High-speed hyperloop takes another slow step forward
Planners recommend new tech over rail
Ohio planners will move full speed ahead on a proposed hyperloop system that would carry passengers between Pittsburgh and Chicago in about 58 minutes for a one-way cost of about $93.
But the full system, Mid-West Connect, probably wouldn’t be finished until about 2050.
Thea Walsh, director of transportation and funding for the Columbus, Ohio-based Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, said this week that the agency is putting finishing touches on feasibility and environmental impact studies but has concluded it should pursue the hyperloop system. It is being developed by Virgin Hyperloop One and would move passengers and freight in pods through low-pressure tubes at speeds of 500 mph.
The agency has begun briefing Ohio communities that helped
topay for the studies before they are released in case local officials want changes or more information. Ms. Walsh said the agency has concluded it should pursue a hyperloop system instead of expanded rail service, although rail service would be available as a fallback if the hyperloop technology proves unsuccessful or isn’t certified by the federal government.
“I feel like there’s a real, common-sense answer,” Ms.Walsh said. “We have looked at both of them. If a better technology proves to be faster and cheaper, why would we choose to pursue rail? If hyperloop lives up to its expectations, that’s the way to go.
“If not, then why would we abandon rail? It would still be there.”
Ms. Walsh said the studies haven’t settled on a final cost estimate for installing a hyperloop system, but they have determined installing a system would by physically possible using mostly existing railroad rights of way. The cost would be lower from Columbus to the west, where there is mostly flat topography, than it would be to the east, which has more hills and valleys, she said.
“It’s not impossible [because of the terrain],” Ms. Walsh said. “It can be done.”
As a result, Ms. Walsh said she expects the system to develop in small pieces at first, probably to the west first due to the lower cost. Hyperloop technology could be certified for freight first, she said, and begin operating shorter distances as early as 2024.
“It’s a system that will be built in stages,” Ms. Walsh said. “I think we could see something in the 2020s with freight and passengers for short distances. In the 2030s, we could see passenger use for longer distances. I don’t think we’d see full realization until 2050.”
Financing a hyperloop system likely would take a threeparty approach, with government’s role likely to be providing the rights of way and stations along the system. Then a private entity similar to the railroads would operate the system with support from private businesses and organizations such as hospitals and universities. “It would have to cover its costs,” Ms. Walsh said. “It would be in private hands. [Government is] not going to subsidize it like public transit.”
Ms. Walsh said the feasibility study included the central part of the corridor, which would take it through Dublin, Marysville and Lima, Ohio, and Fort Wayne and Gary, Ind., to the west and Zanesville and Mingo Junction, Ohio — south of Steubenville — to the east. But it didn’t take the system into the cores of Chicago and Pittsburgh, stopping instead at Gary, Ind., and Pittsburgh International Airport.
“As we developed the study, we decided to drop these stations somewhere near the cities,” Ms. Walsh said. “Once you get into the cities, we decided, ‘Why not allow the people who know that area decide where the route should go because the city of Chicago and the people of Pittsburgh know their areas better than we do.’”
The studies also found a hyperloop system would generate $19 billion in direct transportation benefits over 30 years from reduced travel times and as much as $300 billion in economic benefits through construction jobs and development around stations on the system, which would be placed every 30 to 40 miles. The system also would reduce air pollution by shifting transportation from cars, trucks and planes to hyperloop, which would cause minimal pollution.
Virgin One Hyperloop is among several groups developing the technology and is the only one with a test track, a 500-meter facility outside Las Vegas. The Californiabased company is working with 10 regions globally to develop hyperloop systems, including Mid-West Connect.
The first commercial hyperloop project is expected to open in the early 2020s along a 10-kilometer corridor between Mumbai and Pune, India, where the government is cutting red tape and providing funds for the project.
In this country, Ms. Walsh said she has been encouraged that the federal Department of Transportation created the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council in March specifically to handle areas such as hyperloop and self-driving vehicles, which critics said weren’t being addressed through the department’s existing hierarchy. That could clear an easier path for approval of hyperloop technology.
“I’m optimistic,” she said. “That was encouraging to us. I feel like we’re at a major crossroads with transportation technology in a lot of areas, and it seems like [the Department of Transportation] is paying attention.”