It’s rare for corporate brands to become so intertwined with everyday conversation that they become verbs. It’s rarer still for the owner of such a brand to announce plans to intentionally destroy it.
An estimated $4 to $20 billion in value, what is he thinking?
yes but he built it in las vegas. It has a few stops and relies on teslas, each with a driver, and it functions as a very basic “public transit” system. Almost none of what he initially promised are present in the final design. Originally it was going to be his “hyperloop” thing. Then it was “autonomous vehicles.” Now it’s “teslas driven by people”
It’s largely been vaporware and reduced scope after promises made in an attempt to kill/distract local governments from investing in public transportation.
“I think public transport is painful. It sucks. Why do you want to get on something with a lot of other people, that doesn’t leave where you want it to leave, doesn’t start where you want it to start, doesn’t end where you want it to end? And it doesn’t go all the time.”
“It’s a pain in the ass,” he continued. “That’s why everyone doesn’t like it. And there’s like a bunch of random strangers, one of who might be a serial killer, OK, great. And so that’s why people like individualized transport, that goes where you want, when you want.”
Haha you are right, he did try to reinvent the subway!
And any of the problems he mentioned could basically be fixed by spending -more- on public transit, rather than less… with the exception of it leaving from wherever you want and there being other people (though the more they run, the fewer people need to take each).
That’s what bugs me about all of his “inventions”, is that they aren’t really new ideas, or even if they are they’re wildly expensive for the benefits. Cities like Vegas look at him and thought “Oh wow finally we’ll solve traffic with these new ideas!” when really they just need to invest in actual proven infrastructure like subways and commuter rail.
It’s well known that Elon pitched the hyperloop in California because he wanted to kill California’s high speed rail, because he’d rather have people buy Teslas then have an inexpensive fast way to travel between cities. He delayed the project for years over his wild claims, and people are still hesitant to it thanks to his selfishness.
yes but he built it in las vegas. It has a few stops and relies on teslas, each with a driver, and it functions as a very basic “public transit” system. Almost none of what he initially promised are present in the final design. Originally it was going to be his “hyperloop” thing. Then it was “autonomous vehicles.” Now it’s “teslas driven by people”
It’s largely been vaporware and reduced scope after promises made in an attempt to kill/distract local governments from investing in public transportation.
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-awkward-dislike-mass-transit/
And an NYT article on it: Opinion - Elon Musk Has Some Bad Ideas for Mass Transit. We Have Solutions.
This makes the most sense. Man he’s trying really hard to not admit that a subway works pretty well, isn’t he?
Haha you are right, he did try to reinvent the subway!
And any of the problems he mentioned could basically be fixed by spending -more- on public transit, rather than less… with the exception of it leaving from wherever you want and there being other people (though the more they run, the fewer people need to take each).
That’s what bugs me about all of his “inventions”, is that they aren’t really new ideas, or even if they are they’re wildly expensive for the benefits. Cities like Vegas look at him and thought “Oh wow finally we’ll solve traffic with these new ideas!” when really they just need to invest in actual proven infrastructure like subways and commuter rail.
It’s well known that Elon pitched the hyperloop in California because he wanted to kill California’s high speed rail, because he’d rather have people buy Teslas then have an inexpensive fast way to travel between cities. He delayed the project for years over his wild claims, and people are still hesitant to it thanks to his selfishness.