I don't think that people expect them to complete it.
The article describes an exploratory program -- and one which I don't think can be done -- in the same spirit as that DARPA program where they hoped to make a pill that would enable people to digest grass and leaves.
After all, people know how to build bullet trains and make them safe and fast. Nobody has ever built a 140 MPH wheeled transport network; a variety of speculative technologies would need to be developed, and it's not clear that it can be done in a way that's safe or energy-efficient.
The article describes an exploratory program -- and one which I don't think can be done -- in the same spirit as that DARPA program where they hoped to make a pill that would enable people to digest grass and leaves.
After all, people know how to build bullet trains and make them safe and fast. Nobody has ever built a 140 MPH wheeled transport network; a variety of speculative technologies would need to be developed, and it's not clear that it can be done in a way that's safe or energy-efficient.