It might sound a bit futuristic, but a few of our fellow Midwest cities are exploring a hyperloop. And not just in a “maybe someday” sort of way. From the Kansas City Star: “That 28-minute Hyperloop trip from Kansas City to St. Louis is still a long way from reality. But it edged a bit closer Tuesday as the Speaker of the Missouri House announced formation of a ‘Blue Ribbon’ panel to explore the specifics funding and construction.” The hyperloop concept comes from the mind of Elon Musk, and would essentially transport passengers in a pod and tube track system using magnets and electric power to move passengers at speeds near 700 mph. A recent feasibility study by the K.C./STL team said the project was “realistically possible, at a minimum cost of $7 billion to $10 billion” and that a ride would cost less than the gas you’d pay for to make the same trip. The project is being pushed to unify the state and turn the I-70 corridor, which includes the University of Missouri in Columbia, into a top economic development mega-region that in the view of project supporters would make the region competitive with other mega-regions like Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Detractors worry that the technology still hasn’t been scaled and proven and that it could accelerate or aid in the decline of the rural areas between the two cities. And this city pairing isn’t the only region exploring the opportunity. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are currently doing their own feasibility study, and Las Vegas has a limited-scale project that Musk says will be operational this year. Des Moines to Chicago? Omaha to Des Moines? Perhaps, as of course there were proposed plans for high-speed rail that, well, derailed. But if nothing else, it’s interesting to see how cities are trying to partner up for economic growth. Read the piece