Citing Milwaukee’s “familial, economic and cultural ties” to Chicago, Milwaukee Port Director Ken Szallai has begun to explore the idea of establishing a hovercraft line between the two cities.

Szallai started considering this mode of transportation after completing plans for the Lake Express Ferry, a high-speed ferry that runs between Milwaukee and Muskegon, Mich., which will open in June 2004.

According to the hovercraft manufacturer Universal Hovercraft, hovercrafts are large boats that hover over water and terrestrial surfaces on a cushion of air contained underneath the hovercraft by a rubber skirt.

“A hovercraft is an amphibious vehicle which generates a stream of air to lift itself off the ground,” said Alex Drakopoulos, associate professor of Civil Engineering. “To move the vehicle, there are usually a few propellers on the back to push it forward.”

Hovercraft operate by using fans to take in air and force it beneath the vehicle, creating a cushion of compressed air, which is kept underneath the vehicle by a flexible skirt. The air cushion eliminates almost all friction between the hovercraft and the surface. The hovercraft is pushed forward by propellers in the rear of the vehicle.

Because hovercraft can levitate over ice and water, service would be year round. Also, hovercraft can glide directly from water to land, eliminating many docking problems, Szallai said.

But don’t try to buy your tickets just yet.

Investigations into the possibility of launching hovercraft service are still in their infancy.

“It is purely an idea,” Szallai said. “Purely with emphasis.”

But apparently the idea bears looking in to.

“We’ve had conversations with people who know hovercraft, and it appears to be worth some thought,” Szallai said.

Competition appears to be an issue. Commuters to Chicago already have the option of traveling either by the 1-94 Expressway or Amtrak’s Hiawatha line. Travel by car varies with traffic and construction. The Hiawatha line reaches Chicago in approximately an hour and a half and costs around $20. Szallai estimates that, depending on the design of the hovercraft and number of craft in the fleet, the hovercraft could compete with Amtrak at least in terms of travel time. He could not speculate how many craft would be in operation.

“Some of these (hovercraft) can do 60 mph, so you could get to Chicago in an hour and fifteen minutes, maybe,” Szallai said.

Cost, however, is a different matter. Szallai declined to comment on the cost of a round trip on the prospective hovercraft line citing lack of research.

But for Marquette students, cost is one of the main issues.

“I might take it if it wasn’t too expensive,” said freshman Pat Kenelly, a resident of Chicago. “It would also have to be better than the train or going by car.”

“I think it would be fun to go on a hovercraft,” said freshman Michael

Bizunowicz, also from Chicago. “But if it’s too expensive — like more than what I would pay for the train — I wouldn’t take it.”

Although the British Hovercraft Corporation operated hovercraft service across the English Channel from 1968 until 2000 (when the hovercraft were replaced by more efficient high speed catamarans), hovercraft have a spotty history in the United States. In 1989, a House transportation subcommittee dropped plans for a similar hovercraft service on the Potomac River, which, it was hoped, would decrease vehicle congestion in the Washington, D.C., area. Lack of funding and doubts about the service’s cost-effectiveness contributed to the plan’s demise.

Whether this idea will come to fruition in Milwaukee remains to be seen.

“We’re years away,” Szallai said. “It takes time to develop these things.”