A quick look at some of the statistics that make your cities work (or not): Special Toronto Edition Toronto’s nickname: Hogtown Hogtown’s new mayor: Rob Ford Political ambitions: Derail gravy train Personal vehicle tax: Scrapped Potential money saved: $60 Municipal land transfer tax: Scrapped Potential money saved: $1,000’s Garbage collection: Outsourced War on cars: Scrapped...
Despite some controversy, Korea’s Environment Ministry has decided to allow 1 or 2 new cable cars/gondolas/aerial trams in many of its national parks. An editorial likes the idea of a cable car for Hobart, Tasmania while a 1,700 person-strong Facebook group lends their support. Why, incidentally, are so many cable car/gondola/aerial tram proposals coming out of...
Let’s consider the innovations the Cable Propelled Transit industry has developed, proven and/or popularized in the last 15 years: The 3S Corner turning Intermediary stations Full integration with other transit modes The Reintroduction of bottom-supported Cable Cars and Mini-Metros The Hybrid Funicular Heated Gondolas Air-Conditioned Gondolas Operability in winds above 100 km/hr (the Funitel) The...
We interrupt our daily gondola broadcast to bring you this special report: According to Wired Magazine, the brainchild behind the Chinese Tunnel Bus™ already has plans to bring their awesomely entertaining and potentially homicidal transit system to the United States. The group has already announced an American subsidiary called “U.S. Elevated High-Speed Bus (Group) and “is...
For some reason, WordPress glitched up and moved around 2 dozen recent comments to the trash. My apologies to anyone whose comments were accidentally deleted. I’ve restored them and all should be good now. If you notice any of your comments missing, please post a comment in the appropriate section and I’ll go digging for...
For whatever reason the issue of air-conditioned gondolas seems to be a touchy subject around here at The Gondola Project. Everyone has a different opinion and no one seems to think it can happen. So . . . For everyone whose been asking (and there’s been a few), I’ve dug up the identity of the...
Yesterday in my hometown of Toronto, former city councillor Rob Ford was elected Mayor. Rob Ford, to say the least is a divisive character. He’s more a rorschach diagram than a candidate. How you feel about Ford, I suspect, says more about you than it does about him. He fanatically rants against things the city...
Decrease Dwell Times – Current dwell times can reach up to 60 seconds for cable systems. Engineers I’ve talked to, however, have said that 3S dwell times can be reduced to 20 seconds. 20 seconds is far more palatable from a transit planning perspective and should become a more standard feature of cable systems. Increase...
A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE STATISTICS THAT MAKE YOUR CITIES WORK (OR NOT): Percent of Mumbai to be covered with cars by 2030: 25% Solution: Tata Tower Vertical parking spots available: 4050 One day attendance in Shanghai Expo 2010: 1,000,000 Size: 5 square kilometers Population Density: 200,000 persons per square kilometer Number of...
Officials with Translink in British Columbia have seven companies bidding for the business case study for the Burnaby Mountain gondola. Hopefully, these seven bidders have a better understanding of cable transit systems than Kendra Wong, student journalist with Simon Fraser University’s The Peak. Writing of the gondola, Wong says this: “3S technology involves a reversible ropeway,...