Md. Hopes To Catch A Ride On Hyperloop As D.C. Gives Elon Musk's Company Digging Permit

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's billed as the high-speed travel system of the future, but just how far off is the Hyperloop?

Developers say they're picking up speed, and Maryland hopes to go along for the ride.

According to Gov. Larry Hogan, "we're hoping it's possible. It sounds pretty futuristic, but it looks like it may be real."

It works by magnetically levitating a pod and sending it through a vacuum tube, eliminating friction and maximizing speed. Tests have moved speeds up from 125 miles per hour to over 200 mph, a fraction of what developer Elon Musk hopes to achieve in the first large-scale operation planned for the Northeast corridor.

A trip from Washington, D.C. to New York would take 29 minutes.

"It's going to change the way we live," says Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of Hyperloop One. "The way we work and make the world a smaller place, turn cities into metro stops."

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has now joined Gov. Hogan in being open to exploring a hyperloop system.

"I understand there was some progress in D.C. with similar action with what we did in Maryland," Hogan said. "With a preliminary approval of a permit to do a test."

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