"Teleporting" to L.A.
The new startup, SleepBus, might not be as high tech as Elon Musk's Hyperloop train, but it does have a leg up on the competition—as of last night, it's already running. The overnight bus service, established by Tom Currier made its first "teleportation" trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles last night.
Passengers paid $48 a piece to rent out bunks in the 20-bed Volvo sleeper coach. The bus left from the Caltrain station in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood at 11 p.m. and arrived at Santa Monica Pier a 6 a.m. The vehicle offers a lounge area, free coffee, tea, WiFi, and twin-sized cots.
Surprised everyone is so excited about a hotel on wheels? So was Currier. Roughly one in 25 who see Facebook ads for Sleepbus are clicking through, and one ad received as many as 203,000 views, according to Currier. He predicts the nascent company will become a go-to for those commuting from NoCal to SoCal.
"It would basically be like you teleported to L.A. It would be cool," Currier said.
Community Connection
The idea for the SleepBus stems from Currier's desire to build communities—including his vision of building an entirely new city located hours outside of San Francisco. Kudavi, as he intends to call it, which would ultimately be populated by around five million creative workers and remote employees (including many with jobs that take place in virtual and augmented reality).
"You don't have to commute to the city, you can just, like, put on the HoloLens," says Currier, referring to the not-yet-released augmented reality glasses from Microsoft. But when commuting is necessary, you can just take the SleepBus.
It might sound a little ambitious. But as Currier says, "every city was created from nothing, right?"
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