The Great Canadian Loop

A five-hour trip by car from Toronto to Montreal could soon be cut to 39 minutes! Announced on September 14th, the Toronto-Montreal route was named one of ten winners of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, a contest to identify the strongest candidates for a hyperloop system. Organized by Hypercan, the Canadian arm of U.S. engineering firm AECOM, the winning proposal aims to service 13,326,000 people and 3 urban centers along its route with Ottawa being a being a possible stop between cities.

With the Canadian Government’s recent commitment to enhancing its infrastructure, the Hyperloop provides an exciting opportunity to serve millions of Canadians, significantly reduce carbon emissions, and lead innovation on a global stage. As current sociopolitical climates promote an increased effort to develop alternative transportation systems that take advantage of sustainable energy sources, the hyperloop has become some of the more promising transportation solutions due to its continuous progress and support from companies such as SpaceX, Hyperloop One, and TransPod.

With such optimism for the future, the next logical step is to extend the hyperloop system east to Quebec and into the United States to allow a system that connects to Chicago, New York, and Boston.

“No mode of transportation has existing or planned capacity to accommodate the growth in traffic along this corridor,” according to AECOM Canada’s proposal. “By moving higher volumes of people in less time, Hyperloop could generate greater returns socially and provide much-needed capacity to accommodate the forecasted growth in demand for travel in the corridor.”

With Hyperloop technology, a trip between Toronto and Ottawa could be reduced to 27 minutes, Montreal to Ottawa in 12 minutes, and Toronto to Montreal in 39 minutes. Unlike air transport or even high-speed rail, Hyperloop enables direct, on-demand connections between the major cities. This would position the region to rival major North American metropolitan areas to attract workers, visitors, businesses, investment, and ultimately increase competitive advantage in the global economy.

For example, the Québec-Ontario Life Sciences Corridor is already one of the largest bio-clusters in the world, with more than 1,100+ companies, 66,000 qualified workers, 490 undergraduate and graduate programs in biological and bio-medicine sciences and annual public and private medical research investments exceeding $1 billion. With tighter transport links, this corridor could become even more of a global industry magnet, similar to the Automation Valley in Germany or Silicon Valley in the United States.

Check out Hyperloop One’s Global Challenge for more info on winning routes: https://hyperloop-one.com/global-challenge