Inside Toronto is a local community newspaper in my hometown of Toronto, Canada. Justin Skinner interviewed me and wrote a piece on the topic. Read the column: Can cable save Toronto transit? Meanwhile over at US Infrastructure Magazine, Timon Singh writes about The Gondola Project in his piece Is the future cable-propelled? I apologize in...
It took me a while, but I’ve finally compiled all the comments left online to the Toronto Star article that appeared last month. Here, in a completely unscientific study, I present the results. Most of the comments left could be categorized in one of four ways: This is the worst idea I have ever heard...
In the past, your technology was successful if you designed something, marketed it, sold it and people bought it. People used your technology the way you told them to use it and that was that. Then along came things like the internet, Google, the iPhone, WordPress and Web 2.0 and all that changed. Instead of...
I was recently sent a link to the fascinating Kolelinia aerial cable support system for bicycles. While not cable propelled, per se, it clearly uses cables and is well worth exploring. Created by architect Martin Angelov, the Kolelinia allows cyclists to travel in mid-air above the line of traffic. Cyclists follow narrow u-shaped furrows supported...
. . . unless it’s fully-integrated into a transit system.
This is Part 3 of a 3 Part series on the Innsbruck Hungerburgbahn. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 can be found here. The Hungerburgbahn is what is known in the industry as a Hybrid Funicular. It is a unique and rather new technology that defies categorization and is bound to confuse....
This is Part 2 of a 3 Part series of posts on the Innsbruck Hungerburgbahn. To read Part 1, click here and to read Part 3, click here. Leaving the technology-side of things until tomorrow’s post, let’s talk about the Hungerburgbahn’s station configuration. A common misconception about cable transit is that the stations are large...
Last month I toured the Hungerburgbahn CPT system in Innsbruck, Austria. There is much to say about this system, so I’ve broken the column into 3 parts. This is Part 1. The importance of the Hungerburgbahn in Innsbruck, Austria cannot be overstated. Given its unique Hybrid Funicular technology and elegant organic station design by renowned...
Yesterday, in Lenggries Germany, a gondola system malfunctioned stranding dozens of riders in mid-air. Helicopters were were used in the rescue. There were no injuries. The system was built by a subsidiary of Thyssenkrupp, a manufacturer with little experience in cable transit. Detractors of cable technology – I’m certain – will use this as evidence...
With most traditional transit technologies, there is little consideration about the variations within that technology. A bus is a bus; a streetcar is a streetcar; and a subway is a subway. Sure, there’s variation between suppliers and models, but those differences are negligible compared to the overall technologies themselves. That’s one of the real competitive...