Train project eyes tube route to Miami

Hyperloop One, a transportation project that envisions high-speed tube trains connecting cities, is examining a possible route between Miami and Orlando as one of 11 new alternatives.

The Hyperloop initiative was created by billionaire Elon Musk; it hopes to connect cities at speeds similar to, or faster than, air travel at a much cheaper cost, eventually.

The Orlando route was included in a recent announcement without much detail about who proposed it. Last January, teams of students from UCF submitted ideas for the local route.

Hyperloop is a fledgling concept, having been introduced in 2013 by Musk, who shortly thereafter left the project to focus on his other businesses.

Hyperloop One met policymakers and transportation experts in Washington D.C. on Thursday, where it introduced 11 routes that had been pitched.

These include one that would travel the 257 miles between Orlando and Miami in roughly 26 minutes.

“This disruptive technology — conceived, developed and built in the U.S. — will move passengers and cargo faster,” Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd said in a press release. “It will transform transportation as we know it and create a more connected world.”

The longest route proposed would take travelers the 1,152 miles between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Houston in 1 hour, 45 minutes. The shortest route — which travels among Boston; Somerset, Mass.; and Providence, R.I. — would go 64 miles in less than 8 minutes.

A husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team will be featured at a fireside chatlike interview session in Orlando.

Startup Grind, a periodic event that has featured Orlando City’s Phil Rawlins and other entrepreneurs and investors here, will next feature Doug and Renata Storer.

The couple invented Night Runner Shoe Lights, which was featured on the popular business show “Shark Tank” in September.

The company raised $43,000 on Kickstarter for its initial run of small, attachable night lights for athletic shoes.

On “Shark Tank,” they set off a bidding war and eventually landed an offer of $250,000 for 15 percent equity and a $100,000 loan.

The event starts at 6 p.m., April 25, at Catalyst Spaces, 1 S. Orange Ave.

A company that has been helping people reduce fines and keep traffic tickets off their record in South Florida has expanded to Orlando.

TIKD has contracts with a number of attorneys, who show up in court for clients who sign up through TIKD’s website and contest traffic infractions.

The company collects a fee from users that amounts to 20 percent less than potential fines they would face in court.

The concept revolves around statistical data that shows that most people pay their fines quickly without contesting them in court. TIKD is trying to convince consumers that they can save some money with their service.

Whether TIKD wins in court or not, users do not pay anything more.

But if TIKD loses the case, they pay the full cost of the ticket.

The service is available at TIKD.com.