Good episode. Interesting parody's to the Music Man as well.
The commercial viability of Hyperloop will be the biggest issue. I'm betting that the Government pays for most of the development cost, which won't be recouped.
Interesting that you mentioned Concorde - it was a development nightmare, with both France and the U.K. losing money -
but it was commercially profitable.
I would imagine that the project, as it comes to fruiting, will also have ancilary benefits - perhaps down the road, from the tech developed in designing and producing an under/above-ground vacuum passenger and cargo transport.