SOMERSET — A proposal to run a route for a new form of transportation through SouthCoast has secured the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Warren recently sent a letter to Somerset Select Board member Holly McNamara in support of McNamara's plan to bring the Hyperloop — a speedy system of travel for people and goods using pods, magnetic levitation propulsion and low-pressure tubes — to the Northeast.

McNamara and Somerset-Berkley Regional High School graduate John Myron as a team submitted a plan to the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, which asked people around the world to submit location proposals for the transportation, the brain child of tech inventor and investor Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and cofounder of Tesla. Out of roughly 2,600 submissions, Hyperloop picked 35 semifinalists, including the plan submitted by McNamara and Myron for southeastern Massachusetts, specifically Somerset. Their proposal is the only one in the Global Challenge that would locate the transportation in the northeastern United States.

"Massachusetts is a center for education, innovation and progressive policies, and the Commonwealth has always been at the forefront of forward-thinking policies," Warren wrote in a letter to McNamara dated March 10. "It is now time for Boston and Massachusetts as a whole to once again innovate, inspire and lead the South Coast of Massachusetts, some of which played the integral role in the formation of the United States. Hyperloop would bring the area back to its roots as an industry leader."

McNamara is working on the Hyperloop proposal as a private citizen, not as an elected official in her town. She has been following the start-up company behind the concept since 2014. The transportation would be similar to high-speed rail and faster than flight, making it possible to get from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., in less than an hour, McNamara said.

At last week's Somerset Select Board meeting, colleagues David Berube and Steve Moniz voted to support McNamara's efforts. The resolution states that the Hyperloop is a creative and innovative concept. The resolution calls on state and federal delegations to support the project.

McNamara said if her proposal is chosen as one of the first corridors for the Hyplerloop transportation, a feasibility study would follow — and at no cost to the town, according to Berube.

McNamara stressed that by approving the resolution, the Select Board was supporting a discussion about the Hyperloop for the area and the concept. She said no commitment has been made to build or spend money on anything.

McNamara abstained from the vote, noting it would be a conflict of interest for her to vote on her own project.

"I think it's a great idea," Moniz said. "We'll be floating around in tubes, I imagine, like the Jetsons, in the future."

McNamara said she believes Hyperloop transportation could revitalize the whole state, not just Somerset and neighboring communities.

"Our vision is to bring this whole thing to the east coast, but we have to start smaller," McNamara said.

McNamara said the Hyperloop would be looked at as a supplement to other forms of transportation, not a replacement. She said the Hyperloop would have no polluting emissions and would be solar-powered. She said the cost for people to use the Hyperloop would compare to the price of a bus ticket.

"It really will revolutionize transportation in time," McNamara said.

McNamara and Myron went to Washington, D.C., recently to try to secure endorsements for their Hyperloop proposal. The endorsement by Warren was announced at last week's Select Board meeting.

McNamara and Myron have also received the endorsement of state Rep. Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset) and Sen. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport). McNamara said resolutions also are being considered in Fall River and New Bedford.

The idea got the attention of President Donald Trump, who "asked for more information" on the technology during a recent meeting with Musk and other industry leaders.

Hyperloop One expects to name a handful of finalists for the corridors in May.

[View the story "The Hyperloop could make travel a breeze " on Storify]