The full monty here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/hyperloo...

I initially watched the video without reading the article. Mr. Musk has enjoyed a cozy relationship with the govt through Tesla. I anticipate any mass transit idea would also include govt providing the funding.
As far as the technology goes (from the information in the article) not sure he could get a patent if he wanted to. This idea has been around a very long time. For example, when you are at the drive through at the bank. This is all marketing.

cool. the infrastructure is huge compared to air travel. seems also like a mass transit idea-which means the govt would be on board :)

The benefits of every idea do not always justify the costs..since almost every mass transit project ends up being funded by taxpayers (that never would even use them).

Florida is a great example: There was an initiative to build a high speed train between Disney World (Orlando) and Tampa. The project would have cost Floridians billions of dollars, at a time when the state was struggling beneath a budget deficit.

"Construction of the line was slated to begin in 2011, with the initial Tampa-Orlando phase completed by 2014.[3] On February 16, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott formally announced that he would be rejecting federal funds to construct the high-speed railway, thereby killing the Florida High Speed Rail project. Governor Scott's reasoning behind cancelling the project was that it would be "far too costly to taxpayers" and that "the risk far outweigh[ed] the benefits"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Hig...

A Republican governor with the business sense to see a 'pig in a poke'.

Common sense "1"...unneeded technology "0".