Future of Route 1 could lie with Elon Musk

Dressed as Princess Leia from the original Star Wars movie, Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan shared some far out news during the Sussex County Today & Tomorrow Conference.

“There is absolutely no reason why we can't have a hyperloop straight down the middle of Route 1,” she said during the Halloween presentation.

Cohan said Elon Musk's company contacted Delaware officials about a month ago about bringing a revolutionary transportation system in Delaware. “They are very interested in coming to Delaware,” she said.

Musk is among several entrepreneurs currently proposing a new mass transit system that transports passengers in magnetically levitated vehicles. In theory, the lack of friction in the above or underground tunnels – known as a hyperloop or loop – can move passengers quickly.

Musk's company, The Boring Company, is working on a nearly 3-mile tunnel in Los Angeles. In August, the company announced that the Dugout Loop – a high-speed, zero-emissions underground public transportation system – will allow sports fans to get to Dodger Stadium in under four minutes compared to the current hour commute. An Oct. 23 article in Architects Newspaper states the tunnel will open in December.

Musk's company has also proposed an underground loop that would run from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. Musk's passenger vehicle, called an electric skate, could carry eight to 16 passengers at speeds ranging from 125 to 150 miles per hour.

“This would serve as the central artery for a potential future transportation network which would hopefully be extended to New York,” the Boring Company website states.

The Boring Company would pay 100 percent of the project, the website states.

Cohan said she is optimistic about Musk's transportation plan coming to Delaware.

“The reason that they are interested in Delaware is because our government is nimble, and we are open to innovative ideas and concepts. That is huge,” she said.

Other changes in Delaware transportation are the result of changing driving habits of millenials and increasing online purchasing by consumers, driving more home deliveries.

“Ten years ago we were still drilling it into our childrens' heads, do not get in a car with strangers, do not take rides with strangers. And now we have an app for that,” she said. “That is a huge change in transportation delivery. Millenials are one of the driving forces of all of this change.”

Online shopping and home deliveries are another change. Those deliveries have increased tractor-trailer and smaller delivery truck traffic on area roads, and while people are quick to complain about the truck traffic, she said, it is a sign of the times.

“They still want their tea delivered to their doorstep in two days,” she said.

But truck delivery may have its day soon. Drone delivery is coming, she said, although regulation is lagging.

“From a consumer standpoint, it's here,” she said.

Cohan said the Department of Transportation is already trying out artificial intelligence with a system in the Smyrna and Odessa area that can notify connected vehicles about road-related issues such as road construction ahead or whether a traffic light is going to change. “We're testing it right now,” she said.

Back to earth and Sussex County, Cohan highlighted the $1 billion that will be spent on county roads over the next six years, and she asked for the community's support as her department moves forward.

“We are doing more in Sussex County than we have ever done in Sussex County,” she said. “It's going to be truly challenging to get these projects done. To be able to get to the future we want, there's going to be some rebel resistance as we go forth.”