20 minutes which can revolutionize our commercial market place, our evening entertainment options and ability to live in desirable locations with a short commute to work. 

The tubes will be a virtual vacuum with a magnetic levitated pod and electric propulsion system through the tunnel. In the quieter times as passenger traffic evolves and passenger loading data is available, Virgin is hoping to do commercial parcel deliveries. 

Does it have the opportunity to reduce traffic on highways?

Indeed it does, particularly with a variable mountain climate. I can fly with the not-so-unusual inherent weather delays or drive on dangerous roads, but for less money I can hop on a pod and do some work, watch a movie or read a book. 

A lot of work and research is going in to how the interior design of the pod will look and the effects of vibrations and slight curves at 700 mph will have on our bodies. 

I think it is pretty cool and has a strong likelihood of eating into the airline monopoly that exists in Canada and to a lesser extent the U.S.

Check it out: https://hyperloop-one.com/

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.