“Hyperloop” tube idea would connect Boston to Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Commuters could rocket from Rhode Island to Boston through tubes at the speed of sound under a proposal that’s a finalist in a private company’s attempt to commercialize a new mode of transportation.

The Hyperloop Massachusetts proposal is the shortest of 11 proposed routes around the United States, selected this week by Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One.

It would connect Boston to Providence, Rhode Island. The plan also calls for a stop in Somerset, Massachusetts, a town of fewer than 20,000 people near Fall River. A proponent who submitted the route idea, Holly McNamara, is a member of the town’s board of selectmen.

The propulsion technology involves levitating pods that use electricity and magnets to move through a low-friction environment.

It was first proposed by Tesla co-founder Elon Musk in 2013.