Skip to main content

Michigan infrastructure vision

An innovative infrastructure project proposed by The Interstate Traveler Company (ITC) has won strong backing from the Michigan House of Representatives Task Force, as well as being awarded a Michigan's Going Green Award.
February 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
An innovative infrastructure project proposed by The 277 Interstate Traveler Company (ITC) has won strong backing from the Michigan House of Representatives Task Force, as well as being awarded a Michigan's Going Green Award.

ITC plans to build a self-sustaining magnetic levitation HyRail transportation system and clean energy solution that will carry people, cars and freight at high speed while creating and storing excess energy generated from solar power. The system would also provide a conduit to distribute electricity, potable water, fibre optics, hydrogen and other vapour- and liquid-based resources.

ITC says the project would not need any taxpayer funding to build or maintain. In fact, the company proposes a revenue-sharing model (in exchange for expressway rights-of-way to build the rail) that will provide monies to various government entities at the federal, state, county and local municipal levels. ITC therefore becomes a significant 'taxpayer' and relieves the burden of taxes on Michigan's citizens, rather than adding to their tax burden.

Michigan's Task Force recommendation concerning the project states: "This company (ITC) offers the opportunity to single-handedly change Michigan's future by providing thousands of temporary and permanent jobs, providing the federal, state, and local governments with millions of dollars to their tax bases, while also expanding our electrical grid. The members of the task force believe this project could potentially boost Michigan to the forefront once again for business relocation and reinvention, while allowing Michigan to again become the nation's envy."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Phoenix rises to the Smart City challenge
    December 10, 2015
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at the City of Phoenix where voters backed a $30bn plan to revamp its transportation network to cultivate a more connected community. According to a Land Use Institute study, half of all Americans and even more millennials (63%) would like to live in a place where they do not need to use a car very often. The City of Phoenix is putting in place plans to revamp its urban development and transportation policies to meet these changing quality of life perceptions.
  • DG MOVE’s Christos Economou on the EU’s vision for road transport
    July 26, 2013
    Christos Economou, Deputy Head of Unit dealing with land transport within the European Commission’s DG MOVE, describes a new framework for road charging in Europe to Jason Barnes. Within the European Union (EU), two Directives shape the legislative framework on road charging. Directive 1999/62/EC sets up a number of rules to make sure that national road charging schemes do not distort competition on the internal market or discriminate between hauliers. It is misleadingly called ‘Eurovignette’ after the comm
  • 3M sees big potential in ITS sector
    December 16, 2013
    Having re-entered the ITS market, 3M is busy shaping the future technology for vehicle detection, tolling and parking, as Colin Sowman discovers. Having sold off its Opticom business in 2007, 3M effectively re-entered the ITS market last year paying $110 million for Federal Signal Technology Group (FSTech) – but why?
  • Transport planning consultation is culturally important
    February 2, 2012
    Andrew Bardin Williams explores the efforts under way in North Dakota to consult with native tribes during the early stages of transportation project development. These efforts have led to the signing of a Programmatic Agreement between the state DOT and local tribes and the creation of a tribal consultation committee that allows Native Americans to advise on the identification, evaluation and treatment of historic properties, including those of religious and cultural significance