This week on the Gondola Project forum, in response to last week’s post about the future of aerial transit, there was a video response with the Jetson’s theme song displaying the idea of personalized flying mobiles. This got me thinking about both science fiction and outer space (since everything in that show appears to be...
Part 1 and Part 2 of this series discussed many of the pros to combining CPT with Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Today we’ll consider one of the major arguments against cable transit — security concerns, and how smart design and planning can help mitigate these issues. Gondolas may pass alongside private property, even when traveling...
On a recent trip to China, I had the opportunity to visit a site that few planners outside of China have yet to see. First announced in 2008, Tianjin Ecocity is a large, ecological development designed to encourage sustainable building and living practices and promote future “green” developments. Not to mention this is possibly the...
Last week, in Part 1 of this series, the idea of combining CPT and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) was introduced. Today we’ll look closer at this topic and explore the opportunities ropeway technologies present to TOD. While at-grade cable systems, such as funiculars have similar characteristics to LRT in terms of their impact on the...
How does the trend of increased ridership match up against the local gas prices in Toronto? Stuck between budget cuts and politics no one can ignore the increase in both fuel costs and public transit ridership. So the question is, how many riders will it take to shift attention over to public transit funding, infrastructure...
A quick look at some of the things that makes auto-rickshaws/tuktuks in your city work (or not): Auto-rickshaws/tuktuks: Half golf-cart, half motorcycle Origin: Daihatsu Midget & Piaggio Ape C Top speed: 40km/h Cost: $6,500 Cost of “green” tuktuks: $10,000 Largest producer of auto-rickshaws in world: India India’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit: “They (auto rickshaws)...
A few highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas, Regular Gondolas, and Cable Propelled Transit: In case you’re heading to the middle of the Pacific sometime in the future – specifically the Northern Mariana Islands – a tourist gondola system is currently being proposed, by no other than a man named Heinz Staffler, great...
I could recap what’s been happening on the Gondola Project Forum this week … or I could show you this cool Ted Talk about flying like a bird. I pick door 2: [ted id=1195] … and because it wont embed, check it out the intended video here: A robot that flies like a bird...
Most readers understand the concept of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) – a planning approach that encourages transit ridership through increased development around transit stations. TODs are designed to create higher density, mixed use, walkable communities. In this way the day-to-day needs met by shops, cafes, and entertainment venues are located within the neighbourhood (usually near...
The Bamboo Railway or “Norry” in Battambang, Cambodia is truly a testament to human ingenuity and creativity. In this part of the world, where resources are scarce and government run train service is untimely and unreliable, this informal form of transit is an inexpensive and convenient mobility option for many. For this simple (yet highly...