Technology that would connect the cities of Cleveland and Chicago via a 30-minute commute inched closer to reality this month as a national transportation and housing appropriations bill passed one federal hurdle.

Five million dollars in initial funding for the Great Lakes Hyperloop System, an experimental high-speed transportation project, was included in legislation voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives in late June.

The Hyperloop system would run from Cleveland to Chicago using magnets and vacuum technology to propel podlike vehicles through tubes at speeds up to 700 mph.

The passage of the 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriation bill by the House provides the funds for the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a regulatory framework for development of a hyperloop system.

The bill, which funds the development of safety and environmental protocols for the Cleveland-to-Chicago project, will now move to the U.S. Senate for a vote.

Hyperloop proponent Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur lauded the legislation as the first step to reaching the transportation goal. "Bringing hyperloop to our region would bolster economic growth, create jobs, strengthen Ohioans' ability to travel across the region quickly and efficiently, and improve the daily lives of millions of Americans," she said in a statement.

In 2018, Kaptur led a bipartisan group of eight Midwestern lawmakers seeking support for the Hyperloop Transportation Initiative — a grant program to accelerate the development of the underlying technology.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), a regional transportation and planning body, is ahead of Congress in that the organization is part of a partnership funding a $1.2 million hyperloop feasibility study.

"This shows that Congress recognizes the role that hyperloop will play in the nation's future transportation system," said NOACA executive director Grace Gallucci. "These funds will help NOACA and its partners make high-speed transportation between regions a transformative reality, starting with Cleveland to Chicago."

The study, funded by NOACA in partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Turnpike Infrastructure Commission and the Cleveland Foundation, is expected to be completed by this fall.