Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced agreements to begin a feasibility study for the Great Lakes region, starting with a Cleveland-to-Chicago route. Image: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies
Bhatt said the life cycle of hyperloop and intelligent transportation could wind up mirroring that of automobiles, trains, and airplanes. All of those modes of transportation have been around for a century, and all are still relevant, but the technology has undergone a constant progression of improvement, from the Model A to the Tesla, from the Wright Brothers to Boeing, and from steam locomotives to bullet trains in France, China, and Japan. “I don’t think it will become obsolete,” he said, referring to magnetic levitation and autonomous vehicles. “I think it will go through itera- tions. It will get better and more efficient.” There were about 1.2 million road traffic deaths in 2013, according to the World Health Organization, and in the United States, more than 37,000 motor vehicle deaths were recorded in 2016, the deadliest year in a decade, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- istration. VIRGIN HYPERLOOP ONE GLOBAL CHALLENGE WINNING ROUTES Canada | Toronto-Montreal India | Bengaluru-Chennai India | Mumbai-Chennai Mexico | Mexico City-Guadalajara
Citing those statistics, Bhatt, a former head of two DOTs, said, “It’s a huge societal cost.” For him, intelligent transportation is not just about taking goods and people from one place to the other, but about eliminating the human suffering that transportation can cause. “This is not about technology for technology’s sake,” he said. “This is about how we take technology and make people’s lives better.” That’s certainly the sentiment in Columbus, Ohio, where regional planners are still giddy about finishing in the top 10 of the hyperloop global challenge. In the Midwest, a route from Pittsburgh to Chicago via Columbus, by 2040, has the potential to connect more than 17 mil- lion people over 975 miles in just an hour-and-a-half. “It’s amazing that a route through the Midwest would capture attention in a global competition, but why not us?” said Thea J. Walsh, director of transportation systems and funding for the Mid-Ohio Regional Plan- ning Commission.
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She said planners were already looking into a possible passenger rail between Columbus and Chicago, so a lot of base research was already there. Walsh said it just had to be interpreted in a different way.
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