That is where the limitation is. A shorter route (like LA to Palm Springs) would not work as the route is short enough that travelling by car would be better and the Hyperloop would be operating at a relative loss for a longer duration of time. The times of embarkment and disembarkment are the same times as the ride itself, which defeats the purpose in a way.

Longer-distance routes have one major problem, infrastructure cost. The cost of infrastructure is too large for the Hyperloop to be profitable or even recuperate the initial costs. The Hyperloops speed over a long distance (like LA to NYC) makes it less useful given that there will need to be many stops to even break even profitability-wise.