Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and NOACA sign official public private partnership agreement, receive bipartisan congressional support, and reveal the growing Great Lakes Hyperloop consortium to begin $1.2 million feasibility study in the megaregion.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and NOACA Expand Cleveland to Chicago Project with Top Regional Organizations

Official public private partnership agreement

At an event held today at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT – HyperloopTT) and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) revealed plans for the Great Lakes Hyperloop, including the signing of an official public private partnership agreement. These developments follow the recent announcement of a signed letter of intent and a memorandum of understanding reached between NOACA and the Illinois Department of Transportation announced on February 15, 2018.

A large and growing body of regional stakeholders has formed to help HTT and NOACA move the project forward. This consortium includes: Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Corp., Ohio State University and The Neil Armstrong Chair, ZIN Technologies, Ohio Aerospace Institute, Jobs Ohio, America Makes – National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Council, Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Technology Committee, Wright State Research Institute, The Gateway Group, Additive Engineering Solutions, Eureka Ranch International, The University of Akron, The University of Akron Research Foundation, University of Cincinnati SpaceX Hyperloop Competition Team, The Greater Akron Chamber, and the City of Akron.

As part of the partnership, HTT and NOACA will produce a regional feasibility study which will take approximately six to nine months to complete. Together, HTT and NOACA have raised $1.2 million to finance the study.

Members of the US Congress were in attendance at the event, including representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), and Tim Ryan(D-OH). Republican Ohio State Senators Matt Dolan and Frank LaRose were also in attendance. A growing number of elected officials have provided written support for the Great Lakes Hyperloop initiative which can be found here. In January, HTT worked alongside a bipartisan group of congressional representatives from several states including, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin who sent a formal letter to President Donald Trump requesting infrastructure funding support to further develop the technology.

Ohio Governor John Kasich voiced his support for the project, « Ohio is defined by its history of innovation and adventure.  A hyperloop in Ohio would build upon that heritage. »

« We have said from the beginning that the Hyperloop will take a movement. The Great Lakes Hyperloop is by far the largest movement of private and public organizations working with a Hyperloop company to develop a system in the United States, » said Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of HTT. « We are inviting other cities and organizations throughout the region to join us in bringing the next mode of transportation to reality. »

« The Great Lakes megaregion represents a $15 billion transportation market with tens of millions of tons of cargo and millions of passengers connecting to the cities within the region every year, » said Grace Gallucci, Executive Director of NOACA. « Technologies like the Hyperloop can take our over-stressed infrastructure into the 21st century and beyond. »