As gondolas experience tremendous growth in the urban and recreational transport market, many decision-makers are now beginning to realize that ropeways are amongst the world’s most sustainable forms of transport. For instance, not only are gondolas able to create direct environmental benefits by producing less carbon emissions per passenger kilometre than trams and buses (under...
For those who haven’t noticed yet, it’s April Fools today. Of course, this means that a few media outlets have gone to great lengths to have a little fun and punk their audiences. For gondolas, we’ve found two great stories so far: 1) A “green-lit” water-crossing cable car for the Isle of Wight, UK; and 2) A city-wide...
This week Doppelmayr released footage of its next generation ropeway system for detachable lifts, the D-Line. Alongside Youtube videos of the terminal design, the manufacturer also showcased its new cabins and grips. — — Among a slew of new features in the remodeled stations, a few will be be particularly attractive in city environments: Real glass design Low...
We recently received a great question from reader Roberto: I was wondering what is the maximum speed now registered in the world for a cable car. So far I know, reversible cable cars (43 kph, Portland, USA) go faster than the well known loop cable cars (27 kph, Val d’Isère, France), which is not clear to...
Designed right, ropeway technology makes an excellent complement to urban transit. Naturally, a crucial element of that right ropeway design must be the rope itself. In this article, we’d like to look at which rope could suit crowded cities best. Among the many issues designers need to consider, environmental impact steals the headlines at the...
Here at the Gondola Project, we generally discuss cable transport issues but many of our long-time readers also know we’re really just transit nerds at heart. (And über-nerds will note we’ve used the word nerd two days in a row.) Sticking to one single solution isn’t our thing and we’re always looking for new and...
Surfing is not just for beach boys and Internet users any more. Using LEITNER Ropeway’s DirectDrive technology, Wavegarden has partnered with the South Tyrolean company to design a system that creates the world’s longest artificial surfing wave. Consider the confluence: mountain technology bringing ocean shore culture inland. The system generates continuous waves with ropeway technology...
Every so often we are confronted with wonderful and mysterious transportation devices (see Chinese Tunnel Bus). Today, we happen to come across the Sistema Monorail Con Funiculares (or the Monorail System With Funiculars) — a conceptual transit system designed by ECOLVIAS from Medellin, Colombia. There’s not much information about this technology but it does make me wonder what type of...
Cable technology is good for a lot of things — there’s sightseeing, transporting minerals, public transit and yes, even relaxing in hot tubs. But a form of cable application we really haven’t address so far is transporting agricultural products. Believe it or not, many ropeway systems around the world are used to transfer everyday food and plant...
As more and more of the human population migrates to cities, the need for intelligent urban transport solutions grows ever more urgent. And perhaps as a response to these circumstances, Honda was responsible for developing a very simple, ingenious and cutting-edge solution (at least in the 1980s) to the dreaded urban commute. — — — The Motocompo,...