We do things for reasons beyond money. That’s no surprise. We – as people – are motivated by a whole host of other factors. Check out this fascinating video/animation from www.theRSA.org on what actually motivates people. And at the end of it ask yourself: Do our cities, governments, societies (and transit systems) motivate us in...
For your amusement (at around 2:25) . . . In Technicolor! And for the record: When I talk about Cable Propelled Transit, this is not what I mean.
If I gave you the choice between a transit technology that could carry 20,000 people and a technology that could carry 6,000 which would you choose? Clearly, youd choose 20,000. Or what if I gave you the choice between a transit technology that operated at 100 km/hr or one that operated at 35 km/hr? Obviously...
A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE STATISTICS THAT MAKE YOUR CITIES WORK (OR NOT): Percent of American children walking to school in 1969: 50% Percent of American children walking to school in 2007: 16% Average walking speed of a human being: 5km/hr Average distance a human can commute by foot on daily basis: 20km...
The last aerial cable technology worth mentioning is the Funifor. Like the 3S, Funifors are very rare beasts. Only around a half dozen exist, and are all located in northern Italy (for whatever strange reason). In essence, the Funifor is nothing more than a fusion of a Funitel and an Aerial Tram. It’s dual grip...
Cable Propelled Transit is just one segment of a technology that has dozens of names, Aerial Ropeways being the most common. But what if you broke it down a bit more? Aerial Ropeways, after all, is a pretty broad term and one that’s not really applicable to the urban area. So how about these: Resort...
Apparently the Koblenz Rheinseilbahn just opened to the public this past month. As is typical for the cable industry, this rather monumental opening came with virtually no publicity or media awareness. In an earlier post I suggested that the installation is temporary, which apparently is a mistake. The system can be removed if need be,...
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Bent Flyvbjerg is a scholar in Denmark and an expert in cost-overruns and demand-shortfalls in public infrastructure projects. In one of his more recent publications (“Cost Overruns and Demand Shortfalls in Urban Rail and Other Infrastructure”), he demonstrates the dramatic demand shortfalls that most urban rail infrastructure is met with. According to his study, actual...
How does cable deal with high-capacity rushes? Say, after concerts and at sporting events? Or in the peak of rush hour traffic? Well that depends on a few things: What is the capacity of the system in question? If the system in question needs 4,500 pphpd at peak and you’ve built a 3,000 pphpd then lineups...