Bye-bye I-35?

We’re one big step closer to getting from DFW to Austin in under 20 minutes

A Hyperloop for the Texas Triangle is one step closer to reality.

A 19-minute trip from Dallas to Austin is a few miles closer to reality. A proposed project that would connect Dallas, Austin, Houston, Laredo, and San Antonio via a futuristic pod-and-tube system is now one of four U.S. finalists in a global transportation contest.

Hyperloop One, the company behind this transportation innovation, designated the envisioned 640-mile, five-city Texas Triangle system as a finalist on Thursday, September 14. The three other U.S. finalists in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge are:

A 488-mile system linking Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; and Pittsburgh
A 360-mile system linking Cheyenne, Wyoming; Denver; and Pueblo, Colorado
A 257-mile system linking Miami and Orlando

The brains behind the proposed Texas Triangle project say a Hyperloop trip from Dallas to Austin would take 19 minutes, compared with three or more hours by car and four or more hours by bus. Hyperloop passenger pods would reach speeds of up to 700 mph.

The north-south leg of the Hyperloop system in Texas would run from Dallas to Laredo, while the east-west leg would operate between San Antonio and Houston. A trip from Austin to San Antonio purportedly would last nine minutes, while a trek from Dallas to Houston would take 45 minutes.

“Hyperloop One will now work closely with each winning team to validate and analyze their proposals further, and provide initial ridership forecasts, business case, and preliminary technical analysis of the route and corridor, tailored to the needs of the individual route,” Hyperloop says in a release.

In May 2016, Hyperloop One invited innovators, universities, businesses, and government agencies to develop regional proposals for a Hyperloop system. Hyperloop says the 10 global finalists were picked based on whether a project had well-defined routes and implementation strategies, significant stakeholder involvement, a “compelling” business case, and an “innovative and creative” approach to building a Hyperloop system.

Here is Hyperloop’s description of how one of its systems will work:

“With Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo are loaded into a pod, and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. The pod quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag.”

This summer, Hyperloop successfully carried out a test in Nevada of its concept. Hyperloop expects to have three full-scale systems up and running by 2021.

Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and executive chairman of Hyperloop, says the Hyperloop One Global Challenge “became a movement of thousands of people from more than 100 countries over six continents. Like us, they believe that Hyperloop will not only solve transportation and urban development challenges within communities, it will unlock vast economic potential and transform how our cities operate and how we live.”

Tesla and SpaceX legend Elon Musk first floated the Hyperloop concept in 2013.

transportation

Shopping for a cause

Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms spreads its wings with 2 DFW Airport stores

DFW Airport

Bonton Farms stand at DFW Airport

South Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms is going international without straying too far from home. The organization is debuting two storefronts at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: one that just opened and another coming this fall.

The larger Bonton Farms marketplace, a 2,895-square-foot space in Terminal A, quietly opened in mid-August.

A second, smaller 551-square-foot newsstand near the A-Pier will open in October, when the airport's A-Pier expansion is scheduled to open, a spokesperson says. (Exact date is still TBA.)

The shops are called, simply, "Bonton Farms" and are operated by Marshall Retail Group, a subsidiary of WHSmith North America, which is partnering with Bonton Farms on the airport concept.

According to a release, both stores will sell Bonton Farms products such as locally made honey, handmade jam, and goat-milk soap, along with apparel, merchandise, and products made by "Bontonpreneurs," the local entrepreneurs supported through the nonprofit's business-development programs.

Bonton Farms' goods are now sold at DFW Airport Terminal A. Photo courtesy of Bonton Farms

The stores will also offer fresh grab-and-go food, including sandwiches, wraps, salads and sweet treats, as well as travel essentials and souvenirs and gifts.

The airport project was first announced in 2024 as a partnership between Bonton Farms, WHSmith, and DFW Airport. The plan called for Bonton Farms products to be sold alongside goods from other North Texas businesses, including Fort Worth's Sons Coffee, Lettuce Cook, and Pearl Honey Spreads.

Bonton Farms began in the Bonton neighborhood with a small beekeeping operation and has grown into a nonprofit farm, market and community hub. Its operations now include two farm sites, a coffeehouse, farmers market, preservatory and farm-to-table Market/Café, along with programs focused on workforce development, education, health and wellness, economic opportunity and access to fresh food.

"This opening represents an exciting milestone for Bonton Farms and the community we serve," says Mark Jones, President & CEO of Bonton Farms, in the release. "For the first time, our products and our story will reach travelers from around the world. Through this partnership with WHSmith North America, we're creating new opportunities to share the mission of Bonton Farms while generating additional support for programs that help our neighbors thrive."

The airport shops are designed to introduce Bonton Farms to travelers who may not otherwise encounter the organization or its products.

"This store isn't just retail space, it's a front door to our mission," says Kendra Charisse Smith, Director of Operations at Bonton Farms, who oversaw execution of the partnership. "From sourcing and packaging our products to meet the demands of a whole new scale of distribution, every step was about making sure Bonton Farms shows up authentically in one of the busiest airports in the world. This launch reflects the same care and intentionality we put into everything we do in South Dallas.”

charity dfw airport nonprofits bonton farms airport