“You might not understand. When you get here, you will. Trust me.”
That’s what I told a friend recently. He was coming to Los Angeles for the first time and was trying to schedule out his trip.
He was landing at LAX, renting a car, and then touring the area. He said he wanted to see Hollywood, then drive down to San Diego, then out to Palm Springs, and then up to San Francisco.
“So how long do you have?” I asked.
“About three days.”
“Not going to happen,” I replied. I explained to him that it can take over four hours just to drive across LA. There was no way he was going to get to see everything he wanted.
LA is literally the most traffic congested city in the world.
Source: MW
The car culture in California – and especially LA – is not because it’s cool to drive around with the windows down.
The car culture is from necessity. There are no convenient subways, trains, or any sort of mass transit systems that make cities like New York, London, or Hong Kong cool.
You can’t just jump uptown or downtown or crosstown.
You just get to sit in your car, staring at other road rage filled drivers.
But, where there are problems, there are solutions.
And that’s why California is leading the way with new transportation options.
Here are three new things that you should check out.
#1 Tesloop.
Source: Tesloop
This is one of their first cars – a Model S. I rode in their newer Model X car, which had over 300,000 miles on it!
I’ve written about Tesloop before. To be clear, I have zero affiliation with this company. Although, I wish I thought of this – or at least invested with them.
Basically, for less than the cost of a bus ticket, you can get a ride in a Tesla Model X on a variety of different routes in California. Plus, you get snacks, drinks, pillows, music, wifi, bathroom breaks, and a massage.
…Well, you don’t get a massage, but that’s about the only thing missing.
The car is super comfortable and it feels like you’re sitting first class on a jet.
Oh, and even though there is someone sitting in the driver seat, the car drives itself 95% of the time.
#2 Cabin.
Source: Cabin
I just saw this today and have not used the service, but it looks pretty sweet.
Basically it’s a bus that goes back and forth between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
But this isn’t any bus. You get your own sleeping cubicle with wifi, water, coffee, and all kinds of other goodies. Plus, there is a nice bathroom on board.
The bus leaves at 11pm and arrives the next morning at 7am. So, in theory, it’s an efficient way to travel between cities as you’re sleeping during the ride.
The cost is a little over $200, which is more expensive than a plan ticket. But, once you factor in the costs of getting to the airport, dealing with security, and paying for the added extras, this bus option starts to look attractive.
#3 Hyperloop.
Source: NG
]You ever see those big warehouse stores or banks where they stick money into a canister and then put it in a pipe where it gets sucked up to a central hub?
Well, Elon Musk wants to put people in that canister.
Basically, there is a car inside of a tube. The air inside of the tube is sucked out and the car (that is on a track) can then go fast. Really fast. Over 600 miles per hour.
But this is all science fiction right?
Wrong.
They are already doing it in tests in California. They have a 500m long tube and have gotten up to nearly 200 miles per hour.
So how do we invest in this stuff?!
Unfortunately, most of these newer companies are privately held. That means you can only invest if you have the right connections, the right influence, and of course, a large amount of money to invest.
However, there are many publicly traded companies that you can invest in now. These companies are at the forefront of driver-less technology.
Source: Statista
Notice anyone missing on that list?
Where is the highest valued car company in the US?
This is another reason why I won’t touch this company. It’s a cult stock that is big on dreams and ideas, but small on actual numbers.
I’ll enjoy driving in their cars, and I may even buy one. But, I’m not investing in Tesla.
