Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) announced plans to develop an installation of the Hyperloop in Quay Valley, Calif. along a five-mile stretch running alongside the Interstate 5 freeway. With construction beginning in 2016, this will be the first working passenger-ready Hyperloop in an urban area.

The Quay Valley Hyperloop track will be built using HTT’s tube, capsule, and station models. It will be instrumental in optimizing passenger system needs — such as loading, departure and safety considerations — to ensure Hyperloop is ready for larger-scale operation. Running speed will be reduced on the shortened track from Hyperloop’s full potential.

“It’s not a test track,” CEO Dirk Ahlborn says, even if five miles is well short of the 400-mile stretch of tubes Musk envisions carrying people between northern and southern California in half an hour. Anyone can buy a ticket and climb aboard, but they won’t see anything approaching 800 mph. Getting up to that mark requires about 100 miles of track, Ahlborn says, and “speed is not really what we want to test here,” Wired magazine reported.

Instead, this first prototype will test and tweak practical elements like station setup, boarding procedures, and pod design. “This is a very natural step,” Ahlborn says, on the way to building a longer track that allows for higher speeds and testing freight shipping. It’s also a way to prove that yes, this thing can be built, according to Wired. For additional reported from Wired, click here. 

In the past two years, HTT-founder, JumpStartFund assembled a team of nearly 200 core team professionals who have worked to bring the Hyperloop to reality by completing extensive technological and financial feasibility studies. On Feb. 13, 2015, HTT announced the company was moving towards a public offering near the end of 2015. The offering is planned to be an auction with the goal of raising $100 million.