HYPERLOOP
Some of the money for the studies already has been raised. The city of Columbus gave $250,000. An additional $500,000 came from Marysville, Union County, MORPC and Lima. The rest is expected to come from various public and private sources.
“This should put us in front of others in the U.S.,” MORPC Executive Director William Murdock said.
Hyperloop will use cutting-edge technology to move people or freight at hundreds of miles per hour inside a vacuum tube, something like a pneumatic tube. Speeds could exceed 600 mph because magnets lift the Hyperloop car, reducing friction, and propel it along, protected from bad weather and other issues that could impede its speed. A prototype is being tested in Nevada.
Virgin Hyperloop One, co-owned by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, selected 10 potential routes from around the globe as finalists for where it will build first, and it announced this week that a route in India will be first.
Murdock believes “Midwest Connect” should be the first U.S. route. It would cross four states to link Pittsburgh, Columbus and Chicago, allowing Columbus riders to travel the approximately 360 miles to Chicago in 29 minutes.
MORPC’s announcement Wednesday reinforces how central Ohio has acknowledged and embraced the evolution of mobility and transportation and how this area is pushing the technology envelope.
“These actions by MORPC break new ground,” Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd said, “because they are integrating Hyperloop technology into a larger environmental impact study — the first time that has happened anywhere in the world.”
Winning the 2015 Smart Cities challenge could bolster the chances for Columbus and the Midwest Connect to be Hyperloop’s first U.S. route. Columbus beat out 77 other U.S. cities to win $50 million to create a smart transportation system in which vehicles and roads communicate to make travel easier and safer.
“Columbus is recognized as a leader in forwardthinking alternative methods of mobility,” said Michael Stevens, Columbus’ chief innovation officer who oversees much of the Smart Columbus initiative.
“Exploring Hyperloop technology makes sense because we have the thought leadership, a history of successful public-private partnerships, and residents who embrace cutting-edge ideas,” Stevens said.
The feasibility study, which is expected to take nine months, will suggest paths for the Columbus leg of Midwest Connect. One advantage for Columbus and Ohio is that they are leaders in the country in the amount of freight moved; one option for Hyperloop is to put the tubes atop rail lines.
The feasibility study will look at potential routes not only in Columbus, Chicago and Pittsburgh but also in cities where Hyperloop stations could be located, such as Marysville and Lima in Ohio and Fort Wayne in Indiana.
One scenario for the Midwest Connect would be using the Hyperloop to get Indiana corn to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in 20 minutes and on dinner tables in Japan or Iraq the next day.
MORPC’s other study will explore the environmental impact of high-speed transportation, not just Hyperloop, along the Midwest Connect and other potential routes. That study is expected to take a year.
Among the nine other areas being considered for Hyperloop routes, three are in the U.S.: Miami to Orlando in Florida; Dallas-LaredoHouston in Texas; and Cheyenne-Denver-Pueblo in Wyoming and Colorado.
Abroad, two are in the United Kingdom, two are in India and one each is in Canada and Mexico.
The Columbus route is envisioned to create a mega-Great Lakes region, connecting 181 universities, 15 professional sports teams and a greatly expanded employee pool, and ultimately change the way we live and work.
A similar but competing company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, is investigating implementing a Cleveland-to-Chicago route that would take 28 minutes.