Will the Hyperloop Ever Be Built, Given Current Events?

The video below is an explanation of the Hyperloop, the futuristic mode of transportation in which passengers climb into pods that travel at speeds of up to 700 MPH though tubes with very low air pressure.  One can imagine that such speeds could easily be achieved using the combination of magnetic levitation to keep the pod hovering above the base of the tube, combined with virtually zero wind resistance.  

How practical is all this, given the capital cost?  The price tag on a Hyperloop between Los Angeles and San Francisco came in at $6.3 billion.

It’s all very hard to think about right now, given the crashing stock market and whatever effects that’s going to have on investors’ long-term thinking, given the exigencies of the modern world, i.e., the urgent need to protect ourselves.

It’s possible that the coronavirus is going to represent a watershed event for everyone on this planet, and that our “new normal” will put very little priority on innovation in any field other than protecting humankind from threats like disease, famine/desertification, superstorms, water shortages, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, etc.  We could be entering an era in which, out of force of circumstances, sustainability is the only thing that really counts.