This could be really, really disruptive. Build it big enough to move cars, and it kills not only trains and civilian flight, it kills the intercity highway. There is no longer any point to having them, as driving aboard a shuttle is so much faster. It also makes city centers closer to each other (in terms of travel time) than they are to their own exurbs. That is going to be stupidly huge, culturally.
Other predictions: Musk is seeing this as solar powered. Yhea, no. It's electric, its going to run of whatever mix the local grid runs on.
Musk is not going to be the mover behind construction. Most likely first mover: Governments. China, Japan, Europe.. (hey, this could seriously put an end to this bloody crisis!)
Lower confidence: Someone is going to try to make a version of this that crosses ocean. If that works out, civil avionics and shipping are done. Stick a fork in them.
I was studying in the LW Study Hall, and during our break someone posted this link to the official hyperloop announcement:
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/hyperloop_alpha-20130812.pdf
One member was doubtful it would get past regulations, and another said "tentative p>0.05 that a hyperloop gets made by 2100", which was met with "p>0.05 that uploading people and moving them between bodies will be available by 2100".
It struck me that people might be interested in betting on things like this, or at least having a conversation about it.
A few predictions to start: