The future of Houston traffic: Plans aim to lure hyperloop transportation to Texas

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The futuristic tube transportation, known as hyperloop, is grabbing headlines and the attention of local designers trying to lure the technology to Houston.

Elon Musk is behind the new mode of travel that would transport passengers in pods through giant vacuum tubes across large distances at the speed of an airplane.

Sounds a little far-fetched? One group of young architects at the firm Gensler believes it will become a reality, and they want Houston to be the testing grounds.

They have designed a hyperloop station for east downtown, complete with a spiraling high-rise that will house a hotel, office, apartments and retail.

"We've been kind of lacking this innovation in transportation for over one hundred years since the first flight ever took place and so the hyperloop is not only going to change cities but just the world, hopefully it changes Texas in itself and connects people across the state," architect Jordan Gomez said.

The Hyperloop One startup is looking at routes to develop, and one of them includes a route between Houston and Dallas.

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