(Bloomberg) -- The presence of business leaders like billionaire Elon Musk and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Gary Cohn on U.S. President Donald Trump's economic advisory board will help the new administration better tackle challenges posed by the country's aging road and railway networks, Hyperloop Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rob Lloyd said.
The company, known as Hyperloop One, is working on a technology based on Musk's idea that would use small vehicles propelled by magnetic levitation through low-pressure tubes to transport people and goods at airplane-like speeds. Tax reforms under Trump are likely to include incentives for capital deployed for transportation-network projects, Lloyd said Tuesday in an interview in New Delhi.
Rob Lloyd on Feb. 28.
Trump promised on Monday to spend “big” on infrastructure, saying it isn't a matter of choice as the country's highways and bridges have become unsafe. Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum, which includes the CEOs of BlackRock Inc., Blackstone Group LP, General Motors Co., Tesla Inc. and Walt Disney Co., was created to provide the new president with guidance from a variety of industries on business and economic issues.
Musk, the founder of electric-car manufacturer Tesla Inc., doesn't have any direct ties to Hyperloop One, which is dedicated to developing his concepts for long-haul logistics. Cohn was Goldman Sachs's president before he became the U.S. National Economic Council director in January. At a White House gathering last week of corporate leaders to consider promoting employment growth, Cohn was involved in a group focused on discussing transportation.
“The fact that Elon's there, and other U.S. business leaders are talking to the new administration, is very positive for an uplift in investment in infrastructure,” said Lloyd, who's visiting India for initial talks with the government on Hyperloop's plans. “You'll see an era of upgrades that will come from private as well as public funding into infrastructure in the United States, which hasn't been the case for decades.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Tom Lavell, Tony Robinson
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