Fly to anywhere on Earth in under an hour

[TopNotch]

This is the transportation scheme envisioned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk...

[Fierofool]

I think that method of travel would need to be restricted to those who are healthy enough to ride some of the wildest roller coasters.  No heart conditions or stroke possibilities.  No back, neck, or skeletal problems. 

[GTRS Fiero]

Count me out.

No people with blood pressure issues, anxiety, claustrophobia, etc.  No terrorists.  Basically, they'd need to vet people as astronauts.

Let's see, what could go wrong?  Landings.  Get shot down as a missile.

That's a lot of waste, with the booster.

[TopNotch]

That's a lot of waste, with the booster.

The booster flies back to the launch point, and is re-used. SpaceX already does that, and is improving the technique more every time.
Because the rocket is so large, launches will be "gentler" than with small rockets.
The engines and fuel tanks for this rocket are already in development. BTW, the name "BFR" is an internal name used within the company. It stands for "Big F---ing Rocket". It will dwarf anything now flying or in development, including NASA's Space Launch System, which itself will be bigger than the Apollo moon rockets. The passenger service is only one possible use being explored for the BFR.

[GTRS Fiero]

How many people does this hold?

[TopNotch]

It will have 40 "staterooms". Assuming 2 or 3 people per stateroom, about 100 people. Musk's main reason for building this is to realize his desire to colonize Mars. The passenger service will be one way to pay for it. He will also offer services to NASA -- space station servicing, cargo or people to the moon, whatever.
There will also be a cargo version of the second stage, which can refuel the passenger version in orbit, for long trips (moon or mars).

[GTRS Fiero]

I forget, but it was like 1 month to get to Mars.  You'd need a LOT of food and water.

[TopNotch]

NASA missions take 5 or 6 months to get to Mars. The BFR will do it in 2 or 3 months, but, yes, you'd need a lot of food and other supplies. Cargo ships would go too.

[GTRS Fiero]

I forgot one other important thing: oxygen.  How do you carry 3 months' worth of oxygen?  Actually, how do they handle that for the space station?

[TopNotch]

They will carry oxygen in liquid form. It's also one of the fuels of the BFR. The other one is methane (natural gas). Mars has water and carbon dioxide. You can make oxygen and methane from those. (Split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Combine hydrogen and CO2 to get methane (CH4) and more oxygen.)

[GTRS Fiero]

A long time ago, I read a book, "This Place Has No Atmosphere".  I don't remember much about the book, except the cover, which depicted a glass bubble with a person sitting inside.  On Mars, you'd literally be living in a glass bubble, and be dependent on the whim of people from Earth.  Sure, they'd eventually get some sustainable life, but you'd have to live in fear of a meteor breaking the bubble--or an earthquake, or human stupidity, or weakness from the Sun, or just about anything.

Hmmm.  The first colonists...

[TopNotch]

Sort of like Pilgrims coming to America, and having to fend for themselves, except no Indians to help out.

[GTRS Fiero]

Except there aren't trees, vegetation, wildlife, etc, and you can't expose yourself to or breathe the atmosphere.

[GTXVette]

  What you didn't see "The Martian"  which was written by the man who did the website for Grassroots Motorsports Magizine.