08
Nov

2009

When To Use LRT (Instead of CPT)

If you’ve already got an abandoned or underutilized set of rails in your city, you should use LRT because half your job (and cost) is already taken care of. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use what you’ve already got to your advantage.

If, however, you don’t have an abandoned or underutilized set of rails in your city, maybe you should consider another alternative. Light Rail’s expensive.



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Analysis / Light Rail & Streetcars / Thoughts
0
Comments
10
Nov

2009

Basic Lesson 2: Gondolas & Cable Cars

There are two major sub-groups of Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) technology:  Gondolas and Cable Cars.

Gondolas are supported and propelled from above by cables.  Most people are familiar with this technology as used in alpine ski-resorts, however it is finding increased usage in non-alpine urban regions.

Gondola

Gondola

Cable Cars on the other hand, are supported and propelled from below.  Propulsion is provided by a cable whereas support is provided by rails of varying configurations.

Cable Car

Cable Car

Cable Car

Cable Car

It’s important to understand that since there has never existed an exact typology for Cable-Propelled Transit, people tend to use the terms Gondola and Cable Car interchangeably.  Hopefully, The Gondola Project can help solve that problem.

Remember:  Gondolas are from above and Cable Cars are from below.  That’s all you need to know.

Proceed to Basic Lesson 3 to learn about Aerial Trams & Funiculars

Return to Basic Lesson 1 to learn the definition of Cable Propelled Transit

Creative Commons images by borkur.net, Dede90 and Matthew Black



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Basic Lessons / Cable Cars / Gondola
4
Comments
11
Nov

2009

Sky-Riding Bus

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and this is certainly no exception:

ski-gondola-bus

This system was actually built.  It was designed so that it could propel itself along the support cables without need of a wheelhouse. It is easily one of the most bizarre cable contraptions I’ve ever encountered and I’ll admit to having scant details about where, when and how it occurred.

Anyone who has any more information on it, please send word this way.

(December 5, 2009: I recently discovered this. Apparently the system above is called the Aerobus.  I know virtually nothing about this technology and so can’t comment upon it. My first instinct says that the idea of a self-propelled cable transit system defeats the purpose of CPT, but who knows . . . )



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History / Oddities
1
Comment
12
Nov

2009

Why Cable-Propelled Transit?

How do you find out about something if you don’t know what to call it? Easy: You don’t.

For the longest time, cable had no clear name and that made research efforts next to impossible. As I’ve pointed out, the sheer volume of terms used to describe Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) was preposterous and none conformed to standard naming conventions. Let me explain . . .

Most transit technology has a naming scheme with three major components:

First, a technical term of three words, the last of which is almost always ‘transit.’

Second, a three letter acronym derived from the first three letters of their technical designator.

Third, a range of colloquial terms used to describe the technology commonly.

Heavy Rail Transit = HRT = Subway, Metro, Underground

Light Rail Transit = LRT = Streetcar, Trolly, Tram

Bus Rapid Transit = BRT = Bus, Busway

So in the interest of simplicity, let’s follow that lead:

Cable-Propelled Transit = CPT = Gondola, Cable Car



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Analysis / History / Research Issues / Thoughts
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13
Nov

2009

Basic Lesson 3: Aerial Trams & Funiculars

There are two minor sub-groups of CPT technology:  Aerial Trams and Funiculars.

Aerial Trams are like larger Gondolas.  I’ll discuss this technology in greater detail later.

Generally speaking, however, Aerial Trams are (relative to Gondolas) an out-dated mode of Cable-Propelled Transit.  Compared with Gondola technology, Aerial Trams exhibit longer wait times between vehicles; lower line capacity; an inability to turn corners; and little potential for intermediary stations.

Ironically, Aerial Trams are on average more expensive than Gondola technology despite their numerous short-comings.  They are a high-cost, low-value technology.

Aerial Tram

Aerial Tram

Funiculars, on the other hand, are very similar to Cable Cars except Funiculars are used almost exclusively to ascend steep inclines.  In fact, you’ll often find Funiculars referred to as Inclined Rails.

The incline of the vehicle is equivalent to the incline of the bottom-supporting guideway while standing and seating areas are at a flat incline relative to the horizon.

Traditional trains and rail lines are incapable of ascending greater-than-10-degree inclines which gives Funiculars are decided advantage.

Funicular

Funicular (Inclined Rail)

Again, like in the previous post in the Basic Lessons series, because there has never been a CPT typology, people often incorrectly refer to Funiculars and Aerial Trams as Cable Cars.

Proceed to Basic Lesson 4 to learn about Support

Return to Basic Lesson 2 to learn about Gondolas & Cable Cars

Creative Commons images by Phillie Casablanca and Les Chatfield



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Aerial Trams / Basic Lessons / Funiculars
2
Comments
14
Nov

2009

De-Bugging

When one first encounters the idea of Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT), one is alarmed. We’re suspicious of it and in some cases even hostile.  It doesn’t look like transit and it certainly doesn’t behave like transit.

We therefore conclude that it must not be transit.

That’s true, but only because we’re used to transit systems that are not centered upon our needs as riders. As riders, we want cheap, reliable service that is safe, environmentally friendly, quiet, pleasant and provides LT1M wait times.

The transit we’re accustomed to provides some of those things, but certainly not most of them. I suspect that’s why we reject the notion of CPT as transit.  Only once we make that realization can we fully contemplate cable as a legitimate mode of transit.

It’s a process my colleague Adam Cooper (a transportation planner with the University of British Columbia) calls ‘de-bugging.’ It’s a process I went through, he went through and most everyone who encounters this topic goes through.

Our current transit systems are centered on the needs of the system: Schedules, drivers, tokens, service interruptions, strikes, transfers, etc. serve nothing but the system itself.

CPT serves the needs of the riders, not the needs of the system itself and because we’ve only known transit to the be latter, not the former, we tend to reject out-of-hand the idea of cable as transit.

That’s changing, more and more.  People are de-bugging and that’s a wonderful thing.



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Analysis / Thoughts
0
Comments
15
Nov

2009

Not Over My Back Yard

Here’s an example of how not to implement Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) in an urban area.

The Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) desired a direct connection between their two campuses in Portland, Oregon; one at the bottom of a mountain, another at the top. A CPT system was a logical choice. I won’t discuss what I see as a poor decision regarding the technology chosen (you can find that here), instead I wish to comment upon the route alignment.

Much to the consternation of local residents, the planners, civil engineers and politicians decided that the most logical route alignment for the Tram was overtop of a neighborhood en route to the campus. Planners failed to notice that while such alignments had worked in other locations, those locations did not fly overtop of people’s backyards.

View From The Portland Aerial Tram

View From The Portland Aerial Tram

If every there was a justifiable (and practically literal) case of NIMBYism, this was one.

Flying overtop of someone’s backyard is an invasion of someone’s private space and that presumed right to privacy is deeply ingrained in the North American psyche.  Before Portland, CPT had typically be installed overtop of low-rise apartment neighborhoods without backyards.  The two situations just weren’t equivalents.

Not surprisingly, the public did not react well.  One resident went so far as to protest in the following way:

Simple, yes. Effective? Also, yes.

Simple? Yes. Effective? Also, yes.

Listen, I’m a strong advocate of CPT, but I am in complete and 100% agreement with the owner of the above house. I also think his tactic is a fantastic example of using Portals of Entry to one’s advantage.

The beauty of CPT is that if aligned properly, it needn’t impose itself upon the urban or natural environment. Designers, engineers, planners and politicians ignored that fact and now they all have a black eye which will live on in perpetuity.

Sometimes HOW? and the WHERE? a technology is used is equally (if not more) important than WHAT? technology is used.

Creative Commons images by William Beutler and Misserion



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Aerial Trams / Analysis / Portland Aerial Tram
6
Comments