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Apr 03, 2012
Just For Fun

How Not To Do “Viral” Marketing

Dear Company That Invited Me To Use Their Image “However I Like,” The way I’d like to use the image you so kindly offered me is to discuss how not to do viral marketing and irritate the potential customers you’re so desperately trying to solicit. Please allow me to give some background: A couple of...

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Apr 02, 2012
Thoughts

How Long Will You Wait For Public Transportation?

A long time ago we asked the question When is a Minute, Not A Minute? In that post we went into how one’s perception of travel time is relative to how they’re actually travelling. As we note in that post, the Transportation Research Board states that a minute of time waiting for a transit vehicle is...

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Mar 30, 2012
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup – Proposals Galore

A quick look at some of the highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas, Gondola Transit, and Cable Propelled Transit: Cable car studies to connect the Cave of Hira and the Cave of Al-Thawr near Mecca is complete. These cable lifts will make the trek to the mountain tops safer and easier (as in the past, some...

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Mar 29, 2012
Light Rail & Streetcars, Monorails, Public Transit, Research Issues, Urban Planning & Design

Three Eye-Opening Papers On How We Build Transit

The other day I discussed how modal choice often has less to do with the intrinsic qualities of a technology and more to do with extrinsic factors. Those comments caused something of a stir with people coming out saying a variation of the following: Light Rail is a scam. Light Rail is awesome. It depends....

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Mar 28, 2012
Statistics and Specifications

Kilometers & Miles

I just came across an old article on Mother Nature Network that combines my favorite sequence (yes, I have a favorite) with a common conversion issue. As an American I think in miles but as someone who reads about, works with, and travels on roads in, well, any other country, I often/sometimes/usually come across speeds...

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Mar 27, 2012
ICTS, Monorails, Uncategorized

What The Death of The Sydney Monorail Teaches Us About Techno-Zealotry

On the recent news of the soon-in-the-offing death of the Sydney Monorail, Jarrett Walker at Human Transit had this to say: Technophile commenters will doubtless chalk this up the Sydney decision as a defeat for monorails in general.  I disagree.  It’s a defeat for one-way loops, poor connectivity, and symbolic as opposed to actual mobility....

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Mar 26, 2012
Subway

Sounds of the Subway

The video “Bending Sounds” by Tim Sessler wonderfully captures the sites and sounds of the NYC subway. As the camera slowly meanders through the stations, people rush by, jumping on and off train cars, in and out of turn styles, and along subterranean corridors. The sounds of chatter and footsteps, and the rumble of the...

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Mar 23, 2012
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: More Sea to Sky Gondola

A quick look at some of the highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas, Gondola Transit, and Cable Propelled Transit (admittedly, it’s been a slow week): Straight.com explains how the proposed Sea to Sky Gondola in British Columbia could change hiking in the region. A plan to bring a gondola to Catalina Island in California has...

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Mar 22, 2012
Design Considerations

Gondola Stations As Art?

I saw this a few days ago and it got me thinking. . . The above picture is of the 25 year old Bonistock Aerial Tram. Nothing impressive, nothing interesting. Or is there? I don’t know about you, but when I look at this system I see something almost sculptural and artistic. It almost reminds...

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Mar 21, 2012
Innovations, Public Transit, Questions, Thoughts

Aerial Rapid Transit – Adding Flying Vehicles to the Mix

Over the past week, we’ve received a lot of attention about: Driver Assisted Cars – On the Brink of a Transport Revolution? Yesterday, Christian made an insightful and thought-provoking comment about how some standard airplane technologies, such as the GPS, tend to appear in cars 15-20 years later. But what about the ability to fly… Science-fiction shows have...

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