Elon Musk's Hyperloop Is 'Super Interesting' But Not Something Government Can Pay For, Pete Buttigieg Says

Elon Musk’s idea for a high-speed rail — dubbed the “hyperloop” for its speed and tube-like shape — is “super interesting,” according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Just don't expect the government to fund it, he added.

Buttigieg made the comments during a Q&A on Monday, Oct. 24. Per TeslaRati, "Secretary Pete" spoke about the feasibility of the project, or lack thereof, including how the vacuum system required for the tubes to work would be expensive to maintain. 

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In order for Musk’s idea to come to fruition, an elaborate tube-like system with pods would have to be built large enough to be used for both public transportation and shipping goods — like a highway.

There are obvious hurdles to building such a complex, untested system and the idea for the hyperloop isn’t without critics. Some allege that Musk only proposed the idea to dissuade California from investing in public transportation. The notion is that Musk would want to kill public transportation projects in order to sell more Tesla Inc. TSLA cars.

If that's true, Musk wouldn't be the only billionaire who did. According to a 2018 feature in The New York Times, conservative oil tycoons Charles G. and David H. Koch — the Koch brothers — tried to block public transit projects in Arkansas, Arizona, Michigan, Utah and Tennessee.

Buttigieg, a Democrat who campaigned in 2020 for the U.S. Presidential election, emphasized the importance of focusing on modern, available transportation technologies like high-speed trains and electric vehicles. 

“We’re all about exciting ideas that could make a difference,” Buttigieg said. “But whether we’re talking about [electric vehicles] or high-speed rail, technologies that exist today — that could make a difference today — is where we have to begin.” 

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