--- title: "The First-Ever Passengers Just Rode a Functional Hyperloop" description: "In the middle of the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas, the first-ever passengers just completed a major milestone over the weekend: riding the \"Hyperloop.\"" date: "2020-11-09" modified: "2020-11-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/first-passengers-hyperloop" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Hyperloop" - "Mass Transit" tags: - "hyperloop" - "the digest" - "virgin hyperloop" --- # The First-Ever Passengers Just Rode a Functional Hyperloop ![In the middle of the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas, the first-ever passengers just completed a major milestone over the weekend: riding the "Hyperloop."]() *\Image: Virgin Hyperloop\* ## Hyperloop Hype In the middle of the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas, the first-ever passengers [just rode a Hyperloop](). Sara Luchian, Virgin Hyperloop's director of passenger experience, and Josh Giegel the project's co-founder, rode the futuristic levitating pod through a 500-meter test track, accelerating up to 107 mph in just 6.25 seconds, [rivaling]() some of the fastest production cars ever made. "It felt not that much different than accelerating in a sports car," Giegel [told *The New York Times*](). "It was much smoother than I expected," Luchian added. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKvbSboQ5_g ## The Promise The promise: travel at up to 600 mph, shrinking transportation time between cities — LA to San Francisco, for instance, would take less than an hour. Virgin Hyperloop CEO Jay Walder hyped up the event, calling it a historic "moonshot moment. I have no doubt this will change the world." "With today’s successful test, we have shown that this spirit of innovation will in fact change the way people everywhere live, work, and travel in the years to come," Virgin founder Richard Branson said in [a statement](). ## Transportation 2.0 For almost a decade — SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first described the concept back in 2012 — the dream of traveling through a vacuum tube at breakneck speeds has fascinated those who dream of never getting back on a crammed airplane. But so far, arguably little progress has been made. Plenty of questions remain surrounding the financial viability of such an expensive mode of transportation. Besides some key investments by [several countries]() around the world and a small number of [other test tracks](), the first operational Hyperloop track has yet to be built. And rather than navigating through air unobstructed, plenty of land also has to be claimed to build out routes. **READ MORE:** [A Step Forward in the Promise of Ultrafast ‘Hyperloops’]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on Hyperloop:** *[Richard Branson Is Building a Hyperloop Testing Center in West Virginia]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()