Could Silicon Valley get a transport system which shoots commuters in pressurized capsule tubes at high speeds to their destinations?
For the city of Cupertino, home base for Apple’s headquarters, such a futuristic possibility is reportedly being mulled.
Cupertino’s mayor and a councilmember suggested they have explored the possibility of a Hyperloop system running through Cupertino, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Cupertino Mayor Darcy Paul told the Business Journal he believes there’s a strong possibility that Silicon Valley tech companies like Apple might “heavily subsidize” the building of a cutting-edge transportation option in the area.
The Business Journal reported that Councilmember Barry Chang blurted out at a council meeting Tuesday night that the city is “talking to Hyperloop to have a line, hopefully, along Stevens Creek from Diridon Station to DeAnza College.”
Paul, Chang and other councilmembers on Tuesday voted down a proposal to place a head-tax measure for large employers such as Apple on the upcoming November ballot.
Paul has met with a Culver City-based Hyperloop developer, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, or HyperloopTT, to discuss the possibility of a Hyperloop line through Cupertino, the Business Journal reported.
Paul told Business Insider on Wednesday such talks are in a “very early discussion phase.”
It is unclear how expensive a Diridon-to-DeAnza Hyperloop project would be — and whether Apple would really help to pay for it.
“It’s a fine balance between,” Paul told the Business Journal. “How do we make sure that everyone’s acting in good faith here?”
