Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Hyperloop One Dreams Reach Missouri

The dream of being one of the first cities in the world to have a high-speed, Hyperloop system has just reached Missouri, as Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), the St. Louis Regional Chamber, the KC Tech Council, the University of Missouri System, and the Missouri Innovation Center in Columbia said on Tuesday that they are looking to create a public-private partnership with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One. According to the groups, they have formed the Missouri Hyperloop Coalition, which will seek to advance the building of a Hyperloop route linking Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis along the I-70. The group says they are looking to secure $1.5M in private funding for a feasibility study of the route. The interest in Hyperloop comes as a result of a competition--run by LA's Hyperloop One--for groups to figure out if their cities would benefit from its high tech, high-speed transportation system. Hyperloop One is one of a number of companies trying to bring the concept of Elon Musks' Hyperloop transportation idea to fruition. Hyperloop One has built its own--albeit, short--full-scale Hyperloop test system in the desert outside of Las Vegas.