Anyone who’s sat long enough in Texas traffic knows it feels like going in circles. So maybe it’s fitting that one day it could be replaced with a loop that could make traveling from Houston to San Antonio, Austin or Dallas take about as long as a drive to Galveston.

No, seriously. Four cities in a little less than two hours, give or take. Some far sooner, via a system that would feel a lot like flying in a commercial plane, but in a closed tube across the ground.

A Texas plan using the Hyperloop concept envisioned by Tesla founder Elon Musk is one of 35 proposals from around the globe competing this week in Washington for bragging rights as the best initial project for the technology. Hyperloop One, the company currently testing the idea, sponsored the contest.

“From a planning perspective and from a regulatory perspective Texas is a good first step for Hyperloop,” said Steven Duong, the team leader, based in Dallas, for Hyperloop Texas. “Population is a big part of it, but not just population, but population growth. So is the climate in Texas for development.”

Source: Hyperloop envisions Texans traveling in tubes at 700 mph – Houston Chronicle