Now that a feasibility study has shown it is physically and financially possible to build a hyperloop system linking Pittsburgh to Cleveland and Chicago, developers of the system to move passengers and freight in high-speed, low-pressure tubes are taking their pitch on the road.
During a breakfast meeting Wednesday with the tourism industry organized by VisitPittsburgh, a representative of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc. asked for public support for the project. The company is working on a project with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and a study released Monday estimated the system would cost about $40 billion depending on the route chosen and over 25 years would generate about $30 billion in profit for private investors.
It promises to move passengers and freight at upwards of 500 mph, going from Pittsburgh to Cleveland in about 18 minutes and Pittsburgh to Chicago in just under an hour. The cost is estimated at about two-thirds the cost of air travel.
Rob Miller, chief marketing officer for Hyperloop TT, said his purpose was to generate public support for the concept. He said he met with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald about the project on Tuesday.
Mr. Miller, who grew up in North Huntingdon and holds an engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh, stressed the project could be built and operated without government financing. He predicted the technology would “rewrite the rules of transportation and mobility.”
“That’s the game-changer for transportation,” he said. “With hyperloop, you can be profitable from day one where with all other forms of transportation you have to have government subsidy. It’s safer, it’s much faster, it’s much more sustainable.”
By using solar panels and possibly wind energy to generate electricity for its magnetic levitation technology, Hyperloop TT’s design would at least meet the system’s electrical needs and could sell excess electricity to the power grid, Mr. Miller said.
One of the reasons the developer is interested in the Midwest Mr. Miller said, is the region’s history in manufacturing and development over the years, particularly in Pittsburgh.
“If we’re going to build a hyperloop in Pittsburgh, it needs to be built by companies in Pittsburgh,” he said. “We need your help to bring this to life.”
Mr. Miller said the company has talked to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and other cities about its desire to build an “innovation center” in the U.S. to develop hyperloop technology and produce components of the system.
“We certainly would welcome such a facility in Pittsburgh,” mayoral spokesman Tim McNulty said, but there have been no extended discussions about it so far.
The developer expects to open the world’s first hyperloop system in Abu Dhabi some time next year. Flat land and less government regulation have made it easier to proceed there, Mr. Miller said after the meeting.
“For us, we know there’s work that needs to be done here,” he said. “The time to finish the government regulations is a longer time than developing the technology.”
The feasibility study estimated it would take four years to finish government approvals and complete an environmental impact study, plus another six years for construction. The U.S. Department of Transportation formed a committee earlier this year to study transportation innovations, including hyperloop technology.
Mr. Miller told the tourist industry representatives he’s convinced hyperloop won’t reach the same dead end as failed transportation innovations like maglev and skybus.
“This is more than a dream. We’re building it,” he said. “It’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen. It’s when it happens.”
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: December 19, 2019, 12:32 a.m.
