Results from the Great Lakes Hyperloop Feasibility Study, undertaken by Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, suggest that a system connecting Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh is not only feasible but profitable.
“The results of the study have surpassed even our most optimistic considerations,” Dirk Ahlborn, HyperloopTT founder and chairman, said. “Working closely with our government and industry partners, we have shown that Hyperloop is the high-speed transportation system of choice for the 21st century.”
Hyperloop is a system that could move people and goods in the shape of a train, but with speeds even greater than modern air travel. This recent survey determined that in the Midwest it could also be installed with operational costs that require no subsidies, create more than 900,000 jobs over 25 years, decrease carbon emissions by millions of tons and inject billions of dollars into the regional economy. It also has already garnered local attention: more than 80 public and private organizations provided support and resources to the study.
“Clearly the project shows very good merit and is, in fact, the first intercity passenger ground transportation system to show a positive rate of return that TEMS has assessed in the last 30 years,” Alexander Metcalf, president of Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc., said.
The Great Lakes Hyperloop Feasibility Study represents the most expansive hyperloop study conducted and was engaged with support from the firm Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc. The results discussed in this article were but its first findings, however. The full study will be released to the public in December.