COLUMBUS – Central Ohio residents are one step closer to a half-hour commute to Chicago after a proposal from Columbus was chosen as one of 10 winners of a global competition to create a high-speed transportation system for passengers and cargo within a ‘megaregion’ in the nation’s heartland.
Midwest Connect, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s proposal to connect Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh via high-speed transportation was selected Thursday from more than 2,600 registrations selected from over 100 countries, said Terri Flora, MORPC’s director of public and government affairs.
“Ohio has long been home to innovation and discovery that have created new industries and revolutionized the world, so we are thrilled to be selected as one of ten worldwide winners of Hyperloop One’s Global Challenge,” said Gov. John Kasich. “Midwest Connect builds on our heritage of innovation, complements our advances in smart mobility and strengthens Ohio’s position as a leader in technologies of the future.”
Using Hyperloop One’s “disruptive transportation technology,” Midwest Connect could transport passengers or cargo between Columbus and Chicago within 29 minutes and between Columbus and Pittsburgh in 18 minutes, Flora said.
The company cited the implementation of Hyperloop technologies to solve the lack of infrastructure in the region as one of the reasons for the award.
“A Hyperloop connecting Pittsburgh, Columbus and Chicago would create a Midwest megaregion to rival the country’s coastal economic powerhouses,” stated the announcement.
Proposals from Texas and Colorado were the only other U.S. proposals selected to move ahead in the Hyperloop One’s Global Challenge which began in May 2016, Flora said.
The routes selected by Hyperloop One span 4,157 miles in five countries on three continents, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and India, connecting 53 urban centers and 148 million people, Flora said.