Good points - especially the wind. Or terrorists.
On a wheeled LIM, how fast can they go?
One thing - if I'm going from Philly to San Diego, I would want more than a little pod; a loo, food, recreation...
Nah, the pods would be for local transit only (a la subway), I'd still recommend the land-liners for inter-city transit ... I'm thinking three decks: cargo/parking on the bottom, then concourse, then seating w/ glass roof.
I dunno how fast a wheeled LIM can go, it's basically an electric motor. Certainly competitive with regular rotary power trains; the real advantages are that it has less trouble with wet weather (doesn't matter if the wheels slip) and has fewer moving parts. I imagine with the correct engineering it could match the Shinkansen (wheeled+electric already) for speed. LIM hasn't been used for long distance lines yet, probably because the reaction rail adds to the cost of building the track.
If you're curious, you could look up these transit projects which certain of my friends & relations worked on: Vancouver Skytrain, Ankara, Kuala Lumpur, Las Vegas Monorail, Pyong Yang (sp?). (I'm not sure if the latter two are LIM though.) Also, for a working maglev, check out the Nagoya, Japan Linimo. I must admit it's a smooth and quiet ride.
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