Observers at the La Paz, Bolivia cable car contract signing.
A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of cable cars, urban gondolas, and cable propelled transit:
- The Vice Minister of Transport reported Monday that the new cable car in La Paz will be able to absorb around 20% of the 420,000 daily trips that are made between La Paz and El Alto.
- The Bolivian government denies that the La Paz system will violate the privacy of its citizens, although concerns have been raised.
- An electrical failure in Caracas stalled the Warairarepano Teleferico to the Mount Avila last Sunday. Up to 1500 people were affected, including those who were riding the system at the time of the breakdown.
- The Emirates Air Line cable car in London has six fancy video screen walls in the waiting areas. Now passengers can be treated to 360˚ views of London while they wait to board. Presumably they can also now be inundated with 360˚ ads.
- (Park)ing Day is today — ok, so this isn’t actually cable related, but it is transportation, community, urban planning, design, and public spaces related. (Park)ing Day is an annual, open-source, international event in which people to come together and construct a temporary park within a car parking spot. The concept, which started in 2005 in San Francisco, is to bring awareness to how we utilize and plan out public spaces within cities. Lots more information at parkingday.org
(Park)ing Day 2009. CC image by Flickr user iomarch.