Elon Musk made a surprise announcement on behalf of SpaceX this morning, stating in a joint press conference with the City Council that Provo had been selected as the pilot city for Hyperloop transit. Musk sees the college town as the ideal spot to test this newest mode of transportation, due in part to its never-ending construction projects. The Hyperloop, which was originally pitched by Musk himself in 2012, would allow passengers to travel in a pod-like compartment that magnetically levitates within a sealed tube. With virtually no air resistance or friction, Hyperloop pods are able to travel almost as fast as Utah highway drivers, at around 600mph.

Musk touched on a variety of stops that will be set up early next year for beta testing. including BYU campus, downtown Provo, The Village, and all Sodalicious locations. He is aware that the speeds at which the Hyperloop will operate seem extreme, but assures that travel from campus to downtown Provo will only take fractions of a second, and will ultimately save precious time for riders. As human tests have yet to be run, and death is likely, every rider will need to sign a lengthy 56-page waiver. An ecclesiastical endorsement must also be obtained in order to ride the Hyperloop.

Musk closed out the press meeting stating, “There is no better place on earth to be starting this program than with the beloved citizens of Provo. The time, money, and energy saved using the Hyperloop will be beyond proportion and Sodalicious will see more business than ever before.” The Hyperloop opens in January 2020 in the Utah County area. Willing participants can fill out the waiver and apply for ecclesiastical interviews on SpaceX’s website starting next week.