Why tech billionaires suck at fixing transport

Everywhere you look,

the whole world is in the midst of a thrilling transit revolution.

Thanks to hyperloop,

traveling from city to city is faster and flashier than ever,

practically rendering planes obsolete.

Getting around town also couldn't be easier,

thanks to the Boring Company's ubiquitous tunnel networks.

And you can always spread your wings

and hop in an autonomous electric flying vehicle,

if you're really in a rush.

Wait, we can't do any of those things?

This is the world we should be living in,

according to transit plans drawn up by tech's brightest minds.

But this is what these projects look like in real life

when they're finished....

Gimmicks for the few –

while the rest of us are still stuck in traffic.

So why do these tech companies want to change transit?

And why are their solutions so often a letdown?

Transportation issues are nothing new.

"If you think of just the modes of transportation

throughout history,

just going from, you know,

horse and buggy

to rail,

and to ocean-going vessels,

steamliners,

airships...

there's always been something new to try out

that would solve some of the problems of the old."

Juan Matute researches transit and urban planning at UCLA.

"And each one of those new things

has introduced its own new problems."

Today's transportation mix is no exception.

The biggest problem is that

roughly a quarter of global energy-related carbon emissions

are linked to transport.

But that's just one of many...

"So there are a lot of problems with