Missouri Continues Pushing Hyperloop Effort Ahead of Deadline
Date Posted: January 21, 2020
Posted In: Ideas, Projects,
From KMOV: Missouri legislators are considering whether to allow so-called “tube transport” to be eligible for the same funding mechanisms as roads or rail.
After that, the state’s top two metro areas will vie to build the initial large-scale Hyperloop test track.
Hyperloop would theoretically send passengers in a pod through a vacuum tube at hundreds of miles an hour, cutting travel between St. Louis and Kansas City down to about a half-hour.
This is the futuristic transportation technology heralded by entrepreneur Elon Musk. Virgin Hyperloop One is the company that’s spearheading which areas will get to build it first.
Andrew Smith, Vice Chairman of the state’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Hyperloop, estimates the test track could cost about $300 million to construct.
“The two communities that are in Missouri and are competing for this — St. Louis and Kansas City — have got to demonstrate they’re the right places to build the track,” Smith said. “That involves access to a right of way, it involves private funding, strategic partnerships you can bring to bear, and ultimately it involves the attractiveness of the location.”
Smith touts Hyperloop as an opportunity to connect St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City into a single metropolitan area.
Missouri is one of ten regions to move on to phase two of the process with Virgin Hyperloop One.
“I don’t think it’s foregone that Missouri is going to win this by any means,” Smith said.