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From Denver to Vail in 9 minutes

p_levert

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I don't know if this thing is realistic or not. But are politicians in CO actually working on solutions to the I70 traffic problems? You know, things like tunnels, adding lanes, another interstate, etc. Cuz the problem is there and it's only getting worse as Denver grows and grows.
 

ironhippy

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I don't know if this thing is realistic or not. But are politicians in CO actually working on solutions to the I70 traffic problems? You know, things like tunnels, adding lanes, another interstate, etc. Cuz the problem is there and it's only getting worse as Denver grows and grows.

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/275353-OFFICIAL-I70-BITCH-THREAD

173 pages of complaining about I70, it doesn't seem like any practical (or significant) solutions are being worked on.
 

dlague

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https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/275353-OFFICIAL-I70-BITCH-THREAD

173 pages of complaining about I70, it doesn't seem like any practical (or significant) solutions are being worked on.

It is only a shit show if one is dumb enough to join the masses that travel at certain times. We have managed to figure out the good bad and the ugly. The ugly is not an option, the bad - well we pay attention to Waze and make a call, the good well that is a no brainer and that is when Vail or BC is an option besides Keystone, A Basin or Loveland. Breck is our fall back plan for days that traffic is bad beyond repair or just plain ugly.

Try driving from Boston into NH on holiday weekends on a Friday night, better yet add snow! Or drive the 93 on a Sunday evening from Tilton south. Oh and there are three lanes up to Manchester.
 

benski

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How much is a ride on a hyperloop estimated to cost. 9 minuets on a hyperloop sounds like a good commute as long at the price is reasonable.
 

DoublePlanker

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How much is a ride on a hyperloop estimated to cost. 9 minuets on a hyperloop sounds like a good commute as long at the price is reasonable.

"The Hyperloop white paper suggests that US$20 of each one-way passenger ticket between Los Angeles and San Francisco would be sufficient to cover initial capital costs"

So probably additional cost for operations, maintenance, etc.

This hyperloop would need a tunnel using new Boring Company technology to get the cost down.
 

cdskier

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This is a pipe dream of some very smart people that love spending other peoples money. The logistics of this type of transportation is mind boggling. We are not talking about just a very high speed train, but a high speed train traveling in basically space. The safety issues associated with a breach in the system are astronomical. A catastrophic failure of the tube would pulverize pretty much every carrier in the tube, with a shock wave like a substantial bomb. A rock slide or even a avalanche hits this thing and the tube is going to pancake. The thermal expansion that would occur in an above ground system will make it very difficult to design terminals. It is estimate that an aboveground tube 380 miles long would expand on a hot day the length of 3 football fields. It is estimated that in a 380 mile above ground tube you would need 6000 expansion connection in the tube. That is a lot of potential failure locations. If you are talking about subsurface, you can limit the expansion issues, but the tunneling costs (with today's technologies) would pretty much make this cost prohibited. Thinking on one of the more recent tunnels (Euro tunnel) that cost 21 billion for 30 so miles and that was bore though a chalk layer. We don't have that kind of geology in Co. Never mind adding that if they tunnel this under ground for any length of time, how the hell are you going to get people out in the event of a complete failure???

As far as travel time, that maybe right, but this type of transportation would most likely have the same security issues that airports have to deal with. Arrive 1 hour early, baggage check, loading, travel in 9 minutes and do your baggage pickup. Arrive in Dillion, sit at the terminal waiting for the 30 minute bus ride to Breckenridge. I don't think you are going to also just pretend to read the safety card while listening to the stewardess, prior to riding in this thing. A simple mask dropping from the ceiling is not go to help you if there is a failure in the system. You are talking pretty much instant depth if there is a vacuum leak in the passage carrier. re-presurizing the entire tube at a safe speed might take days. Can't just open a bunch of valves and let the air rush in.

All right, I'm done rambling with my uneducated outlook on this project... lol Would be cool if they pull this off somewhere.

A lot of these topics are discussed in the FAQ on their website: https://hyperloop-one.com/fact-sheet-and-faq

They claim it is safe with the way they are designing it. Doesn't mean I would want to be a test dummy though.
 

Jully

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"The Hyperloop white paper suggests that US$20 of each one-way passenger ticket between Los Angeles and San Francisco would be sufficient to cover initial capital costs"

So probably additional cost for operations, maintenance, etc.

This hyperloop would need a tunnel using new Boring Company technology to get the cost down.

San Fran and LA is a pretty different model than Denver to Vail though. It is a slightly shorter distance, but the population taking the hyperloop will be a lot less than in CA. I'd bet it'd be a decent deal more than $20, at least at first.
 

cdskier

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San Fran and LA is a pretty different model than Denver to Vail though. It is a slightly shorter distance, but the population taking the hyperloop will be a lot less than in CA. I'd bet it'd be a decent deal more than $20, at least at first.

From the FAQ:
How much will tickets cost? Difficult to say as it will depend greatly on the route, but the goal is to make it affordable for everyone. For example, our projections for routes on mainland Finland and Sweden puts the ticket price at around 18 euros.
 

p_levert

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It is only a shit show if one is dumb enough to join the masses that travel at certain times. ... Breck is our fall back plan for days that traffic is bad beyond repair or just plain ugly.

You're talking US285 to Fairplay, right? Don't a few hundred thousand other people get the same idea when I70 is bad? I dunno, seems too obvious.
 

benski

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"The Hyperloop white paper suggests that US$20 of each one-way passenger ticket between Los Angeles and San Francisco would be sufficient to cover initial capital costs"

So probably additional cost for operations, maintenance, etc.

This hyperloop would need a tunnel using new Boring Company technology to get the cost down.

Bargain. I guess the volume would be really high. They also proposed using it for freight.
 

dlague

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You're talking US285 to Fairplay, right? Don't a few hundred thousand other people get the same idea when I70 is bad? I dunno, seems too obvious.

Not for me I live in Colorado Springs so 24->9 never any traffic and generally going 65-70 mph except through towns
 

gregnye

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I don't know if this thing is realistic or not. But are politicians in CO actually working on solutions to the I70 traffic problems? You know, things like tunnels, adding lanes, another interstate, etc. Cuz the problem is there and it's only getting worse as Denver grows and grows.

Any traffic engineer or city planner understands the idea of Induced Demand and that simply adding another lane increases the traffic amount to fill that lane, basically doing nothing. The solution here is alternatives to I70, not adding more lanes. Although the hyperloop seems like a stretch, a train from Denver to Dillion/Silverthorne that runs regularly and is actually fast would work wonders.
 

Jully

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a train from Denver to Dillion/Silverthorne that runs regularly and is actually fast would work wonders.

The Winter Park ski train last year was tremendously successful (or so I've heard). I would really love to see more of those get put together/made easier to use or more affordable. Back east the Amtrak technically goes to Killington, but doesn't seem great and also doesn't work from Boston.

Sadly back east, the demand doesn't seem to be there. Out west I think the demand may well be there. Just takes someone with the money, influence, and the guts to try and put something together.
 
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The Winter Park ski train last year was tremendously successful (or so I've heard). I would really love to see more of those get put together/made easier to use or more affordable. Back east the Amtrak technically goes to Killington, but doesn't seem great and also doesn't work from Boston.

Sadly back east, the demand doesn't seem to be there. Out west I think the demand may well be there. Just takes someone with the money, influence, and the guts to try and put something together.

as many have mentioned here, a) the train is simply way too slow to ever compete with driving, and once at the station (rutland), you need to get to the resort, then once at the resort, you're stuck with walking or whatever shuttle service is available. if they could ever speed up the service (doubtful) it would be an easier sell. as it is right now it is just basic, slow, public transportation for people trying to get to and from VT.

a true weekender ski train in the model of colorado's that ran non-stop or limited stop (new haven, hartford, springfield) with dedicated tour buses and baggage handlers to get passengers from rutland up to killington might succeed
 

benski

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The Winter Park ski train last year was tremendously successful (or so I've heard). I would really love to see more of those get put together/made easier to use or more affordable. Back east the Amtrak technically goes to Killington, but doesn't seem great and also doesn't work from Boston.

Sadly back east, the demand doesn't seem to be there. Out west I think the demand may well be there. Just takes someone with the money, influence, and the guts to try and put something together.

The killington to NYC train runs along the shore of the Hudson river so its a very scenic route. I have never taken the train north of Rhine beck/kingston.
 

benski

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The Winter Park ski train last year was tremendously successful (or so I've heard). I would really love to see more of those get put together/made easier to use or more affordable. Back east the Amtrak technically goes to Killington, but doesn't seem great and also doesn't work from Boston.

Sadly back east, the demand doesn't seem to be there. Out west I think the demand may well be there. Just takes someone with the money, influence, and the guts to try and put something together.

The killington to NYC train runs along the shore of the Hudson river so its a very scenic route. I have never taken the train north of Rhine beck/kingston.
 

Jully

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as many have mentioned here, a) the train is simply way too slow to ever compete with driving, and once at the station (rutland), you need to get to the resort, then once at the resort, you're stuck with walking or whatever shuttle service is available. if they could ever speed up the service (doubtful) it would be an easier sell. as it is right now it is just basic, slow, public transportation for people trying to get to and from VT.

a true weekender ski train in the model of colorado's that ran non-stop or limited stop (new haven, hartford, springfield) with dedicated tour buses and baggage handlers to get passengers from rutland up to killington might succeed

Exactly. I'd love to have that back here. WP's train literally stops slopeside, and none of the big areas back east have that (though Attitash has tracks running right in front of Bear Peak). I'm not sure how much of a deterrent shuttle bus rides are.

Repeating the WP model elsewhere in Colorado could work too. Driving to ski areas is just not the ideal way of travel for day trippers, IMO. Roads can be a little more impacted by snow and the experience can SUCK with traffic, you can't drink too much, and you can be super tired while driving home after a really good day.
 
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