Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has become the first company of its kind to sign a cross-state deal to develop a functional interstate Hyperloop system. The company signed agreements with the North Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) and Illinois’ Department of Transportation (IDOT) to develop a feasibility study that could pave the way in developing a Hyperloop network from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois.

It’s important to establish that Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to Elon Musk’s Virgin Hyperloop One. The latter gets all the headlines, but HTT is making some headway of its own after beginning as a startup company that wants to realize Musk’s Hyperloop vision on its own. The agreement HTT signed with NOACA and IDOT is a big step in addressing one of the biggest issues that prevent projects like this from getting off the ground.

As company CEO Dirk Ahlborn put it, “Regulations are the ultimate barrier for Hyperloop implementation. Having both Ohio and Illinois involved in this project is a major breakthrough. With this agreement, we welcome innovative and industry-leading partners in both government and industry to our movement."

That said, the agreement itself doesn’t cover the actual construction of a Hyperloop running between the two states. The agreement only covers a feasibility study to determine if it’s even possible to connect Cleveland and Chicago with a Hyperloop.

Still, it’s impressive that HTT has even made it this far. Even more impressive is the support the company has received, including from the state government of Ohio, which didn’t take long to pass a resolution for this initiative. More recently, HTT came together with a bipartisan group of congressional representatives from several states including, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All together, they even sent a formal letter to President Donald Trump requesting infrastructure funding support to develop the system.

Even if the Ohio-Illinois Hyperloop feasibility study doesn’t come to pass, it’s a testament to HTT’s dedication and the overall appeal of the technology that so many people are working hard to bring this technology to the U.S. and the world at large. HTT even has feasibility studies underway in Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Indonesia, India, and South Korea. Sure, most of the work is still at this stage, but progress is happening at such a rapid pace that we could be looking at groundbreaking development sooner than later. If it’s not Cleveland to Chicago, it might as well be another place in this world of ours.

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